Deer rifle season opens in Lee County on Saturday, Nov. 14, coming off the county’s biggest deer harvest in a decade. Hunters reported 1,424 deer in the county in the 2025–26 seasons, up from 1,197 the year before, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources’ county deer kill table. By The Lee Daily Register’s count, that is a 19% increase and the highest total since 2015.
Most of the gain came from bucks. Hunters took 985 antlered deer, the most in Lee since 2005, along with 405 does and 34 button bucks. Because every deer must be reported, the agency describes its figures as an “actual known minimum count.”
Lee County’s dates for 2026–27
The dates below come from DWR’s online deer regulations and its 2026–27 seasons guide, as of Oct. 27. Antlered bucks are legal every day of each season, but does and other antlerless deer only on the days shown.
| Season | Dates | Days does may be taken |
|---|---|---|
| Early archery | Oct. 3–Nov. 13 | Every day |
| Early muzzleloader | Oct. 31–Nov. 13 | Nov. 7 on private land; none on national forest |
| Firearms, private land | Nov. 14–Dec. 12 | Nov. 21, 27 and 28 |
| Firearms, Jefferson National Forest | Nov. 14–28 | None (bucks only) |
| Late archery | Nov. 29–Jan. 2 | Every day |
| Late muzzleloader | Dec. 12–Jan. 2 | Jan. 2 |
West of the Blue Ridge, a hunter may take two deer a day and five a license year, with no more than two antlered. Only one deer a day is allowed on national forest land, and dogs may not be used to hunt deer anywhere west of the Blue Ridge.
Bonus deer permits, which add antlerless deer beyond the season limit, work in Lee County on private land and authorized public land during doe days. They are not valid in neighboring Wise County.
A longer rifle season, and more deer
This year’s deer calendar matches last year’s, and DWR’s list of 2026–27 changes covers turkey limits and disease testing, not deer or bear seasons. The bigger change came in 2025. An archived copy of DWR’s 2024 regulations shows the general firearms season in Lee, Scott and Wise ran two weeks that fall, Nov. 16–30. A 2025 copy shows the private-land season in all three counties ran four weeks, Nov. 15–Dec. 13.
DWR’s county tables show similar jumps in all three:
| County | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Change, 2024 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee | 1,094 | 1,197 | 1,424 | +19.0% |
| Wise | 1,079 | 1,234 | 1,463 | +18.6% |
| Scott | 2,674 | 2,419 | 2,841 | +17.4% |
Statewide, the harvest rose about 10% to 227,302 deer. In its 2025–26 summary, DWR said its new rules, mostly in the firearms season west of the Blue Ridge, likely helped, though the kill ran ahead of the prior year’s pace from archery opening day. The summary has no county breakdown.
Wise also gained its first firearms doe day in 2025. Its doe harvest rose from 281 to 449, and its total was the highest in DWR’s table, which goes back to 1947.
Three neighbors, three different goals
A map in DWR’s 2025 deer report places Lee County’s private-land herd at the low end of its abundance scale, with a goal to grow it, as of the end of the 2024–25 season. Wise is marked to hold steady, and Scott is marked for a reduction.
The calendars differ just as much. Scott hunters get eight firearms doe days, plus doe hunting on private land through both muzzleloader seasons. Lee gets three firearms doe days and Wise gets one. Does made up 28% of Lee County’s 2025 harvest, by our calculation, compared with 34% in Scott and 45.5% statewide, according to DWR.
Bear seasons and harvest
Lee is one of seven Southwest Virginia counties that kept a three-day early bear season, which ran Sept. 28–30. Under DWR’s bear regulations, archery season continues through Nov. 13, muzzleloader season runs Nov. 7–13 and firearms season runs Nov. 23 through Jan. 2. Hounds may not be used Nov. 23–29.
The limit is one bear per license year, weighing at least 100 pounds alive or 75 pounds field-dressed. Females with cubs are off-limits, and successful hunters must report the bear and submit a tooth. Lee County hunters took 18 bears in 2023, 38 in 2024 and 22 in 2025, according to DWR’s county bear table. Wise reported 69 last season and Scott 29, while the statewide harvest fell 13.3%.
Disease testing, carcasses and feeding
Lee County is not in any of Virginia’s four chronic wasting disease management areas, and all 126 positives found statewide last season were inside those areas. This year’s required opening-day testing covers seven counties, not Lee.
Trips to hunt in Kentucky or Tennessee bring a separate rule. Since 2019, Virginia has barred bringing in whole deer carcasses from any other state, according to DWR’s carcass rules. Boned-out meat, quarters without the spine or head, and cleaned skulls or antlers are allowed if labeled.
Feeding deer is illegal in Lee County from Sept. 1 through the first Saturday in January, which falls on Jan. 2, under DWR’s general rules. In Wise the ban runs all year, and feeding bears is banned year-round statewide. Violations can bring a fine of up to $500.
Hunters must report every deer and bear they kill. DWR also says its online rules are the official version and can be updated faster than the printed guide.
