Some context

I know that there is Amelia and Chickahominy WMA with sight-in ranges, but I have about 10 left over full sized pumpkins that I want to shoot into. Does the WMAs allow that on the range (I assume not)? If not, is there anyone that is in the Tri-Cities area that has enough land to let a guy target shoot some pumpkins? I'm in Petersburg btw. Thanks!

I currenty hunt with rifles out of state but I started looking into Fairfax County opportunities and found the Fairfax County Archery Program.

I have viewed the Individual Archer Standards and Archery Qualifications but I have some questions about the program still.

The first major question would be how difficult entry to this program actually is, does everyone who qualify get in or is it hit and miss?

Assuming entry is easy, I know tree stands must be used, are the stands required to be taken down each day (or climbers) or can they be semi-permanent?

Is there a minimum participation/takes expected?

I would love if a participant or group leader is able to reply, I have further questions about game cameras, the culture of groups and what most people choose to do with their kills.

Anyone have an issue getting their tags to show up in the eNotch section? I have a valid license and I’ve synced it to the app, but the tags don’t show up.

Has anyone done the hunt here before? I’ve got two stands and was wondering if anyone had experience with it.

Who hunts at the Mattaponi WMA in Caroline? I'm relatively new to hunting and am trying to find new areas. I've been hunting some private land and Fort Walker. Still haven't landed a harvest yet. Looking for pointers and to learn more.

Got my first deer ever on opening day of Rifle in VA, using a Sears model 53 in Gods caliber. My dad inherited the rifle a decade ago when grandpa passed, but since he isn’t a hunter, I am holding onto it. I have been out the past 2 seasons sporadically, missing a decent doe at ~200y on opening day of ‘22. Didn’t see much again that season. Only sat once last year.

I was determined to get my first deer with this gun, and finally got a good chance. I saw him a few hundred yards away in the woods, moving toward me. He walked to within 15y of my platform stand, right at the wood line, and when I brought the gun up to get ready, he spooked on a creak from the leather sling. He bounded 3 times out into the field about 45 yards in front of me, and I put one high through both lungs. He dropped and expired in 30 seconds or so.

Load was a Hornady Superperformance loaded with 168 gr SST. Hit ribs on both sides and absolutely liquified his lungs. Minimal meat loss.

Overall I am thrilled. Not a large rack, but a small 8 pointer is still an 8 pointer lol. 91lbs dressed and got a decent amount of meat off him. Processed it all myself. Young deer are delicious! Proud to feed my family with a piece of family history.

Seeing the big bodies you all are putting down is awesome. I can’t help but ask if anyone else is struggling. I’ve been on private for a while too that historically has deer moving around. They’re on cams but ultra late night. It’s 50-60 degrees when I get in a tree. Anyone else holding out hope things pick up with a cold snap?

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I'm trying to go out there tomorrow or Saturday just didn't know if it was worth it or how deep it was cause I don't have a boat or dog. Thanks for any info

Been out in the stand a lot this month, had deer chasing about 5 days ago. But now I have deer on cam still, but no bucks to be found. And I’m not seeing deer at all during the day. Is 1st rut over you think? I knew it was coming soon, but I guess I was hoping for a few more days.

I am just getting started with hunting. I have joined my friends a couple of times on some private land up in Northern VA, but I know just about nothing when it comes to hunting in general. I have been doing a bunch of research online and looking at a bunch of forums but I am still having a hard time with a couple of things.

I'm trying to start off on public land, I live near Richmond, and I don't mind driving 2-3 hours easily, I know I am late to the season, but I was wondering if anyone would have some suggestions of places to get started. I was looking at C.F Phelps, and Oakley, but all I see online is how over-hunted it is, I am just eager to get out there and learn while also enjoying myself.

I was honestly considering going more towards GWNF and just heading to the mountains and trying my luck out there. However, all I hear about GWNF is how sparse the deer are, they are for sure there, and I love the hike, but I don't know if that's a good idea either.

Any help or suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Ive been debating on getting into hunting for a while now. However I have no idea if spending the money on a gun, licence and all the other things that go into it would be a waste if I find out I don't like it.

Is there anyone I could tag along with to see what it's about? Im a 32(m)

I’m planning on going hunting over on big woods WMA however they allow dog hunting. So I’m curious if the state forest allows it as well so I can hopefully go there depending on how bad the dogs are on the wma.

Also if anyone knows if big woods is busy during deer season this is my first time going. Ive only been to chickahominy and that was awful I had dogs constantly running through the area I was in.

New hunter here, looking to get into squirrel hunting. Was wondering if there was anyone I could tag along with that knows a thing or two about it.

Looking at getting a permit for one of the Rappahannock River Natl Wildlife Refuge units next weekend (Sat is a doe day). Anybody ever hunt these properties? Do they actually produce deer? Don't care if it's a buck or doe.

I’ve been trying to look and my next stop is getting in touch with a warden. Are we able to hunt with .223 in Louisa county? I keep seeing that the BOS approve it in 2016 but that’s all I see. Any info would be great!

Anyone know of any guides with room for one more this weekend? Turns out my wife has a friend coming in town so I'm trying to get some birds, but i haven't found any good spots where we've moved (Norfolk). I'm willing to drive a good ways.

Thanks in advance

Why are people so trashy?

The hunt club adjoining my 185 acres lets their dogs run all over my property pretty much every time they are hunting. Twice already and it’s only the first week. The worst part is that I can’t do a damn thing about it. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of “my dogs can’t read,” “put up a fence,” “go back to where you came from,” and my favorite “you’re sitting over a corn pile.” They have no logical justification for the constant abuse of private property. They are their own worst enemy and yet they still act like they own the state.

One of my biggest regrets is getting down from the stand when I heard the dogs coming. These dogs from a huntclub that I am not apart of pushed this buck to private property I hunt on. When I hunt with my clubs dogs I like to float a good chunk of land on my own so I decided to do that when I heard the dogs running crazy in front of me for the past 30 minutes. This buck finally busted into my part of the woods but saw me before he was even within 80 yards (shotgun hunting). But i did get a snapshot of him from my Tactacam recording if you look close enough you can see the rack on him, haven’t heard of a lot of deer that size in my area.

Finally knocked down a solid 10 pt buck. I saw a young doe wander out into the field I was hunting with her ears pinned back and she was moving quickly. I immediately looked behind her to see if she was being harassed by a buck and, sure enough, this guy wandered right out in hot pursuit. There's been a ton of activity where I am in Albemarle and Louisa.

After field dressing

Got er did in the GWNF with a nice little 7. Now fully focused on duck season!

Good morning, I’m hunting on some land tomorrow that I leased for a day through outdoor access. I read over the laws and saw that you don’t need to get a license or deer tags if it’s on private land with written permission which we do get to hunt it tomorrow. Do I still need the license because it’s not family land or am I good?

Hi all!

I’m new to hunting; my boyfriend has a lot of hunting experience but is new to Virginia.

We took the VA hunter safety course last spring, but we’re really wishing we knew hunters in the area who are more familiar with the VA-specific logistics. For example, silly questions come up like which days you’re allowed to hunt public lands (eg, I’m finding information about Sunday hunting, but does that mean you can only hunt on Sundays on those lands, or that those lands additionally permit Sundays??).

I guess what I’m hoping is to find someone who doesn’t mind answering those little questions as they come up, though it would be amazing to actually make some friends!

For context, we’re located in northern VA, but aren’t opposed to long drives. I’m using a rifle (tika t3x .270), he’s using a shotgun (Mossberg 500 12 gauge). Currently interested in hunting deer, but will branch out in future. We prefer to avoid using a tree stand — which I know limits counties where I can use my rifle. We also need to find a good processor, as we live in an apartment and our landlord might be upset if we hung a deer on our balcony 😂 Happy to answer any other questions, and thanks in advance for any suggestions/advice!