Collared dove – Streptopelia decaocto

When it comes to small game hunting the summer months are less than busy. It is only in mid-August that the hunting season for collared dove starts, which, however, is perhaps the most demanding hunting activity in terms of shooting skills.

The Eurasian collared dove is present in Hungary from the second half of the 1900s. Its original habitat stretched only from the south-eastern part of Europe over Turkey to India. They primarily look for human settlements. Owing to the rapid spread of the Eurasian collared dove the European turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur) which was previously the more widespread became marginalised and confined to agricultural fields and the outskirts of settlements.

The most popular method of collared dove hunting is stand hunting on the August sunflower plots with a potential daily bag of up to 100-150 birds per hunt. It is recommended mainly for smaller groups, combined with duck hunting.

Hunters can hunt with good chances for collared doves in almost all counties of Hungary but the vicinity of the capital and county Békés, Csongrád and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok of the counties of the Great Plain are prominent in terms of bird numbers. The annual bag of collared doves is 75-80 000.

In addition to collared doves, the common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) is also available for hunting. It is the biggest dove species of Hungary, however, its significance with respect to hunting is meagre with only 5 000 birds shot every year.

Hunting season:

Eurasian collared dove                      15 August − last day of February

Common wood pigeon                      15 August − 31 October

Recommended shot size for collared dove: 2-2.5 mm