Virginia: The NRA Celebrates Pro-Hunting Milestone

Virginia Hunters Prepare to Take the Field this Sunday for the First Time — Are You Ready?

For the first time, sportsmen across the Commonwealth will go afield this Sunday to hunt on private lands.  Thank you to all who supported the NRA’s efforts over the last several years to repeal the archaic law prohibiting Sunday Hunting.  Our advocacy and persistence cleared the way to allow landowners and their families, and hunters with written permission from the landowner in hand, to hunt private land and public waterways on Sunday in Virginia.  The Sunday hunting legislation sponsored by Delegate Todd Gilbert (R-15) and now former state Senator Phil Puckett (D-38) took effect on July 1, and this weekend’s dove opener will mark the first season for this critical tool for hunter recruitment and retention.

This important pro-hunting law will provide more hunting opportunities for Virginia sportsmen, allowing busy families the ability to teach hunting to the next generation, as school and sports activities often dominate Saturdays for children.  It will also allow Virginia to enjoy the significant economic benefits that are created by hunters.

Before heading out on your first Virginia Sunday hunt, be sure you know the law by visiting the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) website.  According to the DGIF, any person other than the landowner and his family must have written permission to hunt the landowner’s land on Sunday.  What is “written permission?”  A hunter’s written permission needs to include: the hunter’s identity, the scope of permission, the identity of the landowner who gave permission, and the date the permission was given and expires.

You can find more answers to FAQs in this Roanoke Times article.

Please share with your state Senator and Delegate how this pro-hunting legislation has been a positive change for you and your family this fall via their social media sites or visit the Virginia General Assembly website at ‘Who’s my legislator.’

Currently ten states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia) have Sunday hunting restrictions or prohibitions that date back to "blue laws" enacted in the 1700s.  NRA-ILA will continue to promote America’s hunting heritage and work to repeal these outdated laws.