The roads on Redstone Arsenal are safer because of the hunters.
In 2023-24 season, 425 registered hunters harvested 136 deer, 75 doe and 61 bucks on post. According to Frederick Anderson, recreation specialist and hunting coordinator at Outdoor Recreation, this past year was average for hunters on Redstone.
But an average year for recreational hunters helps keep the roads safe for workers and residents of Redstone Arsenal.
“Recreation is one of the main reasons for hunting,” Anderson said. “But safety drives the hunting program on Redstone. There were 39 reported deer strikes which resulted in vehicle damage. This does not include at least that amount again where the vehicle operator did not report the strike, but officials found the animal after the fact.”
He added that without a hunting program, the deer population would grow exponentially, which could lead to more deer colliding with motorists on Arsenal roadways.
Next year hunters can expect a few changes in the hunting program on the 38,000 acres available to hunters on post.
“We will be hunting under a new system called iSportsman. It’s basically what all the other posts are using,” Anderson said.
According to the iSportsman website, it is the leading management solution for recreational hunting programs and the Army’s fishing and firewood sales programs.
“iSportsman has been delivering customized solutions to meet the needs of large-scale recreational programs for more than 12 years and currently manages permit sales, access control, reporting and more for more than 10.6 million acres of forest, fields, trails and waterways across the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii,” the company said on its website.
Anderson said more information about the iSportsman system will be available in the next few weeks as they begin to implement the online hunting program.
Those eligible to hunt at Redstone include civilian and government workers, contractors for whom the Arsenal is their place of duty, active-duty military, reservists, retirees, Gold Star family members and disabled veterans.
For more information about hunting on post, call Outdoor Recreation at 256-876-4868 or 256-876-6854 during normal operation hours Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday between 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. The facility is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
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