Director's Message

Time goes by fast—as I write this, spring turkey season has just ended, and for the first time in a few weeks, my alarm clock was set to a somewhat reasonable time. Several new treestands that I bought at the end of last deer season still sit in boxes in my shed, despite my urgency when I bought them to get them situated before the woods leafed out, and I can already picture myself rushing to get them in place sometime in late September. And a coworker remarked to me that the year is almost halfway over, which seems impossible, but is, in fact, true.

For all of the pressures that time moving on may cause, it does come with an upside—we are already at the time of year when we begin looking forward to the fall hunting seasons. Whether your passion leads you to the fields, woods, marshes, or mountains, Virginia is blessed to offer an all-encompassing variety of opportunities for sportsmen and women, with perhaps the only limitation being our own time to experience it all. Included in the Hunting & Trapping in Virginia and Migratory Game Bird Hunting in Virginia books you will find seasons, bag limits, and rules and regulations intended to help responsibly manage our populations and provide safe sporting opportunities for the public, but I’d also invite you to review them from the standpoint of references to the large number of experiences that are available in the Commonwealth. You can find out more about each of these pursuits on our website at dwr.virginia.gov and look for places to experience them on our Explore the Wild app, which can be found either on our GoOutdoorsVA app that you may already use for licensing and tagging purposes, or on the internet at https://dwr.virginia.gov/explore/.

This year’s season offerings will be very familiar, but with some notable adjustments due to completion of a biennial wildlife regulations review cycle and, for our migratory game bird hunters, the annual effort to establish seasons and bag limits consistent with what is permitted by the federal guidelines that oversee those species. Whether you are a first-time hunter or this fall will mark several decades in the field for you, take a moment to review information relevant to you ahead of time, so that you won’t find yourself wondering the night before your hunt (or, as sometimes happens to one of my friends, scrambling to look it up when the target of your pursuit happens to be standing in front of you!).

Thanks to all of you for your support of our wildlife and our hunting opportunities here in Virginia. If you are a longtime hunter, remember this year to give a little back and take someone new into the field; you’ll find the experience to quickly become among your favorite memories. And most of all, remember to set aside the time to get away from life’s daily pressures and get out there and enjoy all that this state has to offer! I wish all of you a safe and rewarding season.

Ryan Brown, Executive Director, DWR