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When does Virginia's 2026–27 northern bobwhite season open?
Last updated 2026-09-24 · from VDWR data · 2026–27 licence year
Virginia's 2026–27 northern bobwhite season runs November 7, 2026 to January 31, 2027 — 86 days afield. Legal hours are one half-hour before sunrise to one half-hour after sunset. Virginia allows Sunday hunting, with two exceptions: not within 200 yards of a house of worship, and not for deer or bear with dogs.
The dates
VDWR's own dates for the 2026–27 licence year, read from VDWR. Virginia lists this season as Northern bobwhite.
| Segment | Opens | Closes | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide | November 7, 2026 | January 31, 2027 | 86 |
The best weeks
This app carries no agency-sourced peak for northern bobwhite in Virginia, so none is claimed here. Within the dates above, the two weeks either side of the leaf drop are the traditional answer in the northern states and the first hard frost is the southern one — both are hunters' rules of thumb rather than anything an agency published.
Shooting hours
- Legal hours
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One half-hour before sunrise to one half-hour after sunset. Not Michigan's rule. Virginia gives you the extra half-hour at the end of the day that Michigan does not, and this app's hunt planner draws the Michigan line — so the shaded evening on the planner is conservative here rather than wrong. Spring turkey runs on its own hours: until 12 noon for the first sixteen days, then to sunset. VDWR
- Sundays
- Virginia allows Sunday hunting, with two exceptions: not within 200 yards of a house of worship, and not for deer or bear with dogs.
The other questions
- How to hunt northern bobwhite in Virginia
- Where to hunt northern bobwhite in Virginia
- Virginia northern bobwhite regulations, 2026–27
- Virginia northern bobwhite hunting report
- Northern bobwhite hunting in Virginia — the whole picture
- Northern bobwhite — biology, range and how it is hunted