County Contains Deer Population Through Archery

The deer population in Fairfax County is in the early stages of "eruption," according to the 2009 County Report on the Environment. 

One of the measures the county is taking to control the population on public parklands is through the Deer Management Program, which the Board of Supervisors started in 1998.

While officials estimate that 75 percent of deer are hunted on private property, this program includes public managed hunts, police shooting, and a stringent archery program to reduce deer within 11 public parks across the county. Parks in the 2010-2011 Deer Management Program include , Sully Historic, Ellanor C. Lawrence, and Sully Woodlands. 

The archery program is open to non-profit bow hunting groups that qualify with the county's lottery program. This year, 13 groups qualified. In order to meet program qualifications, archers must possess a Deer Population Control Permit and liability insurance, and sign a non-professional service contract with the county. Archers who have received County-approval are permitted to hunt dawn to dusk Monday-Saturday from Oct. 16, 2010-Feb. 12, 2011.

Applicants are tested by designated Fairfax County police staff. In order to qualify, archers must hit a nine-inch target ("vital area") at 20 yards three out of three times. In addition, qualifying archers attend a two hour, site-specific safety briefing. Processor business cards are also county-required to ensure no carcass waste.  

Shoot to Kill

As Master Conservation Police Officer within the Virginia Department of Game and Fisheries, Randy Grauer enforces hunter compliance with state law. His duties include responding to citizen complaints about hunter trespassing and ensuring adherence to firearm and ammunition regulations.  

The County-required 9-inch target, he said, is a method of ensuring a humane and immediate blow to the deer's "vital area," the heart and lungs. 

"A well-placed arrow can kill as quickly or more quickly than a bullet," he said, remarking that an excellent bow-hunter can consistently hit a target of two inches from 20 yards or more on 6 out of 6 attempts. 

Grauer stressed that a close range shot to the "vital area" will often kill a deer within 30 seconds.   This, he suggested, is likely the origin of the expression "dead on your feet."  

Most local hunters were reluctant to talk about these issues, but Scott Martin of Clifton, who is running for the state Senate, said that deer are a threat to local residents. Martin refuted the notion that bow or rifle hunters are endangering the public in any way.  

He said the hunters he knows shoot "only at close range and would rarely take aim from a distance beyond 30 yards because it greatly reduces the likelihood of killing and retrieving the animal." 

Dangers of Overpopulation

With continued development across Fairfax and surrounding counties, "deer are being forced into smaller areas," said Grauer, the conservation officer.

County officials estimate that adult deer eat over six pounds of vegetation a day: nearly 2,400 pounds a year. With browse lines becoming more evident, and with the parkland having been eaten "under story," Grauer said deer are forced to feed from creek bottoms, parks and yards.  

(not a participant in the program) has a recorded population of over 400 deer per square mile. 

While pharmaceutical birth control for wildlife populations exists, it is currently illegal within the Commonwealth. Fairfax County's Wildlife Biologist Victoria Monroe says it's expensive and its efficacy remains untested within the local deer population. 

Over 40 percent of Fairfax County deer-car accidents occur in October and November.  With more deer, less wild space and less hunting, Grauer said that deer and humans are forced into more frequent encounters. 

"There's nothing to get rid of them, except a human or an automobile," he said.