Quota Hunts

100s—Waterfowl Hunts

101: Hog Island WMA – Waterfowl Hunts

Hunt waterfowl at Hog Island WMA in Surry County. On each hunting day, eight hunters will be randomly selected and assigned an exclusive hunting zone. Each hunter may bring three guests. There will no longer be in-person stand-by hunter redraws for “no-show” vacancies.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

102: Princess Anne WMA – Waterfowl Hunts

Hunt waterfowl on managed impoundments at Princess Anne WMA in Virginia Beach. Hunts include half-day hunting each Saturday during the general duck season. Four hunters will be randomly selected for each day of hunting, and selected hunters may bring three guests. Draw notification letters must be presented to conservation police officers if checked. Dogs are allowed and recommended. All hunters are required to stop hunting at 1:00 p.m. and have all decoys retrieved and be away from the impoundments by 2:00 p.m. Note: No decoys or blinds provided. Due to staff vacancies in the work unit, stand-by drawings will not take place this year. An electronic system is being developed to replace and improve the traditional in-person standby drawing. Also, due to land manager vacancies, the agency is unable to manage the impoundments as we typically would.

Applications due: August 28, 2026

103: Dutch Gap Conservation Area – Waterfowl Hunts

Dutch Gap Conservation Area occupies one of the most historically and geographically distinctive features on the tidal James River in Chesterfield County — a dramatic oxbow where Civil War engineers famously attempted to cut a canal through a narrow neck of land and shorten the river’s course. That effort failed, but it left behind a landscape of marsh, open water, and woodland that today provides productive waterfowl habitat within reach of one of Virginia’s most populated regions.

Hunt days fall on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays during the last two segments of the general duck season, with a single-day hunt on the final day of the season. Late-season timing places hunters on the water during the periods when migrating birds have concentrated and cold weather has compressed movement. Three hunters are drawn for each set of dates, and each may bring two guests. All hunting takes place from floating blinds at designated blind stakes only — hunters should come prepared with their own decoys and a floating blind setup appropriate for the water at Dutch Gap.

The proximity to the Richmond metro makes Dutch Gap Conservation Area one of the more logistically accessible quota properties in the program. Access is still earned through the draw, but for hunters in central Virginia, this is a late-season waterfowl opportunity that doesn’t require a significant drive.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

104: Tundra Swan Permit

Virginia sits at the heart of the Atlantic Flyway’s tundra swan migration corridor. Each fall, tens of thousands of tundra swans move through the Chesapeake Bay region and adjacent tidal river systems on their way south from Arctic breeding grounds, and significant numbers winter along Virginia’s tidal rivers and coastal plain. Virginia is one of a small number of states in the eastern United States that has authorized a permitted tundra swan hunt, making this one of the genuinely uncommon waterfowl hunting opportunities available anywhere in the mid-Atlantic.

Each permit authorizes the harvest of one tundra swan. This is not a volume or group hunt — it is a single, deliberate opportunity in a North American hunting tradition with a limited footprint. The distinction between tundra swans and the protected trumpeter swan is a critical identification requirement for anyone applying; hunters must be able to make that call reliably in field conditions before they ever pull a trigger.

The hunt area covers a defined geographic zone east of U.S. Route I-95 and south of Chopawamsic Creek on the Prince William/Stafford County line. Hunters pursuing swans in this zone need appropriate equipment for large waterfowl and a hunting setup — boat, decoys, blind — suited to working birds on tidal water. Permit holders must return their annual post-season survey to remain eligible in subsequent years; this data collection requirement is a condition of continued participation in the program.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

105: Lake Orange – Waterfowl Hunts

Lake Orange is a mid-sized managed reservoir in Orange County in the Virginia Piedmont, and this quota program makes waterfowl hunting on it available to the public in a part of the state where such access is genuinely uncommon. The surrounding Orange County landscape — rolling hardwood forest, agricultural fields, and the transitional terrain between the Blue Ridge foothills and the broader Piedmont plain — provides the geographic position and upland cover that draws birds during migration and the duck seasons.

Hunt days fall on Wednesdays and Saturdays during the last two segments of the general duck season. One hunter is drawn per hunt date and may bring two guests. The intimate scale of the draw — a single party on a designated section of the lake — means hunting Lake Orange is a private, unhurried experience without the competition for position and space that characterizes many public waterfowl hunts.

Hunting is confined to the designated section of the lake. Only floating blinds anchored within 50 feet of shore or portable blinds along the designated shoreline are permitted — hunters should familiarize themselves with the designated hunting area and plan their blind setup before the season begins.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

106: Dick Cross WMA – Waterfowl Hunts

Dick Cross WMA’s managed impoundments in Mecklenburg County are not easy to reach, and that difficulty is the defining feature of this hunt. There is no vehicular access to the impoundments. There is no boat landing. A boat or canoe is allowed but must be carried to the water on foot. The combination of these constraints means that the kind of hunting pressure that follows vehicular access and convenient launches simply does not exist at Dick Cross — and what replaces it is the genuine solitude of a remote impoundment that most waterfowl hunters are not willing to work to get to.

The impoundments are managed specifically for waterfowl habitat, with water levels and vegetation maintained to attract and hold ducks. Hunt days fall every Wednesday during the last two segments of the general duck season — mid-week, on managed water, with no roads in and no other hunters turning up by truck. Two hunters are drawn per hunt date, and each may bring two guests. Hunting runs from one-half hour before sunrise to 3:00 p.m. Hunters must provide their own decoys. Dogs are allowed.

The logistics of this hunt favor compact gear and efficient transport. A layout boat or small canoe that can be moved on foot by two people, paired with a manageable decoy spread, is the practical approach for most parties.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

107: Princess Anne WMA – Floating Blind Stake Waterfowl Hunts

Hunt waterfowl for half days on the waters of Back Bay in Virginia Beach on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and opening day during the last two segments of the general duck season. There are 43 floating blind stakes available for hunting.

Each hunter will be randomly assigned a number for each day they apply, prior to the season. Each hunt day, hunters present will select their blind based on their assigned number for that day, starting with the lowest number until all hunters present have selected a blind or all stakes have been drawn.

Drawings start promptly at 5:00 a.m., with or without a hunt administrator present. There will no longer be a standby drawing for unclaimed blind stakes; you must have applied for the day(s) that you show to hunt. Selected hunters may bring as many guests as their boat can legally hold as determined by the Coast Guard capacity placard. Limited water access to the area requires that all hunting parties have a boat/ float blind and float blind license.

All hunters are required to stop hunting at 1:00 p.m., retrieve all decoys, and be away from the blind stakes by 2:00 p.m. It is recommended that each hunting party visit the hunting area prior to the season to locate boat access, blind stakes, and scout the area in general. You must be familiar with the area to locate the blind stakes before shooting time! See Princess Anne WMA web page for maps.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

112: Princess Anne WMA – Early Season Floating Blind Stake Waterfowl Hunts

Hunt September Canada geese/teal (during the September teal season) and waterfowl (during the October waterfowl season) on the waters of Back Bay in Virginia Beach on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and opening day. Resident goose season prior to the teal season is open on a first-come, first-served basis.

Quota hunting begins with the opening of teal season. There are 43 floating blind stakes available for hunting. Each hunter will be randomly assigned a number for each day they apply, prior to the season. Each hunt day, hunters present will select their blind based on their assigned number for that day, starting with the lowest number, until all hunters present have selected or all stakes have been drawn.

Drawings start promptly at 5:00 a.m., with or without a hunt administrator present. There will no longer be a standby drawing for unclaimed blind stakes; you must have applied for the day(s) that you show to hunt. Selected hunters may bring as many guests as their boat can legally hold as determined by the Coast Guard capacity placard. Limited water access to the area requires that all hunting parties have a boat/ float blind and float blind license.

All hunters are required to stop hunting at 1:00 p.m., retrieve all decoys, and be away from the blind stakes by 2:00 p.m. It is recommended that each hunting party visit the hunting area prior to the season to locate boat access, blind stakes, and scout the area in general. You must be familiar with the area to locate the blind stakes before shooting time! See Princess Anne WMA web page for maps.

Applications due: July 24, 2026

115: Hog Island WMA – Youth Waterfowl Hunt

This hunt allows youth hunters exclusive access to pursue waterfowl at Hog Island WMA in Surry County. Eight youth hunters (15 years of age or younger) will be randomly selected. Three guests are allowed, but at least one must be a licensed hunter (18 years of age or older) and participate as an adult mentor. Only the youth may harvest. There will no longer be in-person stand-by hunter redraws for “no-show” vacancies.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

200s—Deer Hunts

203: The Nature Conservancy, North Landing River – Deer Hunts

The North Landing River tract is the most demanding access in the quota deer program — and that challenge is not incidental; it is the defining feature of the opportunity. This 2,300-acre parcel in Virginia Beach is managed in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and consists of dense, contiguous tidal wetland and wetland forest habitat throughout. There is no vehicle access. There is no dry ground for foot travel. Getting to the hunting area requires a boat, and moving within the property requires navigating dense vegetative cover and tidal water without the benefit of trails or marked routes.

For hunters who come prepared, that difficulty is exactly what makes this property worth applying for. The remoteness and access challenge mean this tract experiences a level of hunting pressure that is vanishingly rare on public land in the mid-Atlantic. Fifty hunters are selected for the entire deer season and each may bring one guest. The full-season selection gives drawn hunters the time to learn the property across multiple trips and develop an understanding of how deer use the terrain.

Success here depends on serious preparation. Map and GPS equipment are strongly recommended, and hunters unfamiliar with wetland navigation should develop that skill before their first trip in. Successful applicants and their guests must each return a signed liability waiver before the season begins; failure to do so will result in revocation of hunting privileges.

Applications due: August 28, 2026

204: Jones Cove WCS – Deer Hunts

The Jones Cove Wildlife Conservation Site sits on the seaside of Virginia’s Eastern Shore in Northampton County, within the broader Mockhorn Island complex and at the edge of the Virginia Coast Reserve — one of the most ecologically intact barrier island and coastal lagoon systems on the Atlantic coast of North America. The landscape here is unlike anything on the mainland: barrier islands, tidal flats, salt marsh, coastal scrub, and the open horizon of the Atlantic.

This 365-acre, vehicle-accessible tract provides hunters with practical access to a coastal environment that is otherwise largely closed to the public. Two hunters are drawn for each set of hunt dates and each may bring one guest. The muzzleloader requirement adds a layer of tradition and deliberateness to the hunt — one shot, in coastal Virginia, in a landscape with no equivalent elsewhere in the program.

Hunting the Eastern Shore in November means preparing for coastal weather: cold, wind, and exposed terrain where conditions shift faster than they do inland.

Applications due: August 28, 2026

205: Princess Anne WMA – Archery Deer Archery Hunts

Archery hunt on the Whitehurst and Beasley tracts of Princess Anne WMA in Virginia Beach during the first two weeks of November. No Sunday hunting during this quota. Hunters must stay within the wooded areas or along wooded edges while hunting. No hunting in the impoundments. Hunters are required to park in the designated parking areas off Munden Road, and scouting is allowed prior to the start of the quota or on Sundays. Hunters must wear blaze orange or pink. Four hunters will be randomly selected for each segment, and selected hunters may bring one guest.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

212: Lone Star Lakes Park – October Deer Hunts

Lone Star Lakes Park in the City of Suffolk represents a model of urban land management and public hunting access — a municipal park where the city’s partnership with DWR opens woodland and lake-edge habitat for managed white-tailed deer hunting. The October season here runs hunter’s choice of weapon — shotgun, muzzleloader, or archery — giving applicants the flexibility to hunt the way they prefer on a property with mixed cover and agricultural edge characteristic of western Suffolk.

Eight hunters are drawn, and each may bring one guest. All selected hunters must attend a mandatory 5:00 a.m. pre-hunt briefing on the first day of their assigned period — this is a firm requirement, and hunters need to plan arrival accordingly.

An additional hunt fee of $25.00 per person, payable to the City of Suffolk (checks to Ronald H. Williams, Treasurer), is due on the day of the hunt. This fee applies to drawn hunters, standby selections, and all guests. Standby drawings for no-show slots are held walk-in only on the Friday before the hunt begins.

Applications due: August 28, 2026

213: Lone Star Lakes Park – November Deer Hunts

The November edition of the Lone Star Lakes Park managed deer hunt in the City of Suffolk brings the same hunter’s choice format — shotgun, muzzleloader, or archery — into the month that defines deer season across Virginia. November in the Suffolk mixed woodland and agricultural-edge habitat of Lone Star Lakes Park puts hunters on the ground during the rut and peak deer movement, with the same city-managed access structure as the October hunt.

Eight hunters are drawn, and each may bring one guest. A mandatory 5:00 a.m. pre-hunt briefing is required on the first day of each assigned period. An additional hunt fee of $25.00 per person, payable to the City of Suffolk (checks to Ronald H. Williams, Treasurer), is due on hunt day for all drawn hunters, standby selections, and guests. Standby drawings for no-show slots are held walk-in only on the Friday before the hunt.

Applications due: August 28, 2026

217: Doe Creek WMA – Archery/Muzzleloader Deer Hunts

Doe Creek WMA and the adjacent Mink Farm Tract occupy Accomack County on Virginia’s Eastern Shore — a flat, agricultural, barrier island landscape that is geographically and ecologically distinct from anywhere else in the state. Deer hunting on the Eastern Shore has its own character: the terrain is open, the distances are long, and the relationship between agricultural fields, wooded hedgerows, and coastal wetlands shapes how deer move across the landscape in ways that differ from mainland Virginia.

This hunt is limited to muzzleloader or archery equipment, which suits the intimate scale and deliberate pace that Eastern Shore hunting rewards. Turkey may also be pursued when seasons overlap. Five hunters are drawn for each set of hunt dates, and each may bring one guest.

After the muzzleloader quota period ends, the Mink Farm Tract opens to archery deer hunting without quota restriction. The Doe Creek tract itself remains closed through the conclusion of duck season.

Applications due: August 28, 2026

218: York River – Archery/Crossbow Youth Hunter Deer Hunts

York River State Park in James City County is not a typical hunting venue. It is a state park — visited by hikers, paddlers, mountain bikers, and wildlife viewers — and within its boundaries are designated lands set aside for this program: nine days of archery and crossbow hunting for youth hunters, timed specifically to coincide with the peak of the rut. Those designated lands see essentially no hunting pressure during the rest of the year.

This is a self-guided hunt. There are no assigned stands, no managed infrastructure. Youth hunters and their adult companions arrive with their own plan, equipment, and approach. The scouting and preparation work falls on the mentor — learning the designated land, identifying travel corridors and bedding areas, and developing a strategy before the hunt days arrive.

Ten hunters are selected. Adult applicants must bring one licensed youth hunter between the ages of 12 and 15 as their guest. Youth hunters are also eligible to apply directly but must be accompanied by a licensed adult hunter. Gates are open from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

219: New Kent Forestry Center – Archery/Muzzleloader/Firearms Apprentice Hunter Deer Hunts

Seven days on managed forestry land in New Kent County, with archery, muzzleloader, and firearm options available — this is a deliberately broad invitation for hunters bringing an apprentice into the field for deer season. The New Kent Forestry Center’s managed land provides the kind of habitat — early successional forest, upland edge, and managed openings — that deer use actively, and the seven-day duration gives drawn hunters multiple sit opportunities across different weather and conditions.

Twenty-five hunters are drawn, giving applicants a meaningful chance of selection. Each must bring one licensed apprentice hunter as a guest. Apprentice hunters are equally welcome to apply directly and must be accompanied by a licensed hunter. The multi-method format is intentional: an apprentice can experience archery hunting, try a muzzleloader, and hunt with a firearm — all within the same seven-day hunt, with the same mentor.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

220: Chickahominy WMA – Firearm Season Antlerless Deer Tag

The Chickahominy WMA in Charles City County encompasses the wetland and river corridor of the Chickahominy River — a major James River tributary whose bottomland hardwood, tidal marsh, and upland edge habitat supports a substantial deer population. During the firearms deer season, the WMA is normally restricted to antlered deer only — a management structure designed to maintain the doe population on a property that sees significant hunting pressure.

This drawing changes that for 30 hunters. Each successful applicant receives one antlerless deer tag valid for the entire firearms season on the WMA. The full-season validity is significant: these tags are not tied to a single day but remain good from the firearms opener through the close, giving drawn hunters the flexibility to use their tag across multiple trips and conditions.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

221: Hockley Experimental Forest – Apprentice Hunter Deer Hunt

Hockley Experimental Forest in King and Queen County opens for apprentice hunter deer hunts on Saturdays and Federal Holidays throughout the hunting season — a recurring structure that creates multiple chances to apply, and for hunters who are drawn on more than one date, the opportunity to build a sustained hunting experience at the same property across the season. The managed research forest provides mixed habitat that deer use, and the multi-method format — archery, muzzleloader, and firearm, subject to applicable state regulations — gives mentors flexibility to match the method to where their apprentice is in their development.

Six hunters are drawn per hunt day, keeping the field experience relatively uncrowded. Successful applicants must bring one licensed apprentice hunter as their guest. Apprentice hunters may apply directly and must bring a licensed adult hunter as a guest mentor.

Applications due: August 28, 2026

222: Land’s End WMA – Archery Deer Hunts

Land’s End WMA in King George County sits on the Northern Neck between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers, where mixed hardwood forest, small agricultural fields, and tidal creek systems create the varied edge habitat that white-tailed deer use throughout the year. The 200-acre property is intimate in scale — small enough that a hunter who works it carefully across a full week develops a genuine understanding of how deer move across the whole property.

One hunter per week-long segment with up to two guests, archery tackle only. A week at Land’s End during the deer season is enough time to scout after the first sit, adjust based on what you see, identify travel patterns, and hunt them across multiple mornings and evenings.

Applications due: August 28, 2026

300s—Multi-species Hunts

303: Merrimac Farm WMA – Multi – Species Hunts

Merrimac Farm WMA in Prince William County sits in the outer suburbs of the Washington, D.C. metro, and that location is precisely what makes this program unusual. For hunters in Northern Virginia, finding meaningful public land hunting access within a reasonable drive of where they live is genuinely difficult. This quota program provides what doesn’t otherwise exist in much of the region: exclusive, permitted access to a managed wildlife area on a regular hunting day.

One hunter is drawn for each hunt day and may bring up to two guests. Any legal game species except quail may be pursued, which means a single application covers the full spectrum of deer, waterfowl if applicable, and small game across the season. Two handicapped-accessible blinds are available on the property for use by disabled hunters. Dogs may be used to find and retrieve game but may not be used to pursue deer.

Applications due: August 28, 2026

304: Adams Daniel Farm – Multi – Species Hunts

The Adams Daniel Farm in Pittsylvania County is not a wildlife management area — it is a conservation property owned by the Wildlife Foundation of Virginia, a 501(c)(3) organization, and made available to the public through a partnership with DWR. Access to private conservation land of this quality and scale in Southside Virginia does not otherwise exist for members of the public.

One hunter is drawn for each set of hunt days and may bring one licensed guest. Any game species in season may be pursued. Dogs are allowed for finding and retrieving game but may not be used to pursue deer, turkey, or bear. Selected applicants receive a hunting pass to carry in the field, and a windshield pass to display on the vehicle.

On designated Youth/Apprentice Hunting Days, adults may not carry firearms and must accompany a youth or apprentice hunter.

Applications due: August 28, 2026

308: Mattaponi Bluffs WMA – Multi – Species Hunts

Mattaponi Bluffs WMA takes its name from the bluff topography that defines this stretch of the Mattaponi River corridor in Caroline County — rolling hardwood ridgelines dropping toward the river bottom, with the agricultural edge, wooded cover, and creek drainages characteristic of the Virginia Coastal Plain’s tidal river systems. The varied terrain of bluff, slope, and bottomland within a single WMA gives hunters multiple habitat types to work across the season.

One hunter is drawn per set of hunt days and may bring up to two guests. Any game species in season may be pursued, making this a multi-season opportunity across deer, turkey, small game, and any other applicable season on the same application. Applicants who do not receive their preferred dates are assigned from among remaining available slots. Quota restrictions do not apply on open hunting season dates that fall outside the designated quota hunt period.

Applications due: August 28, 2026

400s—Spring Gobbler Hunts

401: Featherfin WMA – Spring Gobbler Hunts

Featherfin WMA spans three counties — Appomattox, Buckingham, and Prince Edward — making it one of the largest and most varied properties in the spring quota program. The south-central Virginia Piedmont here is rolling hardwood and mixed pine terrain, with creek drainages, agricultural edges, and the kind of open-to-dense habitat transitions that produce active gobbler movement during the spring season.

Six hunters are drawn for each set of hunt days, and each may bring one guest. Quota restrictions are not in effect on the Youth/Apprentice Hunt Day and during the final two weeks of turkey season, when the property opens to broader hunting access.

Applications due: November 27, 2026

402: Amelia WMA – Spring Gobbler Hunts

Amelia WMA in Amelia County sits in the Virginia Piedmont where the rolling mixed hardwood and pine forest is classic spring turkey country — open enough under the canopy to work birds through the timber, varied enough in topography to create the ridges, creek bottoms, and agricultural edges that gobblers use differently as the morning progresses.

Three hunters are drawn for each set of hunt days, and each may bring one guest. Quota restrictions are not in effect on the Youth/Apprentice Hunting Day and during the final two weeks of the season.

Applications due: November 27, 2026

404: Merrimac Farm WMA – Spring Gobbler Hunts

For hunters in Northern Virginia, accessible spring gobbler hunting on public land close to where they live is a genuine scarcity. Merrimac Farm WMA in Prince William County is one of the few managed WMA properties in this part of the state, and this quota program carves out exclusive spring turkey access within that landscape.

One hunter is drawn per hunt segment and may bring one guest. Each hunter is limited to one turkey harvested on Merrimac Farm WMA for the entire spring season. On the designated Youth/Apprentice Hunting Day, adults may not carry firearms and must chaperone one youth (age 15 or younger) or an apprentice hunter.

Applications due: November 27, 2026

408: New Kent Forestry Center – Apprentice Hunter Spring Gobbler Hunts

Spring turkey hunting is one of the most challenging, atmospheric, and tradition-rich experiences in Virginia hunting. This one-day opportunity at the New Kent Forestry Center is designed to introduce that experience: put a mentor and an apprentice in the turkey woods together, with a realistic chance at the experience, on managed land in New Kent County.

Four hunters are drawn. Each successful applicant must bring one licensed apprentice hunter. Apprentice hunters may apply directly but must be accompanied by a licensed hunter.

Applications due: November 27, 2026

409: Ware Creek – Spring Gobbler Hunts

Ware Creek WMA in New Kent County offers one of the more group-friendly formats in the spring turkey quota program — five hunters drawn per segment, each bringing up to two guests. Guests must hunt with the applicant rather than operating separately. All selected hunters must carry their award notification in the field.

The New Kent County landscape — transitional coastal plain forest and wetland edges, with the creek drainages and hardwood cover that turkey use in the spring — rewards hunters who are willing to move and call. Quota restrictions are not in effect during May. On the Youth/Apprentice Hunting Day, only youth and apprentice-licensed hunters may carry a weapon and must be accompanied by a licensed adult age 18 or older.

Applications due: November 27, 2026

410: Adams Daniel Farm – Spring Gobbler Hunts

The spring turkey season at the Adams Daniel Farm in Pittsylvania County is an extension of what makes the multi-species hunt on this property distinctive: access to privately owned Wildlife Foundation of Virginia conservation land that is simply not available through any other public channel.

One hunter is drawn for each set of hunt days and may bring one licensed guest. Each hunter is limited to one turkey harvested on the Adams Daniel Farm during the spring season. Selected applicants receive a hunting pass to carry, and a windshield pass to display. On designated Youth/Apprentice Hunting Weekends, adults may not carry firearms and must chaperone a youth (age 15 or younger) or an apprentice hunter.

Applications due: November 27, 2026

413: Mattaponi Bluffs WMA – Spring Gobbler Hunts

Spring gobbler season at Mattaponi Bluffs WMA puts hunters in the hardwood bluffs and river bottom terrain along the Mattaponi River in Caroline County. The topographic variety of this property — bluff face, slope, bottom, and upland transition — gives hunters multiple setups to consider as the morning unfolds.

One hunter is drawn per hunt segment and may bring up to two guests. On Youth/Apprentice Hunting Weekends, only youth and apprentice-licensed hunters may carry a firearm and must be accompanied by a licensed adult age 18 or older.

Applications due: November 27, 2026

414: Hockley Experimental Forest – Apprentice Hunter Spring Gobbler Hunts

Spring turkey hunting is genuinely one of the harder forms of hunting to learn, and part of that difficulty is that the experience is so compressed. The Hockley Experimental Forest in King and Queen County addresses this by opening for apprentice turkey hunts on Saturdays and Federal Holidays throughout the spring season — a recurring structure that gives mentor-apprentice pairs multiple chances to be drawn and, over the course of the season, to build on each experience.

One hunter is drawn per hunt day. Successful applicants must bring one licensed apprentice hunter; apprentice hunters may apply directly but must be accompanied by a licensed adult hunter as a guest mentor.

Applications due: November 27, 2026

416: Land’s End WMA – Spring Gobbler Hunts

Land’s End WMA in King George County on the Northern Neck offers spring turkey hunting in the agricultural fields, mixed hardwood forest, and tidal creek-edge habitat characteristic of this corner of tidal Virginia between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers.

One hunter is drawn per segment and may bring up to two guests. On Youth/Apprentice Hunting Weekends, only youth and apprentice-licensed hunters may carry a firearm and must be accompanied by a licensed adult age 18 or older.

Applications due: November 27, 2026

600s—Small Game Hunts

602: New Kent Forestry Center – Rabbit Hunt

Rabbit hunting with dogs at the New Kent Forestry Center in Providence Forge is one of the most social small game experiences in the Virginia quota program — one hunter drawn per hunt day with the ability to bring four licensed guests, putting a group of five in the field together behind hounds. The managed upland and edge habitat at the Forestry Center provides the brushy cover and thicket structure that cottontails use.

Dogs are strongly encouraged here. One hunter is selected per hunt day; plan your guest list and gear accordingly.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

603: New Kent Forestry Center – Quail Hunt

Wild bobwhite quail hunting on managed public land is increasingly rare across Virginia, and the New Kent Forestry Center in Providence Forge offers one of the only quota-accessible opportunities in the state to pursue quail on lands actively managed for their benefit. The Forestry Center’s management practices — including early successional habitat, native groundcover, and open edge structure — support the quail population that makes this hunt possible.

One hunter is drawn per hunt day and may bring two guests. Dogs are encouraged.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

606: New Kent Forestry Center – Apprentice Hunter Rabbit Hunt

Rabbit hunting with hounds is one of the oldest and most deeply rooted small game traditions in Virginia, and this program is designed specifically to carry that tradition forward to new hunters. The New Kent Forestry Center in Providence Forge provides the setting: managed upland cover and brushy edge habitat worked by dogs in front of a full group — one selected hunter with up to four guests, at least one of whom must be a licensed apprentice hunter.

Dogs are encouraged. Apprentice hunters may apply directly but must bring a licensed adult hunter as their guest.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

607: New Kent Forestry Center – Apprentice Hunter Quail Hunt

Wild quail hunting with pointing dogs is one of the finest and most tradition-steeped upland experiences Virginia has to offer — and one of the rarest opportunities to provide to a new hunter. The managed quail habitat at the New Kent Forestry Center in Providence Forge provides the conditions for that experience to unfold properly.

One hunter is drawn per hunt day with up to two guests, at least one of whom must be a licensed apprentice hunter. Hunting runs from sunrise to sunset. Dogs are encouraged. Apprentice hunters may apply directly and must be accompanied by a licensed adult hunter as their guest.

Applications due: September 25, 2026

610: Land’s End WMA – Dove Hunts

The dove hunt at Land’s End WMA in King George County is the way the hunting season opens in Virginia — a September afternoon in the field, the air still warm, birds working the sky above managed agricultural ground. The hunt takes place on September 11 and 18, 2026, from noon to 6:00 p.m., during the early weeks of dove season.

Ten hunters are drawn per hunt date; each may bring one guest, and all hunters and guests hunt together as a single group. Only non-toxic shot is permitted on the field, and each hunter is limited to 50 shells per outing.

Applications due: August 28, 2026

The Department of Wildlife Resources reserves the right to manage hunter access and hunter use on Department-owned and controlled lands as deemed appropriate.