[Hilbilly]

Hey Fellas csme down for the last week of Deer season...well got skunked

Anyways, I was mentioned to me about hunting on Fort AP Hill in Va. In short, I Was told that it was an awesome place to hunt. I'm wondering if anyone had hunted there and coud confirm this? I checked out AP Hill online and it seems legit and the season runs through 5 Jan. I plan on going down to check it out anyways. Seeing that I think this is the most crediable source for online inforamtion pertaining to hunting I value your opions. Thanks guys!

Also, if anyone isn't doing anything this Weds-Fri you're more than welocme to join me. I got the gas and lodging bill seeing since I'm already headed that way.

 

[308Havoc]

i live and hunt at Fort Belvoir, VA (as well as MD and PA)and i have heard that AP hill has good numbers of deer, but due to my schedule i have not been able to make it down there yet. I can try to take a day off this week and go down with you for one day.

 

[jimsdad]

I am surprised that you can still hunt in the Belvoir area. I lived in Alexandria and worked in that vicinity in the early 80's and it was very open. Was there about 5 years ago and the place was so built up I did not recognize Tellagraph or Bulah Road.

 

[beaver boy]

Fort Belvoir, haven't been there since 1966.

 

[308Havoc]

Hilbily, I will have to retract my offer to go with you. there are way too many things that you have to do to hunt AP Hill. If i had the time to go down and do all of the paperwork i would go. i would have to take two days off....one to register and one to hunt. sorry, good luck to you.

<span style="color: #FF0000">"Certificates, Licenses, and Permits

To hunt on Fort A. P. Hill you must possess: a Fort A. P. Hill hunting permit, a hunter education certificate, and Virginia State Police, Form SP-167 Background Check or FAPH Background Check, and VA State or County licenses.

Permits can be purchased at the Game Check Station from 6 am – 7 pm (before Daylight savings time), and from 6 am – 5 pm (after Daylight savings time)."

Vehicle and Firearms Registration

You must register your vehicle and firearms at the Visitor Control Center in the Department of Emergency Services. Firearms registration remains solely within Fort A.P. Hill’s system and is not provided to other federal agencies.

To register your vehicle you will need the following:
•Current/valid driver's license
•Copy of current insurance
•Insurance will need future expiration date, policy number, and company displayed on the card/paperwork
•Current /valid registration card for all vehicles you would like to register.
•Military/Government I.D. or point of contact

Vehicle Registration Card Online Form

To register your weapons you will need the following:
•Serial number for all weapons to be registered
•Make/Model/Type/Caliber of weapons
</span>

 

[VaPa hunter]

The military bases in Va are great for hunting, but like mentioned above, seems like there are lots of hoops you gotta jump through. I think you have to check in and hunt certain zones or something like that. Doesn't sound like much fun at 5am. I've never hunted AP hill but near it. These are HUGE tracts of land.

Another good one is supposedly Fort Pickett.

I belong to a Va forum and I knows guys are still killing bucks on AP Hill.

 

[Smokey in PHX]

It has been about 15 years since I hunted AP Hill, but the hunting was excellent. At that time it was buck or doe that could be shot. Shotguns with slugs or buckshot were required. Although the paperwork to hunt looks like a pain it is not that bad and they give you a lot of help in getting everything done. There is usually a lot of hunters on only the first few days after which you are almost alone in the woods.

A closer place for PA hunters to hunt is Quantico Marine Corp base. Again good hunting for deer. Shotguns using buckshot only. Shot some very big bucks there. Everyone is helpful to get you started.

Maps are provided at both places. Both places are worth checking out.

 

[clermont]

A.P. Hill must be rolling over in the grave with all the Yankees hunting on a base named for him.

 

[Hilbilly]

Thanks, I found that info online as well. I think that hunter ed is going to be a hold back for me. It appears that it is a specfic class to hunt military installations in the state of VA. Oh well, I'll be back in PA for xmass maybe I'll get lucky during the late season.

Thanks again!

 

[308Havoc]

The military bases in Va are great for hunting, but like mentioned above, seems like there are lots of hoops you gotta jump through. I think you have to check in and hunt certain zones or something like that. Doesn't sound like much fun at 5am. I've never hunted AP hill but near it. These are HUGE tracts of land.

Another good one is supposedly Fort Pickett.

I belong to a Va forum and I knows guys are still killing bucks on AP Hill.

thats how it is here at Belvoir too. you have to check in telephonically and physically to go get a gate key. you can only hunt the zone you put a reservation in for. the bad part is that if you go to that zone and there is people already hunting there....you either hunt the area still or you have to go back and sign out and sign into a different zone. the office wont let you look to see where people are hunting before you make a reservation for the day. another ridiculous thing about hunting belvoir is that you cannot cross into other zones for any reason (unless you get prior approval to track wounded deer). meaning, everyone pretty much enters certain zones in the same location, even if you can access it better (without spooking deer) through a different zone. i have been living here for a year and have only hunted it 4 times. it is more of a hassle than anything. i usually just drive to PA or MD.
I have hunted many military installations and i have never endured so much hassle trying to hunt any of them until i moved to VA.


hilbily, i didnt see it in the AP regs, but most of the VA military installations require the international bowhunting education program course and a proficiency test before you can hunt it. I would call and verify before i made a trip down there.

 

[308Havoc]

I am surprised that you can still hunt in the Belvoir area. I lived in Alexandria and worked in that vicinity in the early 80's and it was very open. Was there about 5 years ago and the place was so built up I did not recognize Tellagraph or Bulah Road.

Belvoir has quite a substantial amount of land to hunt. they just opened another woodlot for hunting west of hgwy 1. All of Belvoir is archery only and can only be hunted when the MWR office is open. cant hunt on wed, sunday or federal holidays. although it has a bunch of land to hunt, most of the deer are in the wood patches that arent allowed to be hunted. And those wood patches are large, but the post command doesnt want the public to see dead deer and they think someone is going to get shot (with a bow). heck, even the areas that are adjacent to some housing areas......you cant hunt it when the kids are home from school.

 

[teej89]

so i've been watching this forum for a long time never felt like joining in and discussing but always found the threads interesting, ANYWAYS that explains my first post here haha

However I stumbled upon this thread and it got me excited. I'm 23 graduating from Penn State, I'm from Hollidaysburg, and in december I am moving to Arlington, Va the Ballston Area. I am a HUGE archery hunter, and was getting a bit panicky of trying to find places to hunt in Va.

308Havoc - hows the hunting in Belvoir, and the pressure? And would you recommend hunting anywhere else for deer?

 

[308Havoc]

like i said, i have only hunted a few times this year. i have been out of state working for most of it and then the days i do have off(fed holidays), i cant hunt it. pressure is high in SOME areas and other areas it is almost non-existant. the deer sightings are less than one would expect, especially since the main hunting land wasnt hunted last year due to the main road bordering it being flooded. the deer are here, they are just hiding real good right now.

public land hunting opportunity isnt abundant, especially where you are moving to. i cant comment on private land accessibility, cause i have not tried to get permissions yet. if i had to guess, i would guess it wont be too easy, hunting isnt looked upon too greatly in this parts. if ya know what i mean. i usually drive up to MD when i have a day off. let me know when you move down to VA, i can show around in MD or Belvoir if you like.
either way for most hunting opportunities, you will have to travel.

 

[teej89]

Great thanks havoc, I'd really appreciate that. I'll be mvoing in January 16th, so I'll probably start doing some scounting late january or early february but I'd definitely be interested in tagging along with you. I actually live in bethesda this summer for an internship in rockville and man saw some dandy bucks there, too bad you can't hunt in bethesda haha

I was also looking at hunting clubs around the area, I'm sure they're probably difficult to get into cuz of the few opportunities of areas to hunt but I'm gonna try and give it a shot.

 

[teej89]

The military bases in Va are great for hunting, but like mentioned above, seems like there are lots of hoops you gotta jump through. I think you have to check in and hunt certain zones or something like that. Doesn't sound like much fun at 5am. I've never hunted AP hill but near it. These are HUGE tracts of land.

Another good one is supposedly Fort Pickett.

I belong to a Va forum and I knows guys are still killing bucks on AP Hill.

Hey VAPA I was wondering what forum that is?

 

[sinnamahoninggobbler]

I can tell you from the Va forum I'm on Ap Hilll is pretty good place to hunt. I believe it's 50 bucks for the year and you have to fill out some paperwork and register your firearm...tee drop me a line sometime...fellow Psu alum here. I can put you on some deer next fall if you want to drive down to Charlottesville.

 

[Hilbilly]

SGobbler, looking to retire in your neck of the woods currently in the process of moving to Gloucester now. I hunted some private property there 2 years ago. Do you know of any public land that you'd be willing to share?

 

[teej89]

I can tell you from the Va forum I'm on Ap Hilll is pretty good place to hunt. I believe it's 50 bucks for the year and you have to fill out some paperwork and register your firearm...tee drop me a line sometime...fellow Psu alum here. I can put you on some deer next fall if you want to drive down to Charlottesville.

Thanks, I would definitely consider that, it's only 2.5 hours from me, heck my dad and I would drive 5 hours to hunt ohio for 3 days haha I think I am definitely going to check out A.P. Hill and Belvoir. I'm excited to move down there but it [censored] not being like Pa, driving 15 minutes and I'm at my grounds, going to have to adjust to that.

If you have any more information on hunting Va I'd greatly appreciate it, shoot me an e-mail at [email protected]

 

[VaPa hunter]

Vasportsmen.com

Neil Lauderman, who I believe is still a member on here, is the site owner.

 

[sinnamahoninggobbler]

Hibilly,

Check out the Rapidan WmA...10,000 acres mostly big mountains...lots of room to get away, ok amount of deer and a lot of bear. There is also the national forest.