Hunting: season opens with a turtle dove limit

The 2026-2027 hunting season opened on Thursday 20 August across the country and will run until 28 February 2027, with the sole exception of the wild rabbit, for which hunting is extended to 10 March. The framework is set by the regulatory decision of the Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, numbered YPEN/DDD/88483/2815, which was signed on 31 July and published in Government Gazette B 4804 on 3 August. For the first period, from 20 August to 14 September, hunting is permitted only in the so-called passage zones, that is in areas that had been designated migratory bird passage zones before 1985. As dasarxeio.com notes, on a first reading no new general restrictions emerge compared with the previous season.

The most significant provision concerns the turtle dove, a species under European pressure because of the decline in its populations. The daily limit remains at four birds per hunter per outing, while the national harvest limit is set at 36,000 birds, a figure corresponding to a reduction of more than 87 percent compared with the average national harvest of the 2013-2018 period. Once the limit is reached, hunting is halted automatically and in any case is not permitted after 30 October. For monitoring, every hunter receives a unique QR code and is obliged to declare the daily harvest electronically through the KENTAVROS application, before leaving the hunting ground. The same obligation extends to fourteen other species, among them the woodlark, the quail, the starling and the coot, because the European Commission is examining their conservation status. Those without a smartphone submit their declaration by text message.

The local variations are extensive. Hunting of all game is prohibited for the whole season on the island of Tilos, as is hare hunting on Limnos and Agios Efstratios, and hunting of the island partridge on Agios Efstratios. On Chios the island partridge may be hunted only on Saturdays and Sundays, over twenty-two outings in total, while on Lesvos and Limnos it is restricted to eight specific dates. Hare may be hunted only on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays with a limit of one animal, woodcock with a limit of ten and a ban on ambush hunting, and rock partridge with a limit of two and only from 1 October. Prohibitions also apply in a zone of 500 metres along the land borders, in a sea zone of 300 metres from the coast and in a zone of 50 metres on either side of the national and primary provincial road network. Lead shot is banned within one hundred metres of wetlands.

The decision rests on an updated study by the Forestry Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in collaboration with the University of Thessaly, and also on proposals submitted by both the Hunting Confederation of Greece and the Hellenic Ornithological Society. The two sides do not agree: the ornithological organisation maintains a standing request for a temporary suspension of turtle dove hunting for one year, which was not adopted. The next step belongs to the local forestry services, whose heads the minister authorises to issue the forest policing provisions that specify how the rules apply in each area. The use of a fluorescent orange garment on the torso also remains compulsory when hunting wild boar, hare, woodcock and quail, a measure aimed at preventing accidents.