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Where to hunt ruffed grouse near Covington, Virginia
Last updated 2026-09-24 · seasons from VDWR · 2026–27 licence year
There are 13 public units within 40 miles of Covington, Virginia that hold ground where ruffed grouse is recorded — 656,930 acres of it. The most of it is in George Washington National Forest, 1.2 miles out, with 383,052 recorded acres. The season runs October 24, 2026 to February 13, 2027 — on dates that depend on the zone, bag 3 per day, read against the 2026–27 licence year from VDWR. Public-land boundaries here are PAD-US, which records who manages a parcel rather than where the line runs or whether a unit carries a local closure — check with VDWR before you park.
Public land within 40 miles of Covington
Distance is measured to the nearest edge of a unit rather than to its middle, in a straight line — this app carries no road network and will not print a drive time it cannot compute. A unit whose ground reaches inside the circle is listed for the acreage that is inside it, never for its statewide total.
Ordered by recorded acres — how much of each unit lies inside subbasins where ruffed grouse is recorded at regular strength or better — rather than by how big the unit is. The biggest block in a state is often not in the half of it the bird is in. PAD-US splits a forest into many parcels, so acreage is summed over the unit's name, and the share is measured against the unit's drawn boundary rather than a centroid: a national forest can be two polygons across half a peninsula.
Season boundary not carried
VDWR zones this season and this app does not hold the boundary, so
these units are not narrowed to it. Nothing here says the season is
open on any of them — read the boundary with VDWR before you go.
Season geography here is read off a
dates table rather than the rule itself, and a dates table carries no boundary.
| Unit | Class | Miles | Recorded acres | Acres in range | Where the records are |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Washington National Forest part of the unit | National forest | 1.2 | 383,052 | 416,136 | 92% regular, 8% occasional |
| Jefferson National Forest part of the unit | National forest | 6.1 | 225,318 | 265,562 | 85% regular, 6% present, 9% occasional |
| Goshen and Little North Mountain Wildlife Management Area part of the unit | State wildlife management area | 23.5 | 23,577 | 23,577 | 100% regular |
| Gathright Wildlife Management Area | State wildlife management area | 12.1 | 13,204 | 13,204 | 2% stronghold, 98% regular |
| Short Hills Wildlife Management Area | State wildlife management area | 21.1 | 4,233 | 4,233 | 100% regular |
| Highland Wildlife Management Area part of the unit | State wildlife management area | 35.7 | 4,185 | 4,185 | 100% regular |
| Lake Moomaw Public Fishing Lake | State wildlife management area | 11.1 | 2,132 | 2,132 | 100% regular |
| Lake Robinson State Wildlife Management Area | State wildlife management area | 19.7 | 528 | 528 | 100% regular |
13 units clear the circle in all and the 8 holding the most recorded ground are named. The rest are ground a reader would drive past something better to reach.
A unit marked part of the unit has ground outside the circle as well, and the acreage here is only what is inside it. PAD-US records who manages a parcel, not where its line runs on the ground and not whether it carries a local closure: context, not permission. Check the unit with VDWR before you park.
Season and limits
VDWR's dates for the 2026–27 licence year, read from VDWR. Virginia lists this season as Ruffed grouse. It is zoned, and a circle drawn round a town is not a zone — check which zone a unit falls in before you go.
| Zone | Opens | Closes | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| West of I-95 | October 24, 2026 | February 13, 2027 | 113 |
| East of I-95 | Closed season | ||
- Open today
- Shut — next opening October 24, 2026
- Bag limit
- 3 per day
- Hunter orange
- requiredEvery hunter, and anyone accompanying one, must wear a solid blaze orange or blaze pink hat, or solid blaze upper-body clothing visible from 360 degrees, or display at least 100 square inches of solid blaze material at shoulder level, visible from 360 degrees.
- Shooting hours
- One half-hour before sunrise to one half-hour after sunset.
- 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.
- Virginia requires solid blaze orange or blaze pink — a hat, 360-degree upper-body clothing, or 100 square inches at shoulder level. Waterfowl and dove hunters are exempt; upland bird hunters are not.
- The I-95 line is not drawn in this app. The dates are for the western zone; which side of the interstate you are on is not answered here.
- East of I-95 is a continuous closed season — not a gap in this app's data, a closure Virginia has declared.
- Virginia's grouse are a Blue Ridge and Allegheny bird and the population has been declining for decades. West of I-95 is where the season is; the mountains are where the birds are.
What to walk when you get there
Aspen and mixed brush between about five and twenty years old — cut-over ground rather than big timber, thick enough that you cannot see far into it. The best of it is an edge: young cut against older hardwood, or the alder seam where the cut runs down to wet ground.
Walk the edges slowly and stop often; a stopped hunter is what makes a tight bird lose its nerve. Birds hold in the thick and flush loud, and most shots are inside twenty-five yards through cover, which is why open chokes and light loads are the tradition.
Written for this app rather than read off an agency page — the cover a bird uses does not change at a state line. Everything above that is a date, a limit or an acreage names the source it came from.
Read next
- Where to hunt ruffed grouse in Virginia — every unit, ranked
- Ruffed grouse hunting in Virginia — season, limits and range
- How to hunt ruffed grouse in Virginia
- Ruffed grouse — biology, range and how it is hunted
- Virginia hunting regulations