One cannot
walk through Sally Ormsby Park without seeing the above image, declaring the
archery hunting season within the park from September 7. 2019 to February 22,
2020. To some, these signs may come as a
surprise, since the park lies in the middle of suburbia. However, an investigation of the website on
the sign reveals further information about the program and its benefits.
Virginia’s
Urban Archery Program began in 2002 as a means to control the increasing
population of white-tail deer. Because
man has eliminated the natural predators of white-tail deer (namely wolves,
black bears and mountain lions) in urban Virginia, the white-tail deer
population in many areas of the Commonwealth is estimated to be higher than it
was when Europeans first settled in Jamestown.
The result is that watersheds like Accotink Creek’s watershed in Sally
Ormbsy Park are being over-browsed. Native
shrubs and native herbaceous plants covering the forest floor are decimated by
the dense deer population, causing erosion in many places where there is a lack
of the multiple layers that a healthy forest habitat would have. This results in increased erosion and
sedimentation in the creek. On the other
hand, in some areas of the watershed, invasives like multi-flora rose and
oriental bittersweet (both shunned by deer) have replaced the native plants,
thereby decreasing the habitat value of the watershed. Also, an over-browsed forest is unable to regenerate
itself.
The program
has a humanitarian element as well. In urban
and suburban areas that have an overpopulation of deer, many of the deer will
starve to death in the winter when they have removed all the browse within
their reach.
The Urban Archery
Program has an excellent safety record and is strictly managed. Since archery accidents started being managed
in 1959, there have been no injuries to bystanders in Virginia. The archers must obtain a permit that gives them
a particular area where they may hunt and they may only hunt from 30 minutes
before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunrise, from Monday through
Saturday. They can only hunt from tree
stands, which they must build themselves and they must use safety harnesses
within the tree stands. If a shot misses
a deer, because they are shooting from above at close range, the arrow will go
downwards into the dirt.
The archer
must field dress the deer out of sight of the public, leaving the entrails in
the woods out of sight and preferably covered with earth or leaves. They must also retrieve any stray arrows from
misses and report any injured deer that was not felled by the arrow.
In 2013 alone,
848 deer were removed from Fairfax County parks by archers, providing a
significant decrease to the deer population.
If you include archery hunting on private lands, the average number of
deer killed each year is about 1500.
The Urban
Archery Program in Sally Ormsby Park has been a win-win situation. It benefits the health of the watershed by decreasing
over-browsing. It benefits the other
native wildlife besides deer who need the cover and food provided by the forest
shrub and forest floor layers. It
benefits the archers, who are permitted to eat the venison from deer they have
killed. And, it prevents many of the
deer from having a slow, miserable death from winter starvation.
