SCDNR sets dove, early season migratory bird seasons

Dove hunters can hit South Carolina fields on Saturday, Sept. 5

South Carolina dove hunters will open the 2015-16 season on a Saturday this year, as the S.C. Department of Natural Resources announced early seasons for migratory waterfowl.

For the first time since 2012, dove season will begin on the Saturday before Labor Day, Sept. 5. Hunting the first three days of the season will begin at noon and end at sunset. The rest of the season is split into three parts: Sept. 8-Oct. 17, Nov. 14-28 and Dec. 15-Jan. 15, 2016, with hunting beginning 30 minutes before sunrise and lasting until sunset.

The daily bag limit on doves is 15; the possession limit is 45.

South Carolina set its early teal-only season for Sept. 11-26, with hunting from sunrise until sunset and a daily bag limit of six and a possession limit of 18. The statewide early Canada goose season will be Sept. 1-30, from 30 minutes before sunrise until sunset, with a daily bag limit of 15 birds and a possession limit of 45. Woodcock season will run Dec. 18-Jan. 31, 2016, with a daily limit of three and a possession limit of nine.

Marsh birds are divided into three categories. The season for king, clapper, Virginia and sora rails, plus gallinules will be Sept. 26-Oct. 1 and Oct. 25-Dec. 27, with a daily bag limit of 15 for kings and clappers a daily bag limit of 25 for Virginias and soras. The daily bag limit for gallinules is 15. Wilson snipe will be legal to hunt Nov. 14-Feb. 28, 2016, with a daily bag limit of eight.

Other waterfowl seasons will be set later in the fall as SCDNR staffers coordinate hunting seasons and bag limits under U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service frameworks.