While hunting wild animals may be considered a problem for conserving native fauna, they can represent an essential part of the diet for some human communities, such as those living in rural areas. Therefore, regulations to combat overhunting should be designed to accommodate the needs of local communities dependent on hunting as a source of food and income in a sustainable way. We interviewed local residents in three communities and wildlife specialists in Sergipe, NE Brazil, where the hunting of columbids is common both for subsistence and leisure, about their perceptions of Columbidae hunting using a semi-structured questionnaire. Most residents defend hunting and make regular use of columbids, suggesting quota hunting as a way of reconciling the practice with the conservation of the species while also noting that columbid populations are decreasing. The wildlife and conservation specialists are opposed to hunting and propose improvement of the socioeconomic status of the residents to mitigate the hunting problem, while also noting that the national environmental agency (IBAMA) is understaffed and underfunded, and there is a lack of adequate reliable data on columbid populations to adequately assess the impact of hunting.