Walt Young

The Labor Day weekend usually marks the unofficial end of most summer activities. While summer doesn’t officially end for another three weeks, you would only have to look around the sports section this weekend to see it is the start of college football season, a major indicator that fall is upon us. The pleasant temperatures last week were another hint. And the first of September brings with it the first hunting opportunities of the season.

The mourning dove season starts this Monday, Sept. 1, and runs through Nov. 28. Legal shooting hours during dove season will be a half hour before sunrise to sunset. The daily bag limit is 15 doves. Pennsylvania established its first season for mourning doves in 1945. Since then, dove hunting has become a popular early-season opportunity for generations of Pennsylvania hunters. Even for an experienced wing shooter, however, these small, fast-flying gamebirds present a worthy a challenge, so bring plenty of ammo.

The early Canada goose for most of the state season also opens Monday,

Sept. 1, and runs until Sept. 25. The daily bag limit for Canada geese during the September hunt is a liberal 8 birds. Legal shooting hours during the early Canada goose season are a half hour before sunrise until a half hour after sunset, except on the youth waterfowl day, which is Sept. 20, when shooting hours are a half hour before sunrise until sunset for all waterfowl.

This special early goose hunt began in 1992 as an experimental measure in seven counties in the northwest section of the state as an effort to control excessive populations of resident geese. In 1993, it was expanded to 10 counties, then 26 counties in 1994, and finally to most of Pennsylvania in 1995. The exceptions are two special goose population zones in the northwest and southeast corners of the state. The resident Canada goose population in Pennsylvania expanded significantly from 1990 to 2004, and increased hunting opportunities has been one of the most effective management tools for controlling these birds that have unfortunately become a nuisance in some locales.

A special youth waterfowl day is scheduled for Sept. 20. Licensed junior hunters 12 to 16 years old who are accompanied by an adult may participate in this special hunt. During the youth hunt, junior hunters may take Canada geese, ducks, mergansers, coots and moorhens, and daily bag limits for each of those species are the same as those for the regular season in the area being hunted. Licensed adult hunters accompanying youth hunters on that day may also harvest Canada geese.

The waterfowl and migratory bird regulations are largely established at the federal level and have always seemed a bit complicated. Dove and goose hunters should also be aware that due to that federal framework of regulations, no Sunday hunting will be permitted for waterfowl or migratory birds for the 2025-26 hunting seasons. To avoid getting into trouble, consult the “Pennsylvania Hunting and Trapping Digest” or visit the Game Commission website, PGC.pa.gov, for the complete regulations for waterfowl and migratory game bird hunting.

Special licensing requirements are in place for the dove and waterfowl seasons. In addition to the Pennsylvania general hunting license, all dove and waterfowl hunters 12 and older must have a Pennsylvania Migratory Game Bird License. Mentored youths also need a Pennsylvania Migratory Game Bird License to hunt doves. All duck and goose hunters 16 and older are required to have a federal duck stamp, signed across the face and carried by the hunter. The Electronic Duck Stamp, or E-Stamp, is valid in Pennsylvania, and stamps can be purchased online through HuntFish.pa.gov.

For those who will have a youngster who will be hunting for the first time this fall or for any first-time hunter of any age, be reminded that they will need to complete an approved Hunter-Trapper Education class in order to qualify for their first hunting license. Many sportsmen clubs and other groups and organizations throughout the region offer free, in-person HTE training. Many of these classes fill up almost immediately, so it would be prudent to enroll in one as soon as possible. Online HTE classes are another option and one that many some folks can take advantage of. Any Pennsylvania resident 16 years or older can take the complete HTE course online for a $34.95 fee.

An Interactive HTE course is available online for students 11 years and older for a cost of $49.95. Also available online is a free class sponsored by the NRA for students 11 years and older. Complete information on in-person and online HTE classes can be found on the Pennsylvania Game Commission website, PGC.pa.gov.