Missouri hunters are in for another good dove season, according to state officials.

Dove-hunting season will begin Sept. 1 and run through Nov. 9. The limit is 12 doves daily and 24 in possession. The limit includes mourning, collared and white-winged doves. Shooting hours are half an hour before sunrise to sunset.

Dove hunters ages 16 through 64 must buy a Small Game Hunting Permit to pursue doves. All dove hunters 16 and older must have a Missouri Migratory Bird Hunting Permit.

The Conservation Department tracks mourning dove population trends through two annual surveys. One is a count of doves heard calling along established routes. The other counts doves seen along certain roads.

The number of birds heard in this year’s calling dove survey was down slightly. However, the roadside count showed significant increases in dove numbers in some areas from last year and over the past 10 years.

Last year, Missouri’s 43,531 licensed dove hunters killed an estimated 806,000 doves. That was 17.7 percent more than in 2002 and 3.7 percent above the 10-year average.