Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns The Eurasian collard dove

Is this a no license no limit target in your state?

I know Washington and Montana have a no regulation status for them. Non-indigenous pests like rats. They are quite good to eat and here there are so many.

I'm not sure of the history or how they got here. There are 10:1 collard doves to morning doves now. They are about twice the size too.

They are fantastic air rifle quarry!

Good to hear they taste good Jim! They are fair game here and in Texas....an invasive species.


I think as fast as they've multiplied around here that they are the Passenger Pigeon of the future!

Nevada just added them as a game bird this year.
Many have fallen in my back yard to the Crossman verminator.

Invasive species here in CO....







Use this picture to get permission from dairies all over....



I like those big breasts...



And they sure are tasty...

Invasive species in most states.

Good eating. But, we are better off without them.

I can't imagine NV making them a game animal... Anything for a buck, I reckon.

Most of the ring necks around here seem to prefer town. What's hit us are Whitewings. They have driven most of the mourning doves off here. We still have a few but they are in the minority now. I wonder if the Whitewings run the ring necks off too? Dunno???

I remember seeing a pair of ring necks around here about 20 years ago. But not now. Drive 10'miles down the highway and they are everywhere on outskirts of town.

I heard a rumor the ring necks got their toe hold here from people releasing them at weddings and such. It seemed to be the thing a lots of morons were doing here.

Releasing the birds, not getting married.

Well there are a lot of morons here getting married too. And having moron offspring. The circle of life continues.

My understanding is that they escaped from an aviary in the Bahama's then came through Florida to everywhere. -Muddy

Yup, happened back in the 80s. 10-12 years ago they were non-existent here (West Coast NorCal) They're everywhere now.

License required, no bag limit, no closed season.

I'll have to try frying some up. Wonder how they taste around here, as their sole diet is my lab's dog food on the back deck. The damn things clean the dish out faster than I can fill it up.....

Where did you see this? I can't find any reference to it.

luv2safari,
I believe I read early last year that the Wildlife Board was going to consider adding the Euroasian Dove as a game bird.
I didn't hunt dove last year but I just pulled up the migratory bird regs and I see that the Collared Dove is not a protected species and does not count toward the bag limit.

So, I was wrong. You can still shoot all the collared doves you want, whenever and wherever you want in Nevada.

I'll have some crow with my dove.

Thanks for setting me straight.

They love my Koi pond.
Morning doves are warm weather guests to the pond, collared dove are year round residents.

You scared me!

I thought I might be a dastardly criminal.

They nest here on my small farm and stay all year. I find that the mourning doves stay a much shorter time since the collareds took up residency. They also make the place sound a lot like Africa.

You can shoot as many as you want whenever you want here in S.C. as long as you have a license but they aren't here all the time. The first one I ever saw was about 15 years ago when a buddy shot one on a dove shoot. Never saw any more until about 5 years ago. Went on a shoot and there were as many collareds around as mournings. Haven't seen any in that same field since, nor any other field. I do occasionally see a few around town but never where I can shoot them.

Invasive here in Idaho, rank right in there with starlings.

Dog Shooter

The Disco and 13?? just work don't they.
177 or 22?

So tell us about that recipe ya got going.

So far I have not seen one at the feeders, but they seem to have them in W. TN, a lot more agriculture out there.

From the looks of the shooting by the AZ and CA airgunners on youtube, collared dove could be on the menu 3 times a day.

.177 13 series.... it has dispatched quite a few critters in the yard....



That's a Mac1 tuned .22 Disco... it runs the 15.9gr JSB at about 850fps for 17 shots on a 2200 psi fill. It's fun as hell to shoot, especially at 80-125 yards where you can watch the pellet in flight. Busting clays out to 125 yards is pretty easy... unless there's some wind... then those little pills get pretty squirley.



Recipe is pretty easy... flour, S&P the the breasts on the bone, brown in butter... add shiitake mushrooms, simmer in Marsalla wine until cooked to your taste. Remove the breasts, thicken remainder of sauce if necessary.... serve with risotto cakes and broiled asparagus....

Kinda in the vein of the thread,

Young son was playing disc golf at a City of Austin park (not too far from where poboy lives) and witnessed this "homeless" guy with an old
Daisy 880 fill up one of them old chain clip fish stringers with Whitewings one Sunday morning. He said the guy wandered back off into the hobo jungle along the creek where they could see smoke. So I suppose he had a feast!

I'm pretty sure a lic. is needed no matter what you're hunting here, but the collard is fair game year round with no limits.

Air rifles are legal for resident small game, which includes birds (turkey too) and is the reason I've got a Hatsan AT44PA in .25 due here Friday.

The collard doves are like the people from Mexico. They get here and the wont leave.

In Louisiana, you gotta have a license and hip certification. The mourning and white-wing are game animals, thus 15 daily aggregate limit. If you breast out the birds in the field, eurasian and ringnecks are counted in the aggregate limit. If you dont dress out the birds, there is no limit on the eurasians or ringnecks.

Why not? Striped bass are an invasive species in most areas, but considered a gamefish at the same time.

I don't think them having an "invasive species" moniker is gonna do a damn thing to keep them in check.

I read that a storm off the west coast of africa had blown the birds down to the islands SE of florida -then the birds made their way island hopping to the mainland here in Florida.
They are aggressive towards the smaller mourning doves when the mourning doves are nesting.
They're good eating -them & some yard squirrel is a good change of pace when Wendy's doesn't sound appealing .

I would gladly trade our starlings for collared doves.

If you're going to have an invasive species, it may as well provide some tasty comestibles.

Well said, they are very good to eat. Kinda like flying tilapia another invasive species of fresh water.

I plan to take some here in the Grand Junction, CO area (where legal of course) with my air gun. Based on my backyard, they are flat out a pest. They drive off the Mourning Doves from the bird feeder along with about everything else. Can't say that I'm terribly fond of their call either. Almost make me not mind the cats running loose. Wait, they seem to only kill songbirds.

We have A LOT of homeless people around, and I have seen a few with pellet guns. Many bunk down in the brush by the river. My hope is they are eating Eurasian Collared Doves around the fire on the banks of the Colorado. Sort of a symmetry there.