The Fairfax County Deer Management Archery Program begins Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, and runs through Saturday, Feb. 13, 2027.
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 is conducted in parks and other locations throughout Fairfax County.
The archery program began in FY 2010 and is part of an integrated Deer Management Program to reduce and stabilize the white-tailed deer population in Fairfax County in efforts to minimize safety and health hazards and other impacts related to an overabundance of deer. These impacts include deer-vehicle collisions, potential spread of diseases, and environmental damage attributed to deer that can impact the ecosystem. The program was approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2000 and is recognized as a safe and efficient method of deer population control by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR).
Because of its proven track record of safety, archery is a preferred deer management method in Fairfax County. Archery is a compatible use with residential areas and community parks, allowing for deer population management in urban and suburban areas. The Fairfax County Deer Management Program was designed with public safety as the top priority and includes stringent rules and oversight by the Fairfax County Police Department given the high use of county parks and proximity of residential areas and businesses. The Deer Management Program has an exceptional safety record, with zero safety incidents since the program began.
The Fairfax County Deer Management Program is conducted on over 100 properties countywide. Last year, 686 deer were harvested using archery by hunters in the county program. The archery program accounted for 91% of the total deer harvests in the Fairfax County Deer Management Program.
Fairfax County’s Archery Program standards require that all archers meet state hunter licensing, education and safety requirements and must pass qualifications to demonstrate skill and marksmanship, in addition to carrying program identification. Archers are also required to have completed additional training through the International Bowhunter Education Program to participate in the Fairfax County Deer Management Program. All archers must also pass a criminal background check to be eligible for the program. Only hunters that 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 can only 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 Monday through Saturday during legal hunting hours, 30 minutes prior to sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset. No hunting is allowed on Sundays in county parks.
As a part of the Deer Management Program, county wildlife staff are monitoring deer herd health including surveillance for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in partnership with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. Last season, samples were collected from 505 deer harvested within 102 parks/properties in Fairfax County and two parks within the Town of Vienna through the Deer Management Program. Of the deer tested, 88% were from hunter-harvested deer through the county’s archery program. One deer was confirmed positive for Chronic Wasting Disease on county parkland through the Fairfax County Deer Management Program last season. The deer was a 2.5-year-old buck that was harvested by an archery hunter within the Vienna section of Difficult Run Stream Valley. Collectively, county staff have tested 2,131 deer through the Fairfax County Deer Management Program since FY 2020 in collaboration with the DWR and local hunters.
Additionally, the DWR conducts CWD surveillance for deer that are harvested by hunters on private land (separate from the county’s Deer Management Program). Testing by the DWR last season confirmed Chronic Wasting Disease in a 2.5-year-old doe that was harvested by a hunter on private land in Chantilly within Fairfax County.
More information about the Fairfax County Deer Management Program can be found at: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/wildlife/deer-management-program
