Deer Population Management
Managed Deer Hunts
Park Closure Dates
Park Police-based Sharpshooting
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Managed Deer Hunts
M-NCPPC Department of Parks, in order to reduce and maintain deer populations in accordance with the goals of the County’s deer management plan, conducts managed deer hunts in select parks during the Fall and Winter.
Programming is designed with public safety being paramount. Managed hunting programs are directed and supervised by the Department’s Wildlife staff and participants are required to follow strict safety and procedural guidelines. Safety buffers are established to meet and exceed State and County ordinance and hunting sites are selected to use terrain, distance, and habitat to enhance safe weapons discharge.
Weapons discharge is directed into the ground and/or other suitable backdrops, and in many cases, hunting from an elevated position is required to ensure that hunters’ have a suitable backstop. A variety of harvest strategies have been employed using all weapons legal in the county. However, most programming requires participants to utilize rifled shotguns to harvest deer. On dates when managed hunting is occurring the park is closed to the public.
Managed hunts were implemented in the county in the Fall of 1996 and have occurred annually ever since. To date, the Department has conducted managed deer hunting programs in nine county parks with exceptional results. Currently, 11 parks are included in the Managed Deer Hunting Program
To learn more about the Montgomery Parks managed deer hunting programs, please review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) regarding deer population management being conducted on County parkland.
Park Closure Dates
Parks Managed Hunt Dates | Park Police Sharpshooting Dates
Montgomery Parks Managed Hunt Dates
For public safety, the Department of Parks closes select park locations to public access for the duration of deer population management operations. The following is a schedule of park closure dates and specified locations for Managed Deer Hunting and Park Police-based Sharpshooting operations for Fiscal Year 2012. These park closures are enforced, under park regulation (Chapter III, Section 2, Letter B.), by the Department’s Park Police Division.
Managed Deer Hunting Program (Shotgun)
Parks Closed from Sunrise to Sunset
October
28 – Hoyles Mill Conservation Park (Boyds)
28 – Woodstock Equestrian Park (Beallsville)
November
2 – North Germantown Greenway (Clarksburg)/Great Seneca Stream Valley Park (Gaithersburg)
4 – Hoyles Mill Conservation Park (Boyds)
4 – Woodstock Equestrian Park (Beallsville)
7 – Rachel Carson Conservation Park (Olney)
8 – Blockhouse Point Conservation Park (Darnestown)
12 – Hoyles Mill Conservation Park (Boyds)
16 – North Germantown Greenway (Clarksburg)/Great Seneca Stream Valley Park (Gaithersburg)
18 – Hoyles Mill Conservation Park (Boyds)
21 – Rachel Carson Conservation Park (Onley)
22 – Blockhouse Point Conservation Park (Darnestown)
December
2 – Bucklodge Forest Conservation Park (Boyds)
2 – Woodstock Equestrian Park (Beallsville)
3 – Hoyles Mill Conservation Park (Boyds)
7 – Little Bennett Regional Park (Clarksburg)
8 – Little Bennett Regional Park (Clarksburg)
9 – Little Bennett Regional Park (Clarksburg)
9 – Hoyles Mill Conservation Park (Boyds)
12 – Rachel Carson Conservation Park (Olney)
13 – Blockhouse Point Conservation Park (Darnestown)
14 – North Germantown Greenway (Clarksburg)/Great Seneca Stream Valley Park (Gaithersburg)
17 – Hoyles Mill Conservation Park (Boyds)
January
4 – Little Bennett Regional Park (Clarksburg)
5 – Little Bennett Regional Park (Clarksburg)
6 – Little Bennett Regional Park (Clarksburg)
6 – Hoyles Mill Conservation Park (Boyds)
13 – Bucklodge Forest Conservation Park (Boyds)
13 – Woodstock Equestrian Park (Beallsville)
14 – Hoyles Mill Conservation Park (Boyds)
21 – Hoyles Mill Conservation Park (Boyds)
Park Police-based sharpshooting locations 2010-2011
Parks Closed from 5:30PM – Sunrise daily, January 1 – March 31
Agricultural History Farm Park (Derwood - including attached segments of Rock Creek Stream Valley Units 12 & 16)
Needwood Golf Course (Rockville)
North Branch Stream Valley Park Units 2 & 3 (Norbeck)
North Branch Stream Valley Park Unit 4 (Olney)
Northwest Branch Recreation Park (Aspen Hill - including Layhill Local Park in Wheaton)
Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park Unit 7 (Norwood)
Northwest Golf Course (Wheaton)
Rock Creek Regional Park (Rockville)
Rock Creek Stream Valley Park Unit 7 (Aspen Hill)
Sligo Golf Course (Silver Spring)
Wheaton Regional Park (Wheaton)
Woodlawn Special Park (Sandy Spring)
Tenant-Based Managed Deer Hunting Program
Park Closed to Public Access Year Round
Goshen Recreation Park (Goshen)
Park Police-based Sharpshooting
M-NCPPC Department of Parks, in order to reduce and maintain deer populations in accordance with the goals of the County’s deer management plan, conducts Police-based sharpshooting in select parks during the period of January through March.
Deer population reductions are conducted from Sunset until Sunrise while the parks are closed to the public. Programming is designed with public safety being paramount. Police-based sharpshooting programs are directed and supervised by the Department’s Park Police Division and Wildlife staff. Park Police Officers participating in this program have received extensive training and certification and utilize the most advance equipment and techniques available. Weapons discharge is conducted in a safe manner with safe backdrops identified prior to firing.
Deer are removed safely, humanely, and discreetly. All deer harvested during such programming are donated to the Capital Area Food Bank for distribution to the regions charitable organizations. To date, the Department of Parks has donated at least 148,234 pounds of venison (592,936 servings) to those in need.
Police-based sharpshooting was implemented in the county in the spring of 1999 and has occurred annually ever since. To date, the Department has conducted Police-based sharpshooting programs in seventeen county parks with exceptional results. Police-based sharpshooting is being conducted annually, and the Department continues to investigate expanding efforts to parklands in need of deer population reduction. Click please review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) on this topic.
back to top - Last update: October 11, 2011
Montgomery County Department of Parks