Updated on September 7, 2026. Confirm every fee, hunter-education rule, and tag wording on the official Virginia DWR hunting licenses and fees page and at GoOutdoorsVirginia.com before you buy. This is the field readout, not the proclamation.
| Who this is for | Resident and nonresident hunters of white-tailed deer in Virginia. Eastern Shore sika, if you find one, still rides the deer/turkey license. |
|---|---|
| Buy it here | GoOutdoorsVirginia.com · a license agent · 1-866-721-6911. Official hub: Buy Licenses & Access Permits. |
| Hunter education | Required if you are 12–15, or you have never bought a regular hunting license. Under 12: licensed adult. Full-online is Virginia residents 12+. Other-state cards count. Hunter education. |
| What you actually buy | Hunting license and deer/turkey license. Archery and muzzleloading for those designated seasons. Bonus deer permit for extra antlerless on private land. National Forest Permit. State Forest Use Permit. PALS where posted. |
| OTC vs draw | Resident and nonresident deer licenses are over the counter. Quota hunts on some WMAs still draw. An application is not a deer license. |
| License year | Hunting license: one year from purchase. Deer/turkey and bear: July 1–June 30. Apprentice: two years. Lifetime hunting still needs seasonal deer/turkey. |
| Antlerless / bonus | Six deer tags on deer/turkey — three either-sex, three antlerless. One either-sex tag is east-of-Blue-Ridge only and dead on National Forest. Bonus: six more antlerless, not NF, not DWR land, not Buchanan, Dickenson, or Wise. |
| WMA / public extras | A valid hunting license waives the WMA Access Permit. National Forest Permit on GW-Jefferson. State Forest Use Permit at 16+. PALS on cooperating private tracts. Quota hunts still draw. |
| Youth / apprentice | Resident under 12 is license-exempt; nonresident under 12 still buys. Youth Combination is the stacked product. Apprentice is two years, supervised, still needs deer/turkey. Youth/Apprentice Weekend: last Saturday in September and the next day. |
| Where to hunt next | Virginia deer hunting guide · George Washington and Jefferson National Forest · Appalachia national forests |
Buy deer/turkey before you point the truck at Harrisonburg
I have watched West Virginia plates roll into a George Washington–Jefferson lot with a home-state license in the console, and I have watched a resident walk out of a Harrisonburg agent with “a hunting license” and no deer/turkey. Virginia does not care that the ridge looks the same from Bartow. You need a Virginia hunting license and a Virginia deer/turkey license to hang a deer here — including GW-Jefferson. The national walkthrough lives at how to get a hunting license. This page is Virginia’s cart. Seasons and where to sit stay on the Virginia hunting guide.
Step 1: Hunter education
Virginia is not a 1960 birth-year state. The hunter education requirements page: take the course before you buy a hunting license if you are 12–15, or if you have never purchased a regular hunting license. Under 12 skip the course, but a licensed adult has to be immediately supervising. Self-study plus a classroom works for every age. The full-online course is for Virginia residents 12 and older only. Other-state cards count; bring the card. Course notes: what a hunter education course is actually like. Never taken it and you want this fall? Buy the apprentice hunting license. First-time only, two years, still needs deer/turkey, still hunt at the elbow of a licensed adult over 18 who can take the gun.
Step 2: Resident or not
Residency is not a Highland County cabin and a Maryland tax return. DWR’s test, on the same licenses and fees page: domiciliary resident of Virginia for two or more months immediately before you buy, plus a signed certificate of residency. Active-duty military stationed at a Virginia base or on a ship based here, plus spouse and dependents, buy resident.
A first-year nonresident can buy hunting and deer/turkey over the counter. Confirm the current band on DWR the week you buy. Last checked September 7, 2026: resident hunting plus deer/turkey stacks in the mid-$40s, or Sportsman’s around $100 (hunt, bear, deer/turkey, archery, muzzleloading, fishing). Nonresident hunting sits around $110 and deer/turkey in the mid-$80s. The 3-day hunt license is in the $60 band and still needs deer/turkey. Youth Combination (under 16) is the stacked product DWR call the better deal. I am not pasting a fee table that will be wrong in October. Trip math: planning an out-of-state deer hunt.
Step 3: What goes in the cart
Think in layers. Virginia does not sell a standalone “deer tag” the way some Midwest states do.
- Hunting license — resident or nonresident, annual or (nonresident) 3-day. This is not the deer license.
- Deer/turkey license — required to hunt deer. Valid July 1–June 30. This is the paper with the six deer tags. Lifetime hunting does not skip this.
- Archery license for a designated archery season. Muzzleloading license for a designated muzzleloader season. Bow or muzzleloader during firearms season does not need those extras — you follow firearms either-sex days and you wear blaze. Deer regulations.
- Bonus deer permit for extra antlerless on private land (or authorized public). Six antlerless tags. Not valid on National Forest or DWR land, and not in Buchanan, Dickenson, or Wise.
- National Forest Permit to hunt GW-Jefferson. State Forest Use Permit at age 16+ on Department of Forestry ground. PALS on cooperating private tracts.
Sportsman’s License (residents, 16+) still does not include the National Forest Permit, State Forest, PALS, or bonus tags. Do not buy the 3-day hunting license and expect it to cover a buck by itself. A Maryland or North Carolina license does not cover Virginia.
Step 4: When it goes on sale
There is no “deer tags drop in March” holiday. A hunting license is good for one year from the day you buy it. Deer/turkey runs July 1–June 30. An OTC pair is still sitting on GoOutdoorsVirginia opening morning in a normal year. What disappears is a quota-hunt slot. Princess Anne, Hog Island, Merrimac Farm, and some Chickahominy doe days go through quota hunts. A drawn weekend is not a deer/turkey license.
How you carry it, tag it, and report it
Electronic copies are legal. DWR wants you in the GoOutdoorsVirginia app. I still screenshot the PDF. Before you move the deer, validate a tag — paper notch or eNotch in the app. Do not notch before the kill; a mistaken paper notch gets VOID in ink and that tag is gone. Then report the deer upon vehicle transport of the carcass, or at the end of legal hunting hours, whichever comes first, without unnecessary delay. Three ways, from the tag validation and harvest reporting page: the app, GoOutdoorsVirginia.com, or 866-GOT-GAME (866-468-4263). Write the eight-digit confirmation on the paper tag. License-exempt hunters still report. Mechanics: how to tag a deer.
CWD is not a license, but it will ruin the drive home. If you kill a deer in Bland, Grayson, Patrick, Shenandoah, Smyth, Tazewell, or Wythe on Saturday, November 14, 2026, take it to a sampling station. Carcass rules change by DMA. Natural deer urine is illegal statewide. Official: CWD information for hunters. Symptoms: CWD in deer.
Public land does not need a second deer license — it needs the right extra
GW-Jefferson, the WMAs, and the state forests take the same hunting-plus-deer/turkey stack. They do not take a West Virginia license or a bonus permit you bought because it was cheap. The National Forest Permit is the stamp people skip, then argue with a ranger on the Shenandoah Mountain lot. State Forest Use Permit at 16+. PALS is its own permit on cooperating farms. A current hunting license waives the WMA Access Permit. Quota WMAs still want you drawn. How-to: wildlife management areas, hunting national forest land, public land deer hunting, tree stand safety.
Read the six tags before you sit. DWR’s deer FAQ: three either-sex, three antlerless. One either-sex tag is east of the Blue Ridge only and is not valid on National Forest, including the NF pieces of Amherst, Bedford, and Nelson. East of the ridge: six deer, no more than three antlered. West of the ridge (and that same NF): five deer, no more than two antlered. Bonus tags sit outside that cap on private land. Earn a Buck is a county harvest rule, not a license product — it lives on the hunting guide.
Youth and first-timers
Youth means 15 and under for the special weekend. That weekend is the last Saturday in September and the next calendar day — September 26 and 27 in 2026. Either sex. Any legal deer weapon. Dogs off. The adult mentor does not need a deer/turkey that weekend, does not carry a weapon, and stays close enough to take the gun. Resident kids under 12 are license-exempt; nonresident kids under 12 still buy. DWR’s youth and apprentice Q&A points them at the Nonresident Youth Combination. Youth and apprentice hunters also get one antlerless deer per year on a day that is not an either-sex day, statewide.
Common ways this goes wrong
- Buying only the hunting license — or the 3-day hunt license — and skipping deer/turkey.
- A West Virginia, Maryland, or North Carolina license on Virginia dirt because “it’s the same ridge.”
- A bonus antlerless permit on GW-Jefferson or a DWR WMA, or in Buchanan, Dickenson, or Wise.
- Using the east-only either-sex tag west of the Blue Ridge, or on National Forest in Amherst, Bedford, or Nelson.
- Archery or muzzleloader season with only hunting plus deer/turkey.
- Nonresident clicking the full-online hunter-ed course (residents 12+ only), or moving the deer before the notch.
Where to hunt once the tag is in the truck
Start with the Virginia deer hunting guide for seasons, Earn a Buck, Sundays, baiting, dogs, and public land. Mountain trip: George Washington and Jefferson National Forest. Ridge compare: Appalachia national forests. Neighbors: Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia. Sibling carts: Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan. Woods people skip: where to hunt. Highway at dusk: what to do if you hit a deer.
Parent hub: how to get licensed · deer hunting · hunting by state.
FAQ
Can a nonresident buy a Virginia deer license over the counter? Yes. Hunting plus deer/turkey, annual or 3-day. Confirm on GoOutdoorsVirginia.com. Quota WMAs are the part that may not be sitting on the shelf.
Does a West Virginia or Maryland license work in Virginia? No.
Do I need a separate license for George Washington and Jefferson National Forest? You need the Virginia hunting license, the deer/turkey license, and the National Forest Permit. Bonus antlerless permits do not work there.
Where do I report a deer? Notch at the kill (paper or eNotch). Report in the app, at GoOutdoorsVirginia.com, or 866-468-4263 upon vehicle transport or at the end of legal hours, whichever comes first.