BOWHUNTING
Fort Belvoir’s bowhunting program has existed since the early 1980’s. Approximately 3000 acres of the installation are accessible to bowhunting for deer, turkey, and small game species that are in season and in accordance with VDWR laws and regulations. The most popular game species is the white-tailed deer. The installation is divided into 31 hunting areas as determined by training areas, roads, and geographical features. These 31 areas accommodate 119 hunting slots available to the public. The second most popular game species is the eastern wild turkey. There are 5 zones that make up the spring turkey season, accommodating 20 hunters.
In order to bowhunt on Fort Belvoir, hunters must have taken a hunter's education class (out-of-state classes and previous years hunting license will be sufficient), and attend an International Bowhunting Education Program (IBEP). To take the IBEP online go to https://www.bowhunter-ed.com/virginia/
Fort Belvoir participates in the VDWR Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP). Through this participation, VDWR provides DMAP tags to be used for antlerless deer at no cost to the hunter. In return, VDWR requires that all deer harvested have data collected which helps to determine heard health and population dynamics. Date includes sex, weight, milk presence (females), and antler measurements. VDWR also requires that a lower jawbone from each harvested deer be submitted along the data. Jawbones are used to age the deer and help to assess heard health and dynamics. Below are links for how to check for presense of milk and removal of jawbones:
HARVEST DATA POWER POINT 2023 /files/Harvest%20Data%20PPT%202023.pdf