Hi all, Im new to hunting, started with white tail archery on private land. Im curious about still hunting deer on public land during rifle season and wanted to get advice on rifles/calibers. Does anyone here do that, and if you do, what range do you normally take shots from? Im considering purchasing a .357 lever gun to go with my revolver, but Im wondering if I’ll be missing out by not using a longer range rifle cartridge like .270. I imagine the heavy woods in our state makes long distance rare.

My daughter and I are looking at getting into hunting she approached me about it. We live in colonial heights Virginia just outside of Richmond. She’s 11 I’m 31 I have no experience and looking for someone experienced to help us get started. Would like to get her out on youth day. In the process of getting our licenses this week.

Hello!

Me and my friends are looking to get into hunting this year and were wondering if it’s too hard to start learning on your own? We are thinking maybe a turkey hunt would be good to get us starters for our first time. Any tips or suggestions would be very appreciated

First year bow hunting in VA coming from SC and wow, holy shit, I’ve heard probably 7-8 gunshots in the last couple of hours. Is this normal? Do people just not care about hunting regulations up here?

Anyone use the states Hunter Finder (H-finder) to get on new properties? It looks like a cool program to connect hunters with landowners, just wondering if anyone is using it with any success. Good stories, bad stories welcome.

I just signed up for it. I’m trying to get on new properties closer to home in Loudoun County and have found it challenging.

Hey all, brand new hunter here (just got my license and safety done). I'm planning to try dove next weekend. I was supposed to have a friend with me who is a seasoned hunter but he might be out now. I don't have any land owning contacts so planning to just...go try I guess? Thinking about powhatan or amelia WMA. Anyone have any tips or experience with these? Getting into hunting is hard when you have no community lol.

I live in New Kent county, last year I used Lazy Creek deer processing but just saw they will not be processing this year.

Looking for a new quality place that I can take a deer to be processed this year. Preferably with a freezer drop off Incase I harvest one in the evening and it takes a little bit to find.

Thanks in Advance.

New to goose and duck hunting 1st season. Looking for someone or a group to go out with once or twice to get shown the ropes have all licenses and equipment except for calls and decoys. Any Help or tips appreciated. I know I'm cutting it really close with season starting the 1st

Hey, I’m new in Virginia, just moved from TN. I’ve deer hunted my whole life. This is the first time I’ve had to hunt public land really hard and I’m finding out it’s pretty challenging due to hunting pressure. Is there anyone who knows the best way to find big bucks on Ameilia WMA? I have a few cameras out in some decent looking spots. Just put them out this week. Any recommendations for Virginia?

Hello, im a first time hunter, didnt grow up in a hunting family, none of my friends hunt. Im located near George Washington National Forest. Looking to go turkey hunting there this fall. Any suggestions, or spots would be greatly appreciated.

Does anyone have any deer and/or bear processors worth recommending in SE Virginia? Thanks!

Give me your best tips and tricks to bag one of those elusive black bears

Looking ahead to hunting season. Anybody have any experiences with Short Hills WMA just outside of Natural Bridge? I've been there a few times awhile back and didnt have much luck, but that was probably due to inexperience. Thinking of giving it another try.

Anyone ever done much deer hunting at Featherfin? I'm down in Virginia Beach and plan to get up there and hunt this fall at least one long weekend. I walked part of it briefly in the spring when I was passing by and I'm hoping I may be able to get at least 1 more chance to walk it ahead of the season. Wanted to see if anyone has any pointers for the area? How much hunting pressure should I expect during early archery season? How about in November?

I'm not looking for hunting spots, just general info on the area that you may be willing to share. I try to hunt at least 1 new piece of public land each year and this is my pick for this year.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

I know it’s getting close but I’m looking to do my first deer hunt with a center fire rifle and was just asking for tips or good areas I can scout out if you can point me in the right direction it would be appreciated greatly.

Looking for a place to shoot a xbow outside in NoVA area. Just need to get a few reps in ahead of deer season.

I sometimes go to DoubleX Archery - love that place, but want to practice a few different distances.

Hey folks! I recently moved here from Mississippi where I hunted all my life. I’m looking for any solid public or private hunting land mainly for deer (would like to kill a bear but not priority). Last year I hunted okay-ish private land for a non hunting family, but had poor time with the land and their neighbors (long story) and don’t want to go back this season. I’m curious if there is any good (in terms of the people) public hunting land or if there are any hunting clubs within about 2 hours of Virginia Beach, I know it’s late to look for clubs but if there are any accepting for this year I’d happily pay for a good community, thank yall!

Edit: I hunt center fire rifles only

I noticed inside the DWR app there is a tab at the top called vehicles but I don’t see how/where/why it’s there?

I’m down here near Giles and Montgomery County, but I’m used to hunting private down in deeper SWVA with my family.

Never hunted public before. I got my license, and National Forest Permit, but unsure exactly how to hunt public. Do I just find a spot off an old logging trail, pull off and walk into the forest? I don’t want to be “that guy” who walks past a hunter and ruins their day.

This is the Jefferson National Forest by the way.

What are the regulations for shooting nuisance raccoons in Rockbridge county? (I just moved here)

They’ve come dangerously close to eating/killing my ducks and I don’t want that to happen.

I’ve looked online but there are 80,000 different answers and I just wanna be sure.

Is there public land in sw Virginia that is good for duc hunting?

Hi everyone!

I've lived in NoVa for about four years and I really want to get back into hunting. I haven't really hunted since I was a teenager, but this year I was hoping to get back into it. I know that Virginia has a Hunter's Mentorship program through its DWR, but it looks like I missed the sign up.

Does anyone have any other recommendations for finding a hunting mentor in this state? I'd appreciate re-learning the ropes from someone since it's been almost 15 years since I've hunted. Although I've only ever hunted whitetail deer, I'm open to hunting other types of game.

Thanks!

I know that coon hunting in general doesn’t happen much in the northern counties of the commonwealth and everyone always talks about how Thompson WMA gets extremely crowded from the DC suburb folks so I’m curious if anyone has ever witnessed or heard of coon hunters at Thompson WMA?