Virginia Law

Article 4. Possession, Transportation, and Sale of Game and Fish.

When taken in accordance with the provisions of law or regulation, muskrat, opossum, rabbits, raccoon and squirrels may be bought and sold during the open hunting season only, but the hides, furs or pelts of fur-bearing animals legally taken and possessed, and the carcass of any fur-bearing animal may be sold at any time in accordance with §§ 29.1-400 through 29.1-407.

Code 1950, § 29-154; 1977, c. 377; 1980, c. 494; 1987, c. 488; 1994, c. 436; 1999, c. 204.

When taken in accordance with the provisions of this title, each species of wild bird, wild animal or fish may be possessed at any time.

Code 1950, § 29-155; 1987, c. 488.

Reserved.

A. Any person driving a motor vehicle who collides with a deer, bear, turkey, or elk or who discovers a deer, bear, turkey, or elk that has been killed in a collision with a motor vehicle may, upon compliance with the provisions of this section and at any time of year, claim such animal for his own use as if the animal had been killed by that person during hunting season for the animal.

B. Any person so killing any deer, bear, turkey, or elk or who discovers a deer, bear, turkey, or elk that has been killed in a collision with a motor vehicle shall immediately report the accident to a conservation police officer or other law-enforcement officer of the county or city where the accident occurred. The conservation police officer or other law-enforcement officer shall view such animal and if he believes that such animal was killed by a collision with a motor vehicle or injured to such an extent as to require its death, he shall award the animal to the person claiming it and shall give the person a call for service number or a report number.

C. If any person driving a motor vehicle who collides with a deer, bear, turkey, or elk, or person who discovers a deer, bear, turkey, or elk that has been killed in a collision with a motor vehicle, does not claim such animal, a conservation police officer or other law-enforcement officer may award such animal to any other person who wishes to claim it pursuant to this section.

1950, pp. 441, 442, §§ 29-155.2 to 29-155.4; 1980, c. 271; 1987, c. 488; 2007, c. 87; 2024, c. 83.

A. When taken in accordance with the provisions of this title, wild birds, wild animals, or fish may be transported as follows:

1. By any person properly licensed, for lawful use in or out of the county or city where taken to another county or city in the Commonwealth or to another state during the open season in the county or city where taken.

2. By any properly licensed person via freight, express, parcel post, or airplane mail, as a gift and not for market or sale, and so stating on the shipping tag. The wild bird, wild animal, or fish may be transported in or out of the county or city where taken to another county or city in the Commonwealth, or to another state, during the open season in the county or city where taken. Any package in which birds, animals, or fish are transported shall have the name and address of the shipper and consignee and a statement of the numbers and kinds of birds, animals, or fish being transported clearly and conspicuously marked on the outside of the container.

B. It is unlawful to transport for sale outside of the Commonwealth at any time or in any manner any river herring, alewife, threadfin shad, or gizzard shad collected from the inland waters for use as bait fish. A violation of the provisions of this subsection is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

C. Any such birds, animals, or fish in transit during the open season may continue in transit, not to exceed five days, in order to reach their destination.

D. For the purposes of this section, the terms "wild birds," "wild animals," and "fish" shall mean all or any part of the carcasses of any such birds, animals, or fish.

Code 1950, § 29-156; 1987, c. 488; 2020, c. 808.

It shall be unlawful for any person to store any wild birds, wild animals or fish if selling them is prohibited by law, except persons may store them in a bona fide domicile or in a licensed cold storage establishment. Any licensed cold storage establishment which receives any wild birds, wild animals or fish, where selling them is prohibited by law, shall attach a ticket to each lot of wild birds, wild animals or fish. The ticket shall show the number of each kind of wild bird, wild animal or fish, the date upon which they are brought for storage and the name and address of the person storing them. Every such licensed cold storage establishment shall keep a record of all deliveries of game and fish so stored, the dates they are delivered, the number of each species delivered and the name of each person to whom any such delivery is made. Possession of any wild birds, wild animals or fish which are prohibited by law to be sold, in any place of business, except in a licensed cold storage establishment, shall be unlawful.

Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.

For the purposes of this section the terms "wild birds," "wild animals" and "fish" shall mean all or any part of the carcasses of any such birds, animals or fish.

Code 1950, § 29-157; 1987, c. 488.

Live wolves or coyotes, or birds and animals otherwise classed as predatory or undesirable, may not be imported into the Commonwealth or liberated therein, or possessed therein, except under a special permit of the Board. Nonpredatory birds, animals or fish may be imported, but upon arrival in the Commonwealth, shall be subject to the laws governing the possession of such birds, animals and fish in Virginia. Any person may bring into the Commonwealth, either in his personal possession or as his baggage, on the same conveyance with him and plainly labeled or tagged with his name and address, game and fish legally taken in another state or foreign country, but in no greater quantity than he could legally possess while in such other state or foreign country. Nothing in this section shall be construed as applying to birds, animals and fish being transported in unbroken packages from beyond the confines of Virginia through the Commonwealth to another state.

Code 1950, § 29-158; 1977, c. 377; 1982, c. 73; 1987, c. 488.

It shall be lawful to possess, store, transport, offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, purchase and otherwise deal in any wild animal, bird, fish or any part thereof, which has been taken and packaged in a can, tin, pot or other receptacle outside the Commonwealth by any person, company or corporation duly licensed by the state in which such cannery or processing plant is located and recognized by the Board. Such packages may be transported into the Commonwealth, so long as the original package remains unbroken, unopened and intact.

1958, c. 153, § 29-158.1; 1987, c. 488.

A. It is unlawful for any person to introduce into or stock in waters of the Commonwealth, including private ponds or lakes, the blue catfish or its hybrids or to release any blue catfish or any such hybrid into any water body other than that in which it was caught.

B. Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.

2015, c. 470.

A. It shall be lawful for the licensee of a shooting preserve or his designated agents to dress, pack and sell bobwhite quail raised by him for use as food, under rules or regulations to be prescribed by the Board.

B. It shall be lawful to sell mounted bobwhite quail in the Commonwealth that have been legally raised captively and mounted outside of the Commonwealth.

1960, c. 131, § 29-158.2; 1987, c. 488; 1998, c. 179.

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association or corporation to possess, sell, offer for sale, or liberate in the Commonwealth any live fur-bearing animal commonly referred to as nutria (Myocastor coypus). This section does not apply to employees of the Department of Wildlife Resources, U.S. Department of Agriculture, or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or any persons involved in research or management activities with these agencies.

1962, c. 106, § 29-158.3; 1987, c. 488; 2022, c. 146.