The Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) plans to discontinue game check stations and the distribution of game check books beginning on September 1, 2021, at the beginning of the 2021-22 hunting season.
All hunters (including those who are not required to purchase a license) who harvest a deer, turkey, bear, bobcat, or elk, will need to check their harvest by calling DWR (866-GOT-GAME), logging on to gooutdoorsvirginia.com, or by using their mobile app harvest reporting system, GoOutdoorsVa (free through the app store).
Mandatory game checking, a cornerstone of DWRs game management program for more than 70 years, will remain vital for game management in Virginia for many years to come. Thus, it is critical that every hunter report their harvest using one of the electronic harvest reporting systems.
Since 2004, DWR has offered some form of electronic harvest reporting, and beginning in 2019, electronic harvest reporting options were available for all game species for which reporting is required. Last hunting season, 86% of all deer/elk, 93% of fall turkeys, 100% of spring turkeys, 100% of bobcats, and 58% of all bears were reported through an electronic harvest reporting system.
The DWR recognizes the values and traditions associated with game check stations and is grateful to check station operators for their decades of service to collecting harvest data that have supported restoration of our deer, bear, and turkey populations, but factors such as hunter convenience, efficiency of capturing data, and cost of distribution and collection of check books, have driven the shift to electronic harvest reporting.
The agency remains committed to a harvest reporting system that is convenient to hunters, obtains reliable data, and maintains the public’s trust in this information of critical importance to sound game management.
For questions, email gamecheck@dwr.virginia.gov.
For more information on this change, visit: dwr.virginia.gov/hunting/game-harvest-reporting-changes/.
