JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
As a small herd of deer grazes at the edge of the forest, the hunter locks his sights on his prey.
As his finger slowly slides to the trigger, the deer suddenly scatter, startled by the sound of a recorded bugle blasting Retreat.
Recently, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., opened its borders to registered hunters with valid identification. Hunting gives Service members and their families the opportunity to hunt around both bases during the holiday season.
But before hunters can set up their tree-stands, there are certain rules they most obey.
Air Force Maj. Sam Gaglio, 633rd Air Base Wing hunt coordinator, and Joseph Dumas, 733rd Force Support Division outdoor recreation manager, set out to educate Service members, Department of Defense civilians and family members before they picked up a weapon.
"Safety is paramount in hunting," said Dumas. "Without safety, hunters' mistakes may injure or kill either the hunter or someone else."
With JBLE's hunting record clean for more than 25 years, both Gaglio and Dumas agree that abiding by the rules laid out is important to keep the on-base hunting tradition alive. The first set of rules comes from the state.
Virginia requires individuals ages 12 to 15 to go through a hunter education program, and hunters ages 16 or older who have not held a license before must also be certified. To sign-up for a class, visit
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/hunting/education/.
After taking the required safety course, hunters also need a Virginia state hunting license, or purchase one if they have been through a safety course prior, but do not have a Virginia hunting license. Licenses may be purchased at
http://secure01.virginiainteractive.org/horf/.
Information on Virginia permits or other state concerns can be found at
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/.
Fort Eustis and Langley Air Force base do not have the same hunting programs, so rules vary for each base. The rules are additional to the rules in place by the state of Virginia.
At Langley:
· Hunters must wear a blaze-orange outer garment anytime in the hunting area during firearm season; the garment may not be removed while hunting
· There is only elevated, tree-stand hunting from pre-designated stands
· Hunters must also wear and utilize a "Tree stand Manufacturer America" safety harness. The hunting program does have a few extra harnesses for those without one
· There is a mandatory safety brief for all concerning munitions storage area operations
· Only bow, crossbow or shotgun (slug) weapons allowed
· No trapping, night hunting or use of dogs
· No field dressing outside of the designated area
At Fort Eustis:
· Hunters must wear a blaze-orange outer garment anytime in the hunting area during firearm season; the garment may not be removed. Bow hunters may remove the garment in the tree stand while hunting.
· Hunters must have 100 square inches of body visible from 360 degrees
· There is only elevated, tree-stand hunting. Bow hunters hunting for deer may use their own tree stands, so long as it is 100 yards away from another stand, 150 yards from a high-seat, 50 yards from the road and six feet off the ground.
· There may only be one tree stand per hunter per hunting area
· Hunters must also wear and utilize a "Tree stand Manufacturer America" safety harness. The harness will not be supplied by the program
· Deer hunters can only travel to and from their high seat
· There is no loading or reloading on the ground.
· Dogs permitted for small game and federal migratory bird hunting
· Trapping regulations are handled by the environmental office
· No field dressing outside of the designated area
· No night hunting
· Only bow, crossbow or shotgun (slug) weapons allowed
The program is only open to active-duty, retired, Reserve or National Guard military members of any military service and their dependents; civilian employees of JBLE may also participate. At Fort Eustis, some external civilian personnel may participate, after they speak with Dumas.
Archers must qualify at the base they plan to hunt within. Qualifications from one base do not transfer to another base. The same rule applies to registration of weapons.
Langley times hunts as well. Hunters are able to hunt 30 minutes prior to sunrise until 10 a.m. and from 2 p.m. until 30 minutes after sunset. Saturdays, holidays and down-days are the only times hunting will be allowed on base. Also, if the munitions storage area is being utilized by personnel, hunting is not allowed.
At Fort Eustis, the hunting grounds are open from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Also, they are open Thursday from noon until 8 p.m. There is no hunting on Sunday, Monday, Thursday morning or on holidays.
For more information about hunting on JBLE, call the following numbers:
· For Fort Eustis hunting information, call the hunting shack at (757) 878-0850
· For Langley hunting information, call the hunt coordinator at (757) 764-9600
· For trapping information at Fort Eustis, call James Dolan at (757) 878-4152 ext. 24
· For civilian special cases, call Dumas at (757) 878-2090
Hunting provides more than just meat on the table, the program is an outlet for JBLE personnel to reach out to people with similar interests, which makes the community stronger. As long as participants keep safety in mind, both Dumas and Gaglio believe the JBLE hunting program will stay a long-standing tradition.