BirdTrout Open the map

When does Virginia's 2026–27 wild turkey season open?

Last updated 2026-09-24 · from VDWR data · 2026–27 licence year

Virginia's 2026–27 wild turkey season runs October 3, 2026 to January 23, 2027, on dates that depend on the zone. Virginia also runs a spring season, April 10, 2027 to May 15, 2027, split into 2 segments with their own dates. Virginia zones this season: 5 of 5 zones open, and the dates differ between them. 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 Wild turkey (fall).

ZoneOpensClosesDays
Albemarle, Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Greene, Highland, Madison, Page and Rockingham counties boundary not mapped October 17, 2026October 30, 202614
November 26, 2026November 26, 20261
Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Caroline, Carroll, Clarke, Craig, Culpeper, Dickenson, Essex, Fairfax, Fauquier, Franklin, Giles, Grayson, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Lee, Loudoun, Montgomery, Nelson, Northumberland, Prince William, Pulaski, Rappahannock, Richmond, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Stafford, Washington, Westmoreland, Wise and Wythe counties, plus Camp Peary, Hampton and Newport News boundary not mapped October 17, 2026October 30, 202614
November 25, 2026November 26, 20262
November 30, 2026December 26, 202627
January 9, 2027January 23, 202715
Accomack, Amelia, Dinwiddie, Gloucester, Greensville, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, Middlesex, New Kent, Northampton, Powhatan, Prince George, Southampton, Surry, Sussex and York counties, plus Suffolk boundary not mapped October 17, 2026October 30, 202614
November 25, 2026November 26, 20262
November 30, 2026December 12, 202613
Amherst, Appomattox, Brunswick, Buchanan, Buckingham, Campbell, Charles City, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Floyd, Fluvanna, Frederick, Goochland, Halifax, Hanover, Henrico, Henry, Louisa, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Orange, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Prince Edward, Shenandoah, Spotsylvania, Tazewell and Warren counties boundary not mapped October 17, 2026October 30, 202614
November 25, 2026November 26, 20262
November 30, 2026December 12, 202613
January 9, 2027January 23, 202715
Statewide archery October 3, 2026November 13, 202642

The best weeks

This app carries no agency-sourced peak for wild turkey 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
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

By region

Open the hunting map →Public land and bird cover, drawn for the bird you are after.