Fairfax County Deer Management Program Starts Saturday

The Fairfax County Deer Management Archery Program begins Saturday, Sept. 6 and runs through Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. Under the oversight of the Fairfax County Police Department in collaboration with the Fairfax County Park Authority and the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, the archery program is conducted in parks and other locations in Fairfax County.

Last year, the entire number of deer culled in the county was more than 1,000, with 848 killed by bow and arrow; nearly 700 citizens participated in the archery program. The most deer killed by archery last year was at Difficult Run Stream Valley & Clark’s Crossing, in Great Falls.

The archery program, which began in 2010, reduces the overabundance of deer in Fairfax County. The program helps to curtail the thousands of deer-vehicle collisions that occur in Fairfax County each year, as well as the spread of diseases such as Lyme disease. It was approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2000 as a safe and efficient method of deer population control.

Results from last year’s program may be found at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/crime/statistics/

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/crime/statistics/2014/fy14deermanagementprogramresults.pdf

“Reducing the number of injuries and fatalities that result from deer-vehicle collisions is one of the primary goals of the deer management program,” says Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. “Deer management is an integral part of creating a culture of safety in Fairfax County.”

Archery participants are trained and must meet state safety requirements in addition to carrying program identification. They are approved to hunt at assigned sites Monday through Saturday during legal hunting hours, 30 minutes prior to sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset. Florescent orange and yellow signs are posted wherever managed hunting activity takes place and archers must stay 100 feet from property lines and 50 feet from established park trails.

Because of its proven track record of safety, archery is a preferred deer management technique in Fairfax County. Since Virginia began tracking hunting injuries in 1959, no injuries related to archery have been reported by bystanders anywhere in the State.

See all park locations where the archery program is in force here.