Highland County, Virginia

Rugged Allegheny Mountain topography dominated by steep ridges, mixed hardwood coves (oak, maple, cherry, yellow poplar), and high-elevation spruce-fir pockets above 4,000 feet. Elevations range from roughly 1,800 feet in the valley floors to over 4,500 feet on the Allegheny ridgeline along the West Virginia border. The Bullpasture and Cowpasture river valleys cut through the county, providing agricultural edge habitat — hayfields and pasture surrounded by timber — that concentrates deer movement. National forest timber harvests and regenerating clearcuts provide early-successional browse that deer and turkey use heavily.

Low to moderate overall. Highland County's extreme remoteness — it is one of the farthest Virginia counties from any major population center, with Monterey sitting roughly 2.5 to 3 hours from Charlottesville, Roanoke, or the Northern Virginia corridor — keeps weekday pressure genuinely light. Firearms opener draws an influx of out-of-area hunters to the WMA and accessible NF trailheads, but the vast national forest acreage absorbs that pressure quickly. Bear hunters add traffic in November. Hunters who park at less-traveled forest road access points on NF land can hunt multiple days without seeing another person.

Highland County falls under Virginia DWR's Western Zone regulations. Archery season typically opens in early October and runs through early January. General firearms season runs from mid-November through early January, with a muzzleloader season bracketing the gun season. The western zone allows 2 antlered deer per license year; antlerless opportunities are available on designated antlerless days and through additional licenses, with liberal antlerless harvest encouraged on national forest units to manage density. No Highland-specific antler point restrictions apply under current DWR structure — standard statewide rules govern. Hunters should verify current-year VDWR regulation digest for any zone adjustments, as western zone dates and antlerless provisions are occasionally updated.

Black bear is a major draw and arguably co-equal with deer as a target species in November — Highland sits within Virginia's core Allegheny bear range and the county consistently produces solid harvests. Eastern wild turkey populations are healthy, with spring gobbler season drawing significant attention; fall turkey is legal and underutilized. Ruffed grouse are present and Highland is among the better remaining grouse counties in Virginia, with national forest clearcuts and regenerating timber providing good habitat. Mountain brook trout streams round out the recreational picture for multi-species hunters.

Highland County offers something increasingly rare in Virginia: genuine wilderness-feel hunting on vast public land with low pressure, at elevations and in terrain that feel more like West Virginia than the Virginia most hunters know. The combination of a November firearms deer season, concurrent bear season, and excellent turkey and grouse populations makes Highland one of the few Virginia counties where a serious hunter can fill a full week chasing multiple species on public land without crowding.