West Virginia Hunting Seasons – Rules, Regulations and Guidelines

Hunting and Trapping Regulations

For season dates, open counties, bag limits and other helpful tips for West Virginia’s big and small game seasons, download the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Summary for the 2026-2027 seasons.

New for 2026-2027

• Season dates and open counties for antlerless deer, fall wild turkey and black bear hunting seasons have changed. See appropriate sections for details.
• Bear and turkey may be taken with any weapons that are legal during the statewide Mountaineer Heritage Season within Logan, McDowell, Mingo and Wyoming counties (see page 32).
• Youth and Class Q permit holders may take one antlered deer during the Special Split Youth and Class Q Seasons (see page 27).
• Detailed chronic wasting disease question and answer information has moved online to WVdnr.gov (see page 12).

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Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations

For season dates, bag limits and other helpful tips for West Virginia’s migratory game bird seasons, download the Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations Summary for the 2025-2026 seasons.

New for 2025-2026

• Minimum youth age restrictions for the youth seasons have been removed.
• Concurrent waterfowl and deer gun season limitations have been modified.
• An interim northern pintail strategy has been adopted by the USFWS, increasing the daily bag limit of pintails to three and the possession limit to nine.
• Duck segment dates have been modified.
• Beginning July 1, 2025, migratory e-Stamps will be available for purchase at duckstamp.com/e-stamp, in addition to 30 other states that sell e-Stamps.

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There are now options for nonresident lifetime hunting, trapping, and fishing licenses in lieu of the equivalent annual license. Please consult the 2026-2027 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Summary for additional details.  

A Lifetime Senior/Hunting/Trapping/Fishing License (Class XS) is required of all resident hunters, trappers and anglers who reach 65 years of age on or after Jan. 1, 2012 (those born on or after Jan. 1, 1947), with the exception of landowners and lifetime license holders.

Resident and Non-resident Apprentice Hunting/Trapping/Fishing licenses are available as of January 1, 2013.  These licenses will allow a person who wants to try hunting without taking a hunter education course to do so.  However, stipulations apply, including that an individual must be accompanied by a licensed adult hunter and must not have purchased a base hunting license in previous years. See hunting and trapping regulation summary for additional details.

Law relating to the discharging of firearms in the vicinity of dwellings was modified in 2013 – It is illegal to shoot a firearm within 500 feet of a school, church or dwelling, or on or near a park or other place where persons are gathered for pleasure; provided, a resident or guest of a dwelling may shoot a firearm within 500 feet of the dwelling where the person lives, if all residents of the dwelling consent and no other dwellings are within 500 feet.

It is illegal to shoot, hunt or trap upon the fenced, enclosed, purple paint marked or posted lands of another person without having on possession written permission from the landowner.  For the purposes of the purple paint posting law: boundaries must be marked with a clearly visible purple paint marking, consisting of 1 vertical line no less than 8 inches in length and 2 inches in width, and the bottom of the mark not less than 3 nor more than 6 feet from the ground or normal water surface.  Such marks must be affixed to immovable, permanent objects that are no more than 100 feet apart and readily visible to any person approaching the property. Signs shall be posted at all roads, driveways or gates of entry onto the posted land so as to be clearly noticeable from outside the boundary line. 

Air Rifle Hunting

Any person lawfully entitled to hunt may hunt with an air rifle during small game and big game firearms season. Air rifles may only be used for deer hunting in counties open to firearm deer hunting. Any person hunting with an air rifle is subject to all other rifle and firearm hunting regulations (see page 3 of the 2026-2027 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Summary). For more information about individual seasons, go to the sections for deer, bear, turkey, and wild boar. Air rifles may be discharged within 500 feet of a dwelling.