Virginia Canned Hunting Regulations

Partial/Complete Ban: Grandfathered mammal-shooting enclosures permitted; three are currently in operation. 

Statute

The establishment and operation of "licensed shooting preserves" in Virginia falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Licensed shooting preserves do not allow mammals to be killed. However, "mammal shooting preserves" allow the killing of pen-raised goats, sheep, and hogs provided that the enclosures were in operation on or before January 1, 1995, and they meet the regulatory requirements of the Department of Agriculture. The Virginia legislature outlawed mammal shooting preserves with the exception of five grandfathered facilities, only three of which are in operation.

Virginia law specifies that the Department of Agriculture "shall issue a license for shooting enclosures which were in operation or before January 1, 1995." C.V. §3.1-763.5:2A.

These enclosures may continue to operate until the effective date of regulations promulgated on this subject, "but shall hold only these animals described in §3.1-763.5:6 and subsequently specified in regulations." Id.

The referenced statute specifies that "in no instance shall any animals other than goats of the genus Capri, sheep of the genera Ammotragus and Ovis, and hogs of the genus Sus, be held in such enclosures. The Board shall delineate the specific species of goats, sheeps, and hogs that shall be allowed to be held in an enclosure. The importation, possession, and shooting of these animals shall be in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations." Id. at §3.1-763.5:6.

Virginia law also requires the Director of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to "issue licenses for all shooting preserves when such preserves meet the requirements established pursuant to regulations." C.V. §29.1-600.

The Board of Game and Inland Fisheries must "promulgate regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, including, but not limited to, requirements for the licensing and operation of all shooting preserves located within this Commonwealth." ld. at §29.1-600.1.

The applicant for such a license must "release game birds and animals as may be designated by the Board." Id. at §29.1-602.

When the requirements specified by the Board have been met, "the licensee and such other person as he may designate, because of payment of fees or otherwise, may hunt on the licensed premises and shoot, possess, transport and dispose of by gift any game birds or animals of the species licensed." Id. at §29.1-604.

Game birds or animals not covered by the shooting preserve license "may be taken and possessed by the licensee or his guests as otherwise provided by state law or regulation." Id. at §29.1-604.

Within the state, it is unlawful to take, possess, import, cause to be imported, export, cause to be exported, buy, sell, offer for sale, or liberate any wild animals unless otherwise specifically permitted by law or regulation. 4 VAC 15-30-10 and §29.1-521.

Regulation

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has issued guidelines delineating the conditions which shooting preserves must be operated in the state. Based on these guidelines, the only species that can be hunted on shooting preserves are quail, chukar, pheasant, and Hungarian partridge. Mallard ducks can also be killed either at a tower shoot or at a mallard release area. A shooting preserve must have a minimum of 100 acres and may not exceed 3,000 acres per license with each area either consisting of a single tract of land or contiguous tracts of land. As specified in the guidelines, "birds and animals raised under a permit for propagation purposes must be confined in a sanitary escape-proof enclosure." Guidelines at 10.

The licensee must maintain a "register of names, addresses, and hunting license numbers of all hunters (successful or not), the date(s) hunted, the number of each species taken, and the numbers of the tags, or bands, placed on the game." Guidelines at 2. Each licensee must provide an annual report to the department summarizing a variety of activities at the shooting preserve.

Pen-raised game birds may be taken on licensed shooting preserves from September 1 through April 30. There are a number of shooting preserves in Virginia authorized through permits by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. A state resident hunting pen-raised game birds on a licensed shooting preserve is required to have either a state or county resident hunting license. A nonresident is required to have a state nonresident license or a special nonresident shooting preserve license which is valid only within the boundaries of a licensed shooting preserve.

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