I just found a photo of a Buck i killed on Radford Army Ammunition Plant back in the late 80's . Browning BPS 12 GA , Hasting Rifled Slug Barrel , Remington Copper Sabot , shot was around 150 yards.

NICE DEER

That is a very nice buck.

There are some goods one on the Ammo Plant , some of the biggest deer in VA. You will see 15 or 20 bucks like this one on every hunt.

Is the Radford hunt a limited draw affair or restricted to military personnel only?

Nice deer!

Looks like big bodied deer

Weight?

Whats the biggest deer taken at RAAP to date I wonder? I have heard tales of huge bucks that knew where the stands were and always stayed out of range....................Hb

No it isn't restricted to Military only. The Bucks do stay at a distant and i was on a Bow hunt and killed a doe and i watched the Bucks circle the stands about 150 yards out and they would lay down and you could hollow and wave at them and they wouldn't pay any attention as long as they where at that distant. That is why i put in for the slug hunt. I purchased the BPS Hasting barrel and mounted a 3.5 x 10 Leupold on it and practiced all summer out to 150 yards and could bust gallon jugs 10 out of ten with the Remington Copper Slug. When on the hunt the Bucks followed their same routine walk around in front of the stands about 150 yards . I put a fooling on this big boy , he though he was safe but the shot was a piece of cake and he went down with a shoulder shot, i walk over to him and he was trying to raise his head and i put another at point blank range in the neck . You are only allowed 5 rounds on the hunt.

The biggest deer shot there was mine but you probably won't draw

Here's one of similar size from Wisconsin

Trollrange, would love to see some real picts of your 205" animal.

If there aren't any restrictions on non-residents I may just have to put in for the draw.

They restrict you to only five rounds of ammo on the hunt total?

nice buck

nice buck, and yes 5 rounds

were you aiming at his neck? sometimes shotguns at 150yds can "wander" a little.....sorry, just re read your post....nice deer for sure....

Wonder what politician thought up the ammo restriction?

cool

Nice buck. Did you continue to hunt there since the 80s? If so, has it changed over the years and do you have pics of your other bucks

I lived on, and hunted on, the RAAP back in the late 90s while I was an active-duty student at Virginia Tech. There are actually two separate properties, but the one I hunted on was archery only and was just off the New River in Radford. It was not open to the public...only active duty military living in Staff Village and to employees of Hercules and/or the small Army staff stationed at the plant.

That was as close to a one-to-one buck to doe ratio as you'd ever see, and that's where I learned what a rut is supposed to look like in a balanced herd. I killed a 152" beast that's on my wall to this day, and I saw many more that were far, far nicer. Because of all the ammo magazines, modern weapons of any kind were forbidden--archery only.

You had to kill a mature doe before you were eligible to take a buck, and I've seen grown men reduced to tears waiting for a doe while buck after buck walked under their tree. Cheating wasn't an option; federal property for one, and those who hunted there coveted that right far too much to lose it in a moment of desperation.

Richard, that sounds like a great opportunity. Post up a pic of that buck if you have one!

back then i'd say you were right about some of the biggest deer in va. being killed on RA . these days with so many management programs in the state it totally different.great bucks coming from all over the state now.a 24inch buck was about unheard of in va. for years now the come wider then that.

I'll put up a pic tomorrow. It was an experience.

When I was in High School they opened up the arsenal for limited draw bow hunt. first time in at least 20 years. I bow hunted at my house that morning and then my Dad and I went to see what was coming out of the arsenal. The bucks were lined up being examined by the Game biologist. The game warden said there were at least 10 state record bow bucks on the ground, but they didn't count because they came from the arsenal. I'll never forget what they looked like laying there. No camera of course


from a few years ago. There are some huge deer in the area. The body was incredible

That's a nice buck Blair....how much did he weigh?

Scale hit 215 and we couldn't get him high enough to get his head off the ground

blair,
That's a horse of a deer!