Hunting in VA Guide: Law, Resources, Details
- Adam Garrett
- Jan 12, 2024
- 9 min read
Updated: Jun 20
In this article, I wanted to go over some hunting basics for VA.
What is available to hunt in VA?
While locations within VA vary, the main VA game species include (per DWR):
In select locations other reintroduced or introduced species may exist, like wild hog to hunt at a hunt club where I hunted in Red House, VA (not shown below). Since these are considered a nuisance species in Virginia, there is no bag limit and no season limitation. These should not be intentionally added to the wild due to the damage that they can cause to farms and wildlife.
Hunting Season
These highly vary based on location within Virginia:
Bedford County - 7644
Augusta 5719
Southampton County - 5012
Pittsylvania County - 4861
Fauquier County - 4786
Rockingham County - 4395
Loudoun County - 4080
Franklin County - 4075
Albemarle County - 4002
Virginia Hunting Education Requirements
I took the hunter safety course as a child so that I could hunt as a child. It applies to my adulthood as well.
Per DWR:
"You are required to complete hunter education before buying a hunting license if:
you are 12–15 years of age, or
you have not previously purchased a regular hunting license.
This section shall not apply to:
persons while on horseback hunting foxes with hounds but without firearms;
hunters under 12 years of age, who must be immediately supervised by a licensed adult.
You may also purchase an apprentice hunting license without completing hunter education. Learn more about the apprentice license »
Virginia accepts and recognizes all states’ and countries’ hunting licenses and official hunter education credentials for the purpose of complying with mandatory hunter education requirements. These may be in the form of an identification card or certificate."
Hunting License Acquisition
In VA, both annual licenses and lifetime licenses are available. Consider purchasing a lifetime license for children under 2 to get effectively half off for them.
License fees
Per DWR, to get a license:
"Online: GoOutdoorsVirginia.com
New Customers: Create a unique customer account to access licenses and other products.
Existing Customers: Log in using your date of birth, last name and either your DWR Customer ID, the last 4 digits of your SSN or driver’s license number.
Select the license(s) you want, pay with your credit card and print your license if needed.
In Person:
Sold by some clerks of the Circuit Court, at license agents across Virginia, and DWR headquarters. Not sold at DWR regional offices.
To find a license agent visit Go Outdoors Virginia’s list of license agents.
By Phone/Mobile Phone:
(804) 367-1000 during regular business hours, or use your Go Outdoors Virginia mobile app."
Public Hunting Lands (Including Map)
An excellent resource on locations to hunt, regulations, & more may be found here:
https://dwr.virginia.gov/hunting/regulations/publiclands/
An excellent map of VA public areas to hunt may be found here:
Image Courtesy DWR
Hunting at Your Home or Other Land You Own & Others Exempt from Licenses
I've enjoyed the benefits of not needing to get a license to hunt on my father's land, both land he owned away from our home and at our home.
Per VA law (under "License Exemptions"):
"Resident or nonresident landowners, their spouses, their children and grandchildren and the spouses of such children and grandchildren, or the landowner's parents, resident or nonresident, do not need a license to hunt, trap or fish (on inland waters) within the boundaries of their own lands.
Tenants, renters, or lessees on lands they reside on, are not required to have a license, but must have the written permission of the landowner. Persons who lease property and do not permanently reside there are not exempt from license requirements.
Residents, 65 years of age and over, do not need a license to hunt or trap on private property in their county or city of residence.
Resident hunters under the age of 12 are not required to have a hunting license or hunter education. Nonresident hunters under the age of 12 need a hunting license but do not need hunter education to purchase one. All hunters under the age of 12 may not hunt unless accompanied and directly supervised by a licensed adult.
Residents under the age of 16 are not required to have a license to trap when accompanied by any person 18 years of age or older who possesses a valid Virginia trapping license.
Any person who is not hunting, but is aiding a disabled person to hunt when such disabled person possesses a valid Virginia Disabled Resident Lifetime hunting license or a Virginia Resident Disabled Veteran Lifetime license is not required to have a license.
Any Indian who “habitually” resides on an Indian reservation or a member of the Virginia-recognized tribes who resides in the Commonwealth is not required to have a hunting or trapping license; however, such Indian must have on his person an identification card or paper signed by the chief of his tribe, a valid tribal identification card, written confirmation through a central tribal registry, or certification from a tribal office.
Stockholders owning 50 percent or more of the stock of any domestic corporation owning land in Virginia, his or her spouse and children and minor grandchildren, resident or nonresident, do not need a license to hunt, trap and fish within the boundaries of lands and inland waters owned by the domestic corporation."
"Resident or nonresident landowners, their spouses, their children and grandchildren and the spouses of such children and grandchildren, or the landowner's parents, resident or nonresident, do not need a license to hunt, trap or fish (on inland waters) within the boundaries of their own lands (DWR)."
"A Federal Duck Stamp is required of any person 16 years of age and older to hunt or take any migratory waterfowl. There are no exceptions for landowners or for license exempt hunters to this federal requirement (DWR)."
Hunting License Annual Fees
Per DWR as of 3/4/24:
Resident Sportsman’s License (age 16 and older) The Sportsman’s License isn’t all inclusive but offers a hunting license, bear license, deer/turkey license, archery license, muzzleloading license, freshwater fishing license, and trout license. Other licenses/stamps may be required (waterfowl stamps, National Forest stamp, etc.). Purchaser should also ensure that the bear and deer/turkey license tags are valid for intended hunting season. | $100.00 |
Resident Junior Hunting License* (age 12 to 15; optional for under 12 years old) | $8.50 |
Resident Youth Combination Hunting License (age 12 to 15) Includes hunting license, bear license, deer/turkey license, archery license, and muzzleloading license. | $16.00 |
Resident Hunting License* (age 16 and older) |
|
Resident County or City Hunting License* (age 16 and older) For county or city of residence only. | $16.00 |
Resident Apprentice Hunting License* Valid for 2 years from date of purchase. | $11.00 |
Resident Senior Citizen Hunting License* (age 65 and over) | $9.00 |
Resident Fox Hunting License To hunt foxes on horseback with hounds without firearms. Not required of an individual holding a basic license to hunt. | $23.00 |
Hunting License Lifetime Fees
You might be surprised how low of a cost you can get a lifetime hunting license or fishing license for, i.e. (among other higher costs below):
$130 if under 2 years old
$25 if 65 & older
For those with permanent & total disabilities, residents may acquire lifetime freshwater fishing, hunting, & trapping licenses for $15 each & lifetime saltwater fishing licenses for $10 (1, 2).
Here are the other main lifetime license fees as of 3/4/24:
Hunting at a Hunt Club
Many VA residents use hunt clubs. I've been to them myself, but always as a guest, never a member, since I don't hunt enough to merit the cost of membership in favor of other priorities despite having good guns to hunt with.
Hunting on Others' Private Property
With some exemptions (i.e. those mentioned in section on "Hunting at Your Home or Other Land You Own & Others Exempt from Licenses"), residents 12-64 hunting on someone else's land typically will need a hunting license in VA. Non-residents under 12 and those 65 or older not hunting in their city/county of residence also typically need hunting licenses when not hunting on their own land, not hunting on land they lease, & not hunting on their families' land. See the section above for more details on those laws.
Here is a form you should get signed if you are looking to hunt on someone else's property. If you are looking to also fish, trap, etc. use this form.
Stewardship Responsibilities When Hunting & Hunters for the Hungry
When hunting, it's best to be a good steward of your game, especially if you believe in the Bible (i.e. Matthew 25:14-30; John 6:11-12) or have other ethical or religious beliefs driving a sense of stewardship including but not limited to not wasting food whenever game, especially non-varmint game, is edible.
It's best to label your game as well prior to freezing so that you can take inventory so that nothing is wasted. Vacuum sealing & the right type of freezer at the right setting can also preserve things longer. A dehydrator is also an option for jerky.
I am reminded of the following scene from Dances with Wolves:
Even if you don't want to eat the game yourself, consider donations to Hunters for the Hungry (deer) or other organizations or people who would appreciate some meat.
Gun Safety
A critical component of hunting is gun safety. I recall an occasion where I heard firsthand from someone in my neighborhood whose home was shot by a careless hunter. There are also occasions where people are shot (& in some cases, killed) while hunting when someone isn't able to tell that the person isn't an animal to be hunted due to blaze orange not being clearly present. Even vice president Dick Cheney accidentally shot someone he knew while hunting while in office. If you hunt, especially on public lands, it's critical to be mindful of your surroundings. One of the best ways to avoid hunting accidents is to obey the law regarding dawn and dusk hunting rules and use night vision (if available/legal). Along with that, be sure to identify targets and where your bullet(s) will go if you miss or if the bullet passes through your target. Keep in mind as well that even if what you do appears harmless, the more accidents that occur from poor gun safety, the stricter the laws tend to be regarding guns.
Hunting Law (Highly varies by VA County)
Please be advised that I am not an attorney and that it is best to check current law (linked in a few cases below) that the information is the most up-to-date.
There are a wide variety of hunting laws in VA. Many of the laws vary based on the city/county that you are in, such as some cities completely banning hunting, & others not allowing the use of rifles.
Night vision or infrared are unable to be used to hunt deer (see section B), while possible to use when hunting certain other animals.
Night Hunting Law:
Here's a solid resource for night hunting throughout the US categorized by state by Pointoptics. That said, it's not very detailed and could be misleading. For instance, it makes no mention of the fact that you cannot hunt deer at night, & cannot use night vision when hunting deer, while stating the following:
It's another reason why it's important to check the laws themselves before taking action based on online information (i.e. some laws I've linked above).
Here's another resource by FindaHunt specific to VA that's more detailed on VA regulations.
For more details, go to my article on the subject of VA law, which highly varies based on the city/county (i.e. completely illegal in some cities, while some counties add no laws to VA law), here:
Free Access to Wildlife Management Areas for Hunting License Holders
Those who possess a valid VA hunting license are waived from access permit requirements for Wildlife Management Areas and public fishing lakes even when they aren't hunting.
More Information
Here is more information from DWR:
Additional Freely Available Locations to Hunt
I have created a map here where one of the options is locations where you can freely hunt:
In addition, here are additional options that are sometimes free (especially DWR owned areas, where a hunting license typically grants you free entry with no additional permit required for entry) where you can search by zip code and what you are looking to hunt for:
Also, here are some privately owned properties available for limited public use in the southwestern part of the state, including a limited amount of hunting:
Here is a list view of those properties.
National Forests
Those with Access Passes & other passess that provide access to National Parks typically also have access freely to national forests. Here is a map of VA National Forests with some helpful hunting information embedded from DWR's GIS map page:
Keep in mind that these pages may be slow to load and some might have difficulty opening.
Related:
Loosely Related:
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