By Brian Trompeter
The Fairfax County Deer Management Archery Program will be conducted at parks and other locations throughout the county from Sept. 9 to Feb. 17, officials said.
The program will be conducted under the oversight of the Fairfax County Police Department, in collaboration with the Fairfax County Park Authority, NOVA Parks and other public landholders.
The archery program began in 2010 and is part of an integrated deer-management program to reduce and stabilize the white-tailed deer population in Fairfax County in order to minimize safety and health hazards and other impacts related to an overabundance of deer, county officials say.
These impacts include deer-vehicle collisions, potential spread of diseases and environmental damage attributed to deer that can harm the ecosystem.
Because of its proven track record of safety, archery is a preferred deer-management method in Fairfax County, county officials say. Archery is a compatible use with residential areas and community parks, allowing for deer-population management in urban and suburban areas, officials said.
Since Virginia began tracking hunting injuries in 1959, no bystanders have been injured by an archer hunting deer anywhere in the commonwealth, county officials say.
The program is conducted on about 100 properties countywide. Last year, archers in the county program harvested 604 deer. The archery program accounted for 94 percent of the total deer harvests in the Fairfax County Deer Management Program.
The archery program’s standards require that all archers meet state hunter licensing, education and safety requirements; pass qualifications demonstrating skill and marksmanship; and carry program identification.
Archers also must complete additional training through the International Bowhunter Education Program to participate in the county’s program.
All archers also must pass a criminal background check to be eligible for the program. Only hunters who have gone through this screening-and-selection process with the Fairfax County Police Department may hunt within the designated parks.
All archers must comply with state and federal game laws and regulations, local ordinances and program rules.
Parks remain open to the public during the archery program. Fluorescent-orange signs are posted in parks where hunting is authorized. Hunters only may take shots at deer from elevated tree stands; hunting from the ground level is prohibited in county parks.
Tree stands must not be located closer than 100 feet from property lines or closer than 50 feet from established park trails. Archers are not allowed on private property without permission by the owner or tenant.
Archers are approved to hunt at assigned sites Mondays through Saturdays during legal hunting hours, from 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset. No hunting is allowed on Sundays in county parks.
For more information about the Fairfax County Deer Management Program, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/wildlife/deer-management-program.
– Brian Trompeter
