Virginia biologists have finished tabulating the hunting results from the 2024/25 season and the results are – well – consistent. The harvest of bears, deer and fall turkeys were all amazingly close to the previous year’s totals.
Hunters took 2,702 bears last fall which was a bit lower (6.5%) than the previous year. Reduced access to lands used for bear hunting in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene likely contributed to the slightly lower harvest.
Deer hunters checked in 205,759 deer last year, compared to 206,586 deer taken during the same time frame the previous season. Almost identical results. The goal of Virginia’s game managers has been to stabilize the overall herd and it appears they have been successful,
This year’s total included 101,238 antlered bucks, 665 bucks that had shed their antlers, 13,019 button bucks, and 90,837 does (44.1%).
The fall turkey hunters also experienced a consistent kill with 1,423 birds harvested, only slightly below the 2023–24 season total of 1,443.
Thanksgiving Day accounted for the single highest day of fall harvest with 266 birds.
Populations of bears, deer and wild turkeys in Virginia appear to be quite stable.
