Virginia Hunting License: Cost, Requirements & How to Buy
A Virginia hunting license costs $23 for a resident adult and $111 for a non-resident adult (fees verified 2026-09-11).
Virginia's hunting license is the base credential; bear, deer and turkey each take a separate license on top, and hunter education is mandatory for anyone born after January 1, 1975, or under age 17.
Base license includes deer tags. Hunter education is mandatory for anyone born after Jan 1, 1975 or under age 17.
Fee last verified 2026-09-11.
Heading out for Virginia hunting? Game wardens require carrying physical or digital license proof and valid tags. Equip yourself with a waterproof license and tag pouch, rechargeable wide-beam LED headlamp, and corrosion-resistant multi-tool pliers before your trip.
What a Virginia hunting license costs
The resident hunting license (age 16+) is $23 for one year; non-residents pay $111. Bear, deer/turkey, archery and muzzleloader licenses stack on top depending on the season. The $23 base does not cover deer. The resident Sportsman's License at $100 bundles hunting, bear, deer/turkey, archery, muzzleloader, freshwater fishing and trout, often the better math for someone who does more than one of those. Non-residents also have a 3-day hunt license at $60.
Hunter education and age
Hunter education is mandatory for anyone born after January 1, 1975, or under age 17. Resident hunters under 12 are not required to have a hunting license or hunter education, but they must be directly supervised by a licensed adult. Non-resident hunters under 12 need a license but not hunter education to buy one.
How to buy your Virginia hunting license
Go Outdoors Virginia (gooutdoorsvirginia.com) is DWR's sole approved online provider. Licenses are also sold by some circuit court clerks, license agents, and DWR headquarters, not at DWR regional offices. The Go Outdoors VA app stores a digital copy, which satisfies the carry requirement.
Hunting in Virginia: what to expect
The mountains of western Virginia (George Washington and Jefferson National Forests) are the public-land deer and turkey hunt. The Piedmont and Tidewater are more private land, with a longer tradition of leased hunts and a real eastern turkey population. Bear hunting in the mountains is a genuine second season, not a novelty, and it needs the separate bear license.
National forest and extra permits
A National Forest Permit ($4) is required to hunt or trap on national forest in Virginia, with limited exemptions (including some senior and youth cases). State Forest Use Permits and PALS (Public Access Lands for Sportsmen) are additional if you hunt those programs. A statewide hunting license is not a national-forest pass.
What the $23 base actually covers
The resident hunting license (age 16 and older) is $23 for one year; non-residents pay $111. Bear, deer/turkey, archery and muzzleloader licenses stack on top depending on the season. The $23 base does not cover deer. The resident Sportsman's License at $100 bundles hunting, bear, deer/turkey, archery, muzzleloader, freshwater fishing and trout, often the better math for someone who does more than one of those. Non-residents also have a 3-day hunt license at $60, which is the product that matches a weekend in the national forest.
Hunter education is mandatory for anyone born after January 1, 1975, or under age 17. Resident hunters under 12 are not required to have a hunting license or hunter education, but they must be directly supervised by a licensed adult. Non-resident hunters under 12 need a license but not hunter education to buy one. Bring the hunter education card to Go Outdoors Virginia; the system will ask.
National forest, DWR lands and extra permits
George Washington and Jefferson National Forests are the big public-land canvas in western Virginia. They are not a free-for-all: some developed recreation areas and posted inholdings are closed to hunting, and a national forest hunt still needs the Virginia licenses and tags for the game you take. DWR wildlife management areas have their own parking and quota rules.
A separate bear license, an archery license in October, or a muzzleloader license in early November is how most deer hunters actually spend the fall. Buy those when you buy the base license so you are not on a phone at a trailhead with no signal. The Go Outdoors VA app stores a digital copy, which satisfies the carry requirement if you can open it.
How to renew a Virginia hunting license
There is no separate renewal process in Virginia. A hunting license is not extended in place; when it expires you buy a new one for the next license year through the same system you used the first time, and your customer profile, hunter or angler ID and any saved payment details carry over so the second purchase takes a couple of minutes.
The fastest route is the official Virginia online licensing portal, which also lets you print or download the new license and add any stamps, tags or endorsements in one transaction. In-person license agents (sporting goods stores, bait shops and, in many states, county clerks) sell the same license at the same price, so use whichever is closer. Buying before the old license lapses is not required, but it avoids an accidental gap if a season opens before you get round to it.
Planning more than one? See the Virginia fishing license page too, see how much a hunting license costs in every state, compare non-resident hunting fees across states, browse every state, or use the state license finder.