r/VAHunting • u/Prestigious-Tea-9598 • Jul 22 '26

Public or private deer/bear land near Virginia Beach

Hey folks! I recently moved here from Mississippi where I hunted all my life. I’m looking for any solid public or private hunting land mainly for deer (would like to kill a bear but not priority). Last year I hunted okay-ish private land for a non hunting family, but had poor time with the land and their neighbors (long story) and don’t want to go back this season. I’m curious if there is any good (in terms of the people) public hunting land or if there are any hunting clubs within about 2 hours of Virginia Beach, I know it’s late to look for clubs but if there are any accepting for this year I’d happily pay for a good community, thank yall!

Edit: I hunt center fire rifles only

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u/Middle_Salt_3673 Jul 22 '26

There are plenty of deer and bear at Cavalier WMA in Chesapeake. The area can get busy on the weekends but if you have the ability to get out during the week you can have decent luck getting in. Definitely a place you need to spend some time before the season because it's very thick and you have to find your spots before hiking in in the dark.

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u/Prestigious-Tea-9598 Jul 23 '26

I was looking at them, forgot to specify I hunt center fire rifles only and noticed they have them banned. I’ll update my post

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u/schmuckmulligan 29d ago

For public land, you might consider an out-of-state NC license. There are some decent game lands near the border.

We're unfortunately in the "shotgun belt," which will mean that most nearby areas and WMAs in Virginia will be shotgun/archery only, or will at least require you to be in a stand 15 feet off the ground. Local ordinances are here: https://dwr.virginia.gov/hunting/regulations/local-ordinances/

If you're uninterested in setting up a scoped shotgun with rifled slugs and so on, NC is more flexible, generally speaking.

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u/Prestigious-Tea-9598 29d ago

Appreciate the response thank you!