With one of the worst winters in a decade now in the outdoors’ rearview mirror, anglers and hunters can focus on their upcoming seasons.

Hook-and-line anglers have already started searching the upper tidal tributaries for signs of white and yellow perch. Those fishing are rigging for shallow water along the shoreline or the edges of nearby channels if using a boat. This is a time of year when perch begin moving from deep channel waters into the shallows to breed and feed.

As in a lot of fishing, timing can be everything, and that includes being in the right place at the right time. Mid to late March can be that scenario in the upper tidal reaches of the Rappahannock. Those with nearby access to shoreline views of the Rapp can see whether boats are fishing the open river waters or concentrating on the shoreside.

While this time of year can be the time to seek the first early spring runs of perch, it’s also a time to prepare for a favored hunting season in Virginia.

Woods Walk for Turkey Signs

Mid-March is a great time of year to plan a walk inside the woods and look for signs of turkeys feeding and foraging. For those who are early risers, sitting outside and listening for tree talk and pre-season gobbling on roost can be exciting.

A more comfortable and less challenging time of the day can also work for finding out where turkeys have been foraging for food. With the hens still flocked up and moving together as a group, finding where they have been can be helpful.

Once the spring gobbler season begins, the dominant alphabird gobblers will soon be looking for the hens. Scratchings in woody debris where turkeys have been foraging for acorns or other food sources are the best evidence. Droppings can indicate a forage site that either keeps the turkeys there or encourages them to return.

Spring Gobbler Get Ready

In less than a month, hunters who pursue bearded wild turkeys will be in the woods and field edges looking to fill their wild turkey tags. The 2026 Spring Gobbler Season in Virginia begins on Saturday, April 11 and continues through May 16. Prior to that, the annual Youth Spring Gobbler Season takes place on April 4 and 5.

Youth and Apprentice Hunt

The 2026 Youth and Apprentice Spring Gobbler Hunting opportunity takes place on the weekend of April 4 and 5. This is a statewide season in any part of Virginia that allows hunting. For this youth and apprentice hunter weekend, the bag limit is one bearded bird per hunter.

Both resident and nonresident hunters who are either 15 years old or younger and licensed apprentice hunters, can participate. They must be accompanied and directly supervised by an adult over the age of 18 who also has a valid Virginia hunting license or is exempt from having one.

Hunting hours during this April 4–5 opportunity are one half-hour before sunrise until sunset.

The turkeys harvested by youth or apprentice hunters during these two days are counted as part of their daily and 2025–26 season-year bag limit. The adult accompanying the youth or apprentice hunter does not have to have a deer/turkey license and may assist with calling in a turkey. The supervising adult cannot carry or use a weapon and must have close visual and verbal contact with the youth or apprentice hunter so that they can at any time take control of the firearm.