Hunting on Redstone Arsenal

Can anyone provide some insight on hunting Redstone? Not looking for anyone's primo spot, but maybe some suggestions on decent areas to bow hunt. I have been out to a few. Not much sign in one. Jumped a doe in another one. Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Honest to goodness, the hunting ain't great. It gets better in late January. The deer herd there is much smaller than years past. Lots of coyotes. So far this year I think 3 bucks have been taken with hundreds (maybe thousands?) of man days in the woods.

There are only so many areas open, and they get a LOT of pressure throughout the week.

In December, you are lucky to see a deer out there in daylight...

With a bow, you better have a strong mind, or the hunting will get you discouraged.

Alot of wisdom in that ^ post. Unless the ranges are open or the calendar has hit about January 15....I dont waste my time.

Wait until you find some good sign and maybe a few buck sightings in an area and they decide to shut it down for the rest of the season.

LOL. That would not be fun.

The hunting sucks compared to 5-10 years ago. Best advice I was ever given was to never, ever, under any circumstances, allow RSA to be your only place to hunt (thanks Jughead!). Have a primary place and a backup place or three to hunt because you will get hosed by the politics and bureaucracy out there.

Also, there are way too many bow hunters out there so you may as well hunt Wheeler or one of the nearby WMAs if bow hunting is your thing.

Shutting an area down for the season is bummer, but it is nothing compared to seeing an office park being built on it seeing how Huntsville has such a dearth of available office space within 5 minutes of the main gate.

But hey, it is a military installation and not a hunting preserve for military and civilian employees so what can you do but find a better place to hunt.

I have access to some private land, but just don't get to use it much. Been out to Wheeler a few times as well. Pursued Redstone this year thinking it would have more deer and less traffic than Wheeler.

Better deer herd on Wheeler than many of the open areas on Redstone. The open areas get more pressure and human footprints than you may think.

Btw, if any of the fine staff at Outdoor Rec or Garrison are reading this thread, please do not consider this bashing your effort. The opportunity to hunt the base is a fantastic. I actually like the rules and structure behind the hunting. I just wish the herd was a little stronger.

I have definitely been impressed with Outdoor Rec and the staff. Very helpful and good system. I feel a lot better about hunting alone on RSA vs Wheeler.

Just hunt the red areas, little to no pressure and lots of deer just don't get caught. JUST KIDDING

What has been said is mostly true. Don't overlook the areas around buildings and parking lots or the areas that are not hunted very much. And don't be afraid to get your feet wet especially in the 25, 26 and 29 areas.

I have not hunted out there in probably 10 years and don't miss it a bit.

Btw to answer your original question, the good folks at outdoor rec will point you to some good areas. All of the areas have potential. Just gotta get out there and hunt.

Probably like most public use areas. Someone shoots a large one then everybody starts killing everything instead of allowing them to grow. Cycle starts over!

There are some really good deer and a bunch of scrubby racked deer. I know of 4-5 we have pics of that any Alabama hunter would be proud of. You don't have to walk miles or wait on the ranges to shoot a shore nuff good one, but you do have to hunt smart. If I didn't drive 5 days a week out there, I might hunt them more, but the drive gets old. We're doing things to grow healthier, more mature deer, not necessarily more deer. Numbers are way down from the early 2000's, but the numbers are steady. The coyotes and bobcats are our worst enemies right now. Plus it is becoming more and more compartmentalized with all of the new fences that have been put in over the past few years. Deer breeding peak is the last week of Jan thru the first two weeks of Feb. we have a few that hit it earlier and a few up into March, but the last week of Jan is prime.we are actually trying to shift the season out two weeks but we have to get final approval from the State DCNR and US FWS. Probably won't fly for the WNWR areas, but we may get it for the rest of the place in the future.

Can we see some pics of the ones still walking around out there?
Is there a million dollar budget just for wildife management or does that include other recreation?

RSA hunting is an MWR activity. Google MWR. It is non-appropriated funds generated by user fees.

I'll show you an "after" pic once I claim one of the monsters this year.

Thanks for the responses. The outdoor rec guys were helpful on potential areas. Lots of options. Just have not had the time to scout. I'm planning to do that over the holidays. Hopefully dial in on a couple of good spots for late Jan. Maybe some of the closed ranges will open up.

Anybody know the current buck:doe kills out there right now?

Pm sent Bow Up. I looked at the book on my way out tonight.

Shoot me a pm, I'll give you my spots.

As of today; 20 does and 3 bucks. Been really slow.

Wow! Those numbers are way off the target. Any guesses why the numbers are so low? Ranges being closed down? Coyotes? People not reporting their kills? What were the final numbers last year?

I would guess weather.

Too many people, not enough deer, loss of prime hunting areas, and a lot of the other hunting areas have not been open this season. If things continue like this through the rest of the season they will be lucky to kill 20 bucks.

I don't remember what the numbers were last year, but they didn't reach the buck quota. I think there were 40'ish bucks killed.

I remember checking around this time last year and the numbers were maybe 8 bucks and 20-ish does. I never got the final numbers. I think from now on I will skip Oct-Dec out there and hope they can extend the season into Feb.

Sounds like most all other places / stories I hear these days. It is reaping what has been sown by killing 3, 4 , 5 times more does than bucks. With a declining deer herd nationwide. Its not rocket science, you kill more does than bucks and you are reducing the herd. We have been overharvesting does for many years now, this combined with rising predator populations have our herd the lowest its been in years and it will never improve until people lay off the doe harvest.