Urban Archery Program in Sally Ormsby Park

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.