11,000 acres closed due to UXO's at VAFB

[myfriendis410]

Most of old Area 6 (C4), 2/3 of old Area 5 (B5) and most of the west side of Area 4 (C3 behind the picnic grounds) have been closed by order of the Wing Commander for clearing of UXO's. (unexploded ordinance)

As most of this is almost impossible terrain to cover and seriously overgrown, effectively these areas will not ever be hunted again, with only minor exceptions.

This course was taken to minimize the total closure that could potentially be made as a result of the new DoD directive that is driving this action.

Those of you who love hunting Honda canyon; sorry guys.

 

[ltdann]

So I'm guessing the roller coaster days are done?

 

[myfriendis410]

Yup. Also, Beach Road is closed below SLC 6 through April with manned roadblocks due to a booster mount in progress.

 

[ltdann]

Well, hell. I shot my first buck and my first doe on the edge of honda canyon. The buck rack is still my widest calimuley.

That closure in 4 bites. I was gonna spend some time in the hills west of the picnic ground....

I'm guessing the game shack will have the boundaries posted so we can update maps?

 

[myfriendis410]

All done in grease pencil. I'll take a picture of it and post it when I'm back on base.

 

[jdam777]

First the guest program terminated, now this..... Sounds like VAFB hunters are getting it from all sides. Sorry to hear this latest news.

 

[myfriendis410]

Actually this is the lesser of evils as the authority that closed these areas did so very reluctantly and with a lot of thought. It is his hope that by doing this now, it will forestall any further action by less hunter friendly commanders.

 

[jdam777]

Closed ares

I, Like most Vets have extensive UXO identification and avoidance training. What they should do is give a pack of little red marking flags to hunters entering those areas and ask them to mark and report any UXO,s spotted while hunting. Just a thought.....

 

[ltdann]

I, Like most Vets have extensive UXO identification and avoidance training. What they should do is give a pack of little red marking flags to hunters entering those areas and ask them to mark and report any UXO,s spotted while hunting. Just a thought.....

In 19 years of beating the bushes there, I've never encountered anything other than an old 30 cal round. But I guess a pre-emptive strike is better than losing the whole place.

 

[weekender21]

I, Like most Vets have extensive UXO identification and avoidance training. What they should do is give a pack of little red marking flags to hunters entering those areas and ask them to mark and report any UXO,s spotted while hunting. Just a thought.....

Everything they have found is below the surface. I've never seen anything in those areas either with over seven years of hunting experience on the base. I'm optimistic that at least some of the closed areas will be eventually opened again.

 

[myfriendis410]

And, I've never seen a three legged cow, deer or pig on the base either.

Seriously, they do find stuff all the time: a hand grenade on the obstacle course, a mine field (currently being cleared), a 500 lb. iron bomb by SLC III that they found laying fiber optic cable etc. The problem with a lot of the areas closed is it's terrain. Much of it is up and down, covered in manzanita and poison oak, and limited access to vehicles. If a BIG fire burned through Honda Canyon, that would make it possible to send a team in there.

 

[weekender21]

Don't get any ideas! If a big fire burned up Honda canyon, I'd get poison oak all the way down here!

 

[ltdann]

A mine field! lordy, where?

I watched this young guy shoot this little buck down at the bottom of the canyon near bldg 431. About 3 hours later, I was crossing roller coaster when this guy crested on the road. It was ugly.

Hair all gone on one side, scratched up and bleeding, the body was just a mess! The buck was even worse.

 

[richracer1]

A mine field! lordy, where?

I watched this young guy shoot this little buck down at the bottom of the canyon near bldg 431. About 3 hours later, I was crossing roller coaster when this guy crested on the road. It was ugly.

Hair all gone on one side, scratched up and bleeding, the body was just a mess! The buck was even worse.

The mine field referred to (I think) is just north of SLC-2 and on the west side of the RR tracks. This mine field was a total surprise. The 30 SW Safety office has maps of what the various firing/bombing/training ranges which show what and where different types of ordnance was used and they don't show the use or existance of land mines.

 

[Rampage1]

a mine field (currently being cleared),

Hell just leave all that shit there and the area open to hunting....just makes things that much more interesting.:toast-yellow:

 

[ltdann]

The mine field referred to (I think) is just north of SLC-2 and on the west side of the RR tracks. This mine field was a total surprise. The 30 SW Safety office has maps of what the various firing/bombing/training ranges which show what and where different types of ordnance was used and they don't show the use or existance of land mines.

Hey, I've been walking around out there! There ain't squat out there, mostly sand.

Who walks away from live minefield on a training base? For that matter, why lay a LIVE minefield on a training base?

 

[472x1A/B]

You guys out there in Vandyland are really the shaft. There's got to be some rabid anti hunters around Vandenberg for this to happen. When I was stationed there, we use to find stuff ( spent and loadedistol,rifle,grenads,bazoka rounds,mortar rounds and (2 land minds)) almost everywhere we went hunting. Most of the time we would tell the SP's where it was. Always marked it with plastic flags from CE Sq.. From Oct.-86 to May-90 bet I found a pickup truck load myself. Good luck guys.:wavin hello:

 

[richracer1]

You guys out there in Vandyland are really the shaft. There's got to be some rabid anti hunters around Vandenberg for this to happen. When I was stationed there, we use to find stuff ( spent and loadedistol,rifle,grenads,bazoka rounds,mortar rounds and (2 land minds)) almost everywhere we went hunting. Most of the time we would tell the SP's where it was. Always marked it with plastic flags from CE Sq.. From Oct.-86 to May-90 bet I found a pickup truck load myself. Good luck guys.:wavin hello:

On the contrary, the current Wing CC is a avid hunter and has stuck his neck out to keep a lot of the areas open and not just for hunting but all other elligible outdoor rec. activites,so it has nothing to do with anti-hunters. It's coming from a DoD Instruction that came out in 08 (I think) directing UXO areas be closed to non-mission essential personel access. This was stated in the first post by 410.

 

[weekender21]

They are making good progress in some of the areas. I bet we'll see a few areas opening up again in a few months.

 

[myfriendis410]

They are making good progress in some of the areas. I bet we'll see a few areas opening up again in a few months.

Behind the picnic grounds and the mine field, okay. They are going to have mega trouble in Honda Canyon. There is no easy fix there.

The thing people have to understand is this is not the Air Force driving the closure, as Rich said: it's a new DoD directive. Failure to comply can result in career ending sanctions. It's no laughing matter.