Fairfax County Virginia

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Rules To Participate

1. Participants are permitted to use crossbows or compound bows ONLY during the Archery Program.

2. Participants MUST carry an Archery Program identification card at all times while on public parkland. Archery Program documents will be issued to members of each qualified archery group during their Archery Safety Brief.

3. A special parking pass permit MUST be clearly displayed in the window of each vehicle belonging to an archery group participant parked on site.

4. Hunting is only permitted in designated hunt areas. Hunt areas will be clearly marked by signs and/or survey tape. Designated hunt areas will also be clearly shown on park site maps provided to members of each selected Archery Group during the Archery Safety Brief.

5. Participants will hunt from elevated treestands and must use a safety harness. Participants are responsible for providing their own portable treestand and a safety harness. Screw-in steps, large nails, or other devices known to cause damage to trees are not permitted.

6. Treestands must not be located closer than 100 feet from a visible property line with a neighboring property or closer than 50 feet from a park trail.

7. Participants must comply with all Virginia state game laws - with the exception that hunting broadheads used during the Archery Program must have a minimum diameter of 1 and 1/8 inches.

8. The Archery Program is a management tool used for deer population control in Fairfax County. “Earn-A-Buck” will be implemented again. Each participant MUST harvest two antlerless deer prior to taking a buck.

9. All qualified participants agree to abide by the rules, regulations or restrictions stipulated when participating in Archery Program activities.

10. Participants will operate under special permit. No personal big game tags, with the exception of buck tags, will be used during the Archery Program. DPOP game tags will be supplied by the State. All deer must be tagged prior to leaving parkland.

11. There is no bag limit.

12. Participants must make every reasonable attempt to retrieve wounded deer. Deer can be retrieved from park property outside of designated hunt areas. Deer that leave parkland cannot be retrieved without permission of the private property owner.

[NOTE: Un-retrievable or wounded deer that travel off park property MUST be reported immediately.]

13. Archery group is responsible for transporting deer and appropriate disposal of the carcass.

14. A lead member of the archery group shall be designated the Archery Group Liaison for the group and the Fairfax County Wildlife Biologist. Archery Group liaisons are responsible for daily monitoring and communication between archery group members.

15. Archery group is responsible for the collection of biological data (Sex/ Weight/ Age) for each deer harvested during the Archery Program. Biological data is submitted to the Archery Group Liaison and reported in a weekly Harvest Data Report to the Fairfax County Wildlife Biologist.