Many Central Virginia parks and natural areas permit hunting at certain times of the year. This includes all Wildlife Management Areas, many State Forests, some State Parks, and a few National Wildlife Refuges. While it is possible to hike these areas during hunting periods using blaze-orange clothing and accessories, we find the added risk unacceptable and cannot recommend it. Instead, you should avoid all hunting areas during hunting periods. You will need to check the park Web site for hunting schedules. Since hunting dates can sometimes be hard to find on these Web sites, you may need to contact the park office. Note that hunting permissibility and schedules can change from one year to the next for any given park, so you must always check the schedule before going.
The links below show hunting localities by park system as of 1/1/2019. Note that hunting may be allowed in certain local parks – we have identified a few in our park descriptions, but still check with the park office to be sure. The summary of hunting seasons in the last link is a rough approximation provided just to give you an idea of the basic timing of the seasons. In most places, some form of hunting is allowed from the middle of August until late June of the next year. Again, there is no substitute for contacting the park office.
Summary of Public Hunting Lands - https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/hunting/regulations/publiclands/
Wildlife Management Areas - https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/wmarules.pdf
State Forests - http://www.dof.virginia.gov/stateforest/recreation/hunting.htm
State Parks - https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/hunting
Hunting Regulations - https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/hunting/regulations/
Summary of Hunting Seasons - http://www.huntingseasonhq.com/virginia-hunting-seasons/