Skip to content
Virginia · 2026-27 season year

Virginia Turkey Season 2026-27

Spring 2027: April 10, 2027 to May 15, 2027. Fall 2026: October 3, 2026 to November 26, 2026. Every date below was read from Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources’s own published page, linked beside it, on the date shown.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 2, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.
April 10, 2027 to May 15, 2027
Spring 2027
published
October 3, 2026 to November 26, 2026
Fall 2026
published
Statewide
Zone structure
as the agency draws it
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
Source
read 2026-09-01
The flagship

Spring 2027 turkey season in Virginia

Spring 2027 season

published

Spring 2027 season opens in 177 days, on April 10, 2027.

Virginia spring 2027 season, as published by Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideApril 10, 2027April 25, 2027Half-day hunting hours segment
StatewideApril 26, 2027May 15, 2027All-day hunting hours segment

Dates read from Virginia Hunting, Trapping, and Migratory Game Bird Seasons, July 2026 to June 2027 (DWR guide PDF, p. 21), accessed 2026-09-01.

A spring youth and apprentice weekend also exists in early April 2027.

TURKEY HUNTING SEASONS ... Archery Oct. 3 – Nov. 13 ... Statewide except in areas where there is a closed frearm season on turkey.
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. Read it at the source
Close view of a strutting male wild turkey with fanned tail in California grassland
A western tom in strut. Merriam’s and Rio Grande birds carry the western seasons. “Male wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) strutting” by Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
Advertisement
The other half

Fall 2026 turkey season in Virginia

Fall 2026 season

published

Fall 2026 season is OPEN now in the Statewide (archery), through November 13, 2026.

Virginia fall 2026 season, as published by Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Statewide (archery)October 3, 2026November 13, 2026Statewide except areas with a closed firearm season on turkey
Fall firearms, county group 1 (Albemarle, Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Greene, Highland, Madison, Page, Rockingham)October 17, 2026October 30, 2026first segment
Fall firearms, county group 1 (Albemarle, Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Greene, Highland, Madison, Page, Rockingham)November 26, 2026November 26, 2026one-day segment
Fall firearms, county group 2 (Bedford, Bland, Botetourt and 35 more counties plus Camp Peary, Hampton, Newport News)October 17, 2026October 30, 2026first segment; later segments Nov 25 to 26, Nov 30 to Dec 26, and Jan 9 to 23, 2027
Fall firearms, county group 3 (Accomack, Amelia, Dinwiddie and 14 more counties plus the City of Suffolk)October 17, 2026October 30, 2026first segment; later segments Nov 25 to 26 and Nov 30 to Dec 12, 2026
Fall firearms, county group 4 (Amherst, Appomattox, Brunswick and 27 more counties)October 17, 2026October 30, 2026first segment; later segments Nov 25 to 26, Nov 30 to Dec 12, and Jan 9 to 23, 2027

Dates read from Virginia Hunting, Trapping, and Migratory Game Bird Seasons, July 2026 to June 2027 (DWR guide PDF, p. 21), accessed 2026-09-01.

Dates vary by county group, see agency. Closed in Arlington County and the cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach. A fall youth and apprentice weekend also exists in October 2026. The fall firearms season for some county groups extends into January 2027.

Trail camera photo of a wild turkey flock feeding through green woods
A fall flock on a trail camera at Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge. Fall seasons, where held, hunt birds grouped like this. “Wild turkey flock” — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters — Public domain
Why the window sits where it does

Spring seasons are built around the breeding season

Spring turkey seasons exist because of a biological coincidence that favors the hunter and protects the flock at the same time: gobblers are at their most vocal and callable in the weeks when hens are being bred and beginning to nest. Agencies set their windows so that most hens are already on nests while gobblers are still responsive, which is why the opener sweeps north with spring itself, from the Gulf states in March to the northern tier in May.

The dates are an annual regulatory decision, not a fixed calendar, which is why this page reads them from Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources each season year and states the year it covers.

Wild turkey hen crossing a path with three well grown poults
A hen with poults. Spring season structures exist to protect nesting hens while gobblers are still callable. “Wild turkeys (hen with poults)” — ShenandoahNPS / Luca Pfeiffer — Public domain
Rules

Virginia turkey hunting regulations

Season windows are carried here with their source and read date attached. Everything else a hunter is bound by is set by Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, and its regulations page is linked below.

Current Virginia regulations

Bag limits, legal methods, shooting hours, license and permit requirements, and youth or special season rules for Virginia are set by Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources: current regulations

Turkey season dates in other states

Virginia duck seasonThe other 2026-27 season calendar: duck and goose dates by zone and flyway.Virginia deer rutWhen deer actually breed, from the conception studies agencies publish.Virginia fall foliageFall turkey weeks and peak color often overlap. Plan the same trip.

Virginia turkey season questions

Advertisement
Three wild turkey toms displaying side by side in late winter brush
Toms displaying in late winter. By the time most spring seasons open, flocks like this have broken up. “Leader Of The Pack” by Paul VanDerWerf, CC BY 2.0

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 2, 2026. Every season window is republished from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources page linked beside it, read on the date shown; windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. Bag limits, legal methods, shooting hours and license rules are set by Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national turkey season guide.