HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – In Virginia, hunting is allowed in some state parks, but in parks like Seven Bends State Park, it is prohibited.
Forrest Atwood, Natural Resource Field Manager with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, said while some parks allow open hunting, managed hunts are the most popular with the state parks that allow hunting.
He said the most popular time to go hunting in a state park is November and December.
“A hunter would go through our state reservation system and make a reservation to hunt a particular day in our parks, generally our hunts are two to three days at one time,” said Atwood.
Atwood said the managed hunts are part of the Deer Management Assistance Program through the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.
”We collect data which is then passed on to the Department of Wildlife Resources, they crunch that data and send us a report back each year on the relative health of our deer herd,” said Atwood.
Atwood said they have to list if the park’s goal is to increase the deer herd at that park, maintain the deer herd at the current level, or decrease the deer herd.
“The hunts are generally set up to where a hunter either hunts in a particular zone within a park. Some parks have specific stands and a hunter has to stay within a certain distance from a particular tree or post, and those are all safety regulations,” said Atwood.
Atwood said all state parts that allow hunting require hunters to have hunter education as well as wear a hat and vest in blaze orange or blaze pink.
He said you can find more information on hunting regulations and how to make a reservation on the DCR website.
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