Deer hunting in Prince William public parks enters second phase

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — Prince William County is well into its second phase of a pilot archery deer management program that began last year.

If it goes well, the program could become permanent. The pilot stage last year only operated at three sites for six weeks. This year the number of sites has increased to 10 locations and the time for the hunt has lengthened from October 6 to November 16 and then again from December 2 to February 28.

Purvis Dawson, who served as Prince William’s former Chief Park Ranger before he left the post in November, explained that 2017’s main goal was to prove that the county can safely facilitate hunting on county land – and they did.

Now in phase two, the program is more widespread throughout the county for a longer period of time. At the end of phase two, the Board of County Supervisors will decide whether or not they want to institutionalize the program and fund it.

Right now, the program has been administered by the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department.

Because of the widely differing amount of locations and time periods compared to last year’s program, it’s hard to compare the two years because it’s “apples and oranges,” Dawson explained.

So far this year, 49 deer have been harvested, up from 19 last year. Only groups vetted by the county that have certified, trained, and insured archers are allowed to hunt.

“Anytime they have a hunt they complete a form that tells us when they entered the property, when they exited the property, whether or not they harvested a deer, how many arrows they walked into the property with, how many arrows they left the property with, if they harvested a deer what was the tag number for the DPOP (Deer Population Reduction Program) tag for the deer, things of this nature…,” said Prince William County Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Department spokesman Brent Heavner.

High visibility signs are erected on trees throughout the parks to let people know about the hunt.

“The hunters follow strict guidelines of when they can hunt – they must arrive a half hour before sunrise and then leave a half hour after sunset,” Dawson explained.

The program also utilizes “buffer zones” between populated areas like residential neighborhoods and the parks so arrows do not fly into nearby homes. Hunters are required to shoot from tree stands so the arrow has a downward trajectory “so the ground becomes the backstop in that scenario,” adds Dawson.
Hunters must account for every arrow.

“They have to account for every arrow. If they walk in with eight arrows, and they walk out with seven arrows, there’s another form they have to fill out that explains the disposition of that missing arrow.” Heavner said.

Dawson said that if you’re walking through Dove’s Landing and hear an arrow whiz by you, that’s not a legitimate hunter. That’s a poacher. Dawson also said that because the vetted hunters only use archery, if you hear a firearm in a county park, call the police. That’s not one of their hunters.

“Our hunters have a rulebook,” Dawson said.