Watch out for hunters: Academy to hold annual deer hunt in December

  • Published
  • By Amber Baillie
  • Academy Spirit staff writer
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  The Natural Resources office here will conduct their annual base-wide deer hunt Dec. 7-9 and 14-16 and ask that visitors and personnel keep away from marked hunting areas.

All hunters will be guided by Academy or Colorado Parks and Wildlife representatives, and main roads and trails leading into hunting areas will be posted with bright orange warning signs instructing people to keep out.

Base visitors should bear this in mind on those dates if they hear gunfire.

"Thirty hunters are scheduled to participate this year," said Brian Mihlbachler, the Fish and Wildlife Service's natural resources manager here. "Hunters must follow all state and Academy regulations. They must have a state deer license and pay a $15 base access fee. Each hunter is allowed one doe or one buck, depending on their type of license."

Deer hunting has occurred here since 1988, Mihlbachler said.

"Hunting is used as an efficient and effective means of controlling the size of the Academy herd to meet a management objective of 150-200 deer," he said. "Managing toward this objective promotes a healthy deer herd, minimizes deer-vehicle accidents, prevents over-browsing of habitat, and provides for ample wildlife viewing opportunities."

The upcoming hunts are only for deer, Mihlbachler said.

"We also offer an elk hunt that's currently in progress (Oct.1-Jan 31) but we have not seen the herd on base much this year," he said.

All licenses for the 2013 hunting season have been issued by the State of Colorado. To apply for future hunts, please submit a big game application to Colorado Parks and Wildlife for Game Management Unit 512 (USAFA). For questions or concerns, please contact the Natural Resources office at 333-3308 or CPW at (719) 227-5200.