Deer hunting season starts Sept. 9
Deer hunting season in Fairfax County parks starts Saturday, Sept. 9, and runs through Feb. 17, 2024.
The deer management program enlists qualified bowhunters to cull deer in 19 clusters throughout Fairfax County.
Parks in the Annandale/Mason District area where deer hunting is allowed include the following.
In the Accotink Stream Valley cluster:
- Accotink Stream Valley (656 acres)
- Eakin Community Park (33 acres)
- the Mantua section of Eakin Park (72 acres)
In the Holmes Run cluster:
- Holmes Run Stream Valley (80 acres)
- Mason District Park (80 acres)
- Lillian Carey Park (54 acres)
- Roundtree Park (61 acres)
- Deerlick Park (19 acres)
In the Lake Accotink cluster:
- Lake Accotink Park (407 acres)
- Wakefield Park (161 acres)
- Americana Park (4 acres),
- Long Branch Stream Valley (90 acres).
To participate, archers must demonstrate their bowhunting skills, pass a background check, and meet other qualifications.
Deer hunting is allowed 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset Monday through Saturday.
Bow hunting must be conducted from tree stands at least 15 feet high, at least 100 feet from the park border, and 50 feet from a trail.
During the fiscal year 2022 deer hunting season, archery groups killed a total of 726 deer. That includes 28 in the Accotink Stream Valley cluster and 30 in the Lake Accotink cluster.
The deer management program also includes a sharpshooting program. A total of 49 deer were killed by sharpshooters in FY22, including six in Annandale Community Park, three in Bren Mar Park/Turkey Run Stream Valley, and one in Green Spring Gardens.
This is the most effective and well run urban deer management program in the country. I’m so grateful that community leaders understand the importance of and science behind this program and continue to support it for the health of the deer and safety of our community.
Agree, the program is run well. But it is never pleasant when they are dragging the bloody corpses out and the trails of blood next to kids playing on the playgrounds. Or when they park their trucks and leave the carcasses for the day when they bag one early. I wish that there were rules on trying to not make it so obvious.
What is worse for the children seeing Bambi’s mother dead one afternoon or being infected with the nearly irreversible, often life-long debilitating Lyme’s disease? (or having a friend with Lyme’s)
I choose dead deer every time. Witnessing a dead animal provides an opportunity for growth for our increasingly sheltered children.