We had the greatest time. Great weather aside from it warming up enough to keep the sang gnats lively. I was the only one in our group to kill one but I think everybody would call it a succesfull trip. I’ll post more pictures later on when I find time.

You have to watch where you step on the island

This is most of what the island looks like

This hunt is on a national wildlife refuge and is run by the fish and wildlife service. They do an incredible job. This has been my third year in a row doing the hunt and hopefully that streak will continue.

paleoman wrote: That is such an exotic environment for us used to the ” north woods”. It”s pretty cool to see places other than what you’re used to. Thanks for posting.

It’s what keeps us going back. It’s the complete opposite of every environment I’ve ever hunted in. As primitive as it gets. The only mammals on the island are deer, pigs, coyotes, and raccoons (aside from some small rodents of course). It’s covered in creepy crawlies of many venemous varieties and some huge gators.

And nobody goes to the island expecting to see any monster bucks. The deer there are actually a seperate subspecies than those on the mainland. They’re very small and a 90lb deer is considered huge. If I remember correctly, the largest buck ever killed there weighed 123 lbs.

David Petersen wrote: Etter — My apologies if I missed something earlier, but where is this island? From the name and photos (eerily beautiful)it’s obviously the deep South. I believe Blackbeard’s ship was sunk off the Carolina Outer Banks so am guessing that’s the area. Is there an actual history to go with the name? Congrats on your deer. The smallness you speak of is a biological effect called, no surprise, the island effect. Populations stranded on islands with no major predators gradually switch their adaptive evolutionary strategy from Bigger is Better to “more of us can share this place if we’re small and have smaller needs, and since no monsters are chasing and eating us, we can get away with being wee.” The FL Keys deer, smallest deer species on the continent, is the prime example. I doubt smallness makes them any easier to hunt. Certainly the Sonoran Desert Coues whitetail, smallest deer in the interior West, is the most difficult animal I’ve ever hunted and makes an Iowa or Kansas cornfield buster book look like a dummy. Sounds like a fantastic annual adventure for anyone within reach of the place. And maybe you’ll find some buried pirate treasure. 😀

Dave,

Blackbeard is a barrier island off the coast of south ga. It is in a chain that runs up into south carolina. To go on this hunt, you have to bring your own boat or charter a boat to get you on the 11 mile run to the dock. It is primitive camping but they have showers and a deer cooler. The island is about 5.5 miles long and 1 mile wide at its widest. It’s named Blackbeard Island because the pirate used to hide from the US navy in the treacherous canals and sand bars between the island and the mainland.

It is steeped in natural history. There is an indian burial ground on the place where you can walk through and find pottery, shells, bone shards, etc, as well as a crematorium because the island was used in the late 1800’s to isolate people stricken with yellow fever.

The majority of the island is old growth live oak with a 10-20 foot palmetto understory, but there are also open, grassy savannahs (the deer picture) all over it.

We like the December hunt but there is also a mid October hunt that is very good but leaves you open to more trouble with three types of venemous snakes, alligators, and, worst of all, mosquitos, chiggers, sand gnats, and ticks.

Thanks everybody for the nice comments. I’ve already gotten one pm about how this hunt is done and the details of what is necessary. If more people are seriously interested I’ll post it here on the regular forum. Just haven’t had time to get any links together yet.

It’s pretty amazing how different this group of hunters (usually about 150) is from regular hunters that you might. Everybody is polite, upbeat, non-competitive, and helpful.

I guess it’s just like traditional archery. When something takes extra effort, you weed out the slobs and jerks.

Here’s a picture of the yellow fever crematorium

The island is also slowly moving toward the mainland so the beach has actually overcome the live oak forests in many places and there are standing dead trees in the surf complete with tidal pools.

Here’s our boat loaded on the way back towards the mainland

This is the typical coloration of the island deer. They usually have a very dark chocolate to black stripe down the spine. One I saw was darker than a moose, but had more white on its feet, throat, and eye rings than a regular eastern whitetail.

Crabbing and fishing is also very good in the canal between blackbeard and its southern cousin, sapelo island.

I talked to some guys fishing for trout who had limited out the day before right near the main dock and I’ve seen guys hammering sheepshead right under the main camp dock.

Twenty minutes before I shot this deer, a bald eagle passed over the savannah right in front of my tree. Everybody in our group has seen eagles all three years I’ve been there.

One last picture for now. This was my view one evening when we went on a long “nature hike” up the eastern edge of the island and decided to post on the ground in the dunes over some heavy deer trails.

tailfeather wrote: Great photos as usual, Sean. Seeing these makes me miss camp, and mooching Bunyan’s Sierra Nevadas.8) Though I’ve yet to even draw back on a deer there, there’s something surreal about sitting over the palmettos listening to the waves crash……Hopefully I’ll be back in camp next year. Some 8 wt fly rods need to be on the boat for redfish and trout in the grass.

Lackey posted a pile of em on the hunt club website. Hope you do come back. I’ll likely do this one over again rather than the pa opener.

BuckyT wrote: It was a fantastic trip Sean!!

I only saw one boar and he ran through my narrow opening too quickly to get a shot Joe…

I absolutely fell in love with that place! I should kick myself for being a Georgia native, and not exploring my own state’s national treasures……………..

I plan on going back every year I can from here on out.

Had a great time sharing camp with y’all Sean!!

Best hunt of the year by far for me this season!!

Congrats again on your deer!

Like I said before, you’ve become quite the trad hunter, and I’m envious of your abilities in the field.:wink:

Post some of your photos Tommy. You took some great ones! There are a few people on this site comtemplating going next year so try to whet their appetites.

Thanks again for the kind words. Again, unnecessary. Hopefully a big lion will give me an easy, low, shot in February because I will need it.

Gotta love the island hunts. If I were to kill a good buck early next year, I might have to try the primitive weapons hunt at wassaw. It would be great to hunt the islands with a flintlock!!

If anybody plans trips as far in advance as I do, I thought I’d bump this back up.

It’s such a great hunt and would be worth the travel from anywhere in this country, I think.

This will be my fourth trip to the island and it’s taken that long to really get it figured out. I’d be happy to share any knowledge I’ve gained and help anybody with trip planning.

This is a trip worth doing! I got a couple pm’s about it so if you’re still interested, don’t forget about it and let it pass!

And Tailfeather: No more missing this trip!

Also, I’ve seen deer most days I’ve hunted and shot deer 2 out of 3 years.

The success rates are often near 50 percent for the three day hunt but killing deer has little to do with the hunt. It’s just a fabulous, eery, beautiful place.

…..and there are some nasty old pigs there for those who are into that:D

lyagooshka wrote: Etter,

I got some info from you prior. If you don’t mind, I’d like to PM you and pick your brain a little more. I hear you about the “success”. I would love to just be able to say I hunted the island. Just to have that experience. Pork or venison would just be a bonus. Let me know. Be well.

Alex

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PM away or ask on the open forum. Either way is fine.

I own a swimming pool service and repair business and it’s February. I got all the time in the world at the moment.:D

No problem. I’ll try to answer all of them.

The second hunt is usually the first weekend in December. This year it was a little early and started on November 29, I think. It’ll be right about December 1. You need to arrive as EARLY AS POSSIBLE on the day before the hunt starts. I mean, be at the dock at daylight to get scouting and mark your spot.

Ferries are available by commercial companies and private boat owners. I’ll try to dig up the list. They’re pretty reasonable and I think you can get there and back for about $100 per person.

The island does get very crowded because the majority of it is just palmettos and totally un-huntable. Having said that, I’ve never had an issue finding an area by myself and once you mark your area with toilet paper (on the side of the trail), everybody will respect it and leave you alone. There are deer all over the island but we’ve started hunting the north end because it’s the longest walk and fewest people. It takes us about 1-1 and 1/4 hrs to get to our stands. We stay out all day and pack a lunch and a book. When you kill something, you drag it back to the main road and the DNR people will pick it up for you and drive it back to camp on a gator. They make two rounds per day.

You only need a valid GA hunting license. A 3 day hunting license will work as long as you have a big game stamp and archery permit.

As far as packing, you just need a light treestand and climbing sticks. You can’t use screw in steps. Bring your regular camping gear and a good pair of hiking boots and a daypack. Bring wet weather gear no matter what the weather report calls for. An axe and a chainsaw is very helpful as there are plenty of down live oak limbs around camp to make fires with. Campfires can only be made with dead wood that you find. The DNR does usually cut up some wood and leave it for the taking in the middle of the campground but we just take ten minutes per day to gather dead limbs ourselves and live oak burns really well.

Alcohol is allowed, you just can’t possess it while hunting. I’ve never met a ranger there that wasn’t a great and easy-going individual. You can stump shoot on the island but in camp, you can only shoot in a designated area. Stump shooting on the beach and in the dunes is fantastic!

Camping is only allowed in the designated area by the dock. Everyone stays in the 10-20 acre campground which has a deer cleaning station and cooler, showers, water, etc. Fishing and crabbing is allowed and both can be very good I’m told. I imagine surf fishing off the beach would be great if you brought the right gear.

The pig populations vary greatly from year to year. They do some pig control on a lot of the islands. I’ve never actually seen a pig there but BuckyT saw a nice boar on the scouting day this year and I saw probably 10-15 pigs brought to the skinning shed.

The ride over in the boat is probably my favorite part. You usually see a lot of dolphins and porpoises, marsh hens, eagles, untold numbers of shorebirds and sea ducks.

It’s taken me three years to walk all the roads on the island and I’ve walked the entire eastern beach. There’s a LOT to see.

It’s just a fantastic hunt and a great experience. Watching the sunrise over the ocean from a treestand is something special.

Only other things I can think about (random thoughts)

You have to be in your treestand for the first two and last two hours of daylight. You can’t be walking around.

The National Wildlife Refuge people (I’ve been calling them dnr) are fantastic. At the dock, they check your license and then give you your tags. You can kill four or five deer per hunt.

You have to be off the island by noon on sunday.

Bring your best camera and a bird id book if you’re into that. You will see lots.

If you do come to the island, make sure you see some sights and don’t focus on the hunt too hard. The crematorium, indian burial ground, savannahs, and boneyards (standing dead timber in the surf) are worth a hike in the middle of the day.

We bring easy to cook dinners because you’re usually not back in camp til late. I always make a turkey stew that can just be warmed over the fire. We do a lot of soups and stews. Sandwhiches and sardines for lunch and breakfast is usually just coffee and granola bars.

Don’t bring anything you won’t need.

Finally, this hunt is full of wonderful people. There is no competition, and everybody is respectful of each other. Usually traditional archers make up about half of the hunters and you will get to hold and see a ton of different bows. I think the extra work of going to an island, walking so much, and bow hunting only tends to weed out the lazy jerks. Very rarely have we complained about anybody and you will make new friends.

There is cell phone service on most of the island now and there are plenty of places to plug in phone chargers.

Any more questions, I’m here.:D

lyagooshka wrote: OK, not to get too ignorant on you, but could you walk me through the trip from parking your car to getting back in it? Just the highlights. I’d like to hear how it really is. Here is how I envision it, tell me if I’m way off.

Drive 12 hours. Park the car. Get your stuff and go to the boat (guessing will need reservations). Get on the island and put your stuff down where you plan to camp (inside of the 20 acre camping area). Grab your stand and go to “mark your territory”. Find a spot, hang your stand, leave some TP and go back to camp. Pitch your tent, have some food, go to sleep. Wake up, go to your spot, climb the tree, wait for a deer, climb down, go back to camp. If you are tired, dress like a deer and lay on the main trail, and the DNR will take you back in a gator 😆 .

Now, first question is: when/where is report time/place? Is this a Friday-Sunday hunt or only Saturday to Sunday?

Next, I am guessing there will not be any hunting on Sunday as noon comes pretty quickly, so it’s really a one day hunt 🙁 ?

Is there any hunting in the evening? Sounds like morning is in a tree and afternoon is a stalk?

You mention climbing sticks, are climbing stands ok 😕 ?

Are there porta-potties or is it “bring a shovel” 😳 ?

Beyond all of the planning, this sounds like it would be well worth the 12 hour drive. Any other info you can think of would be well appreciated. Thanks for the help so far. Be well.

Alex

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Ill answer all that stuff when i get a chance but you scout and hang your stand on wed and hunt thurs fri and sat. You def want to be in your stand for the first and last three or four hours of daylight. There are bathrooms and showers. There is no hunting on sunday. Just wake pack and go. Ill go into more detail when my wife isnt using the laptop

lyagooshka wrote: OK, not to get too ignorant on you, but could you walk me through the trip from parking your car to getting back in it? Just the highlights. I’d like to hear how it really is. Here is how I envision it, tell me if I’m way off.

Drive 12 hours. Park the car. Get your stuff and go to the boat (guessing will need reservations). Get on the island and put your stuff down where you plan to camp (inside of the 20 acre camping area). Grab your stand and go to “mark your territory”. Find a spot, hang your stand, leave some TP and go back to camp. Pitch your tent, have some food, go to sleep. Wake up, go to your spot, climb the tree, wait for a deer, climb down, go back to camp. If you are tired, dress like a deer and lay on the main trail, and the DNR will take you back in a gator 😆 .

Now, first question is: when/where is report time/place? Is this a Friday-Sunday hunt or only Saturday to Sunday?

Next, I am guessing there will not be any hunting on Sunday as noon comes pretty quickly, so it’s really a one day hunt 🙁 ?

Is there any hunting in the evening? Sounds like morning is in a tree and afternoon is a stalk?

You mention climbing sticks, are climbing stands ok 😕 ?

Are there porta-potties or is it “bring a shovel” 😳 ?

Beyond all of the planning, this sounds like it would be well worth the 12 hour drive. Any other info you can think of would be well appreciated. Thanks for the help so far. Be well.

Alex

❓

From where you live, it’ll probably be more like 15 hours to Harris Neck NWR. You will unload your truck and load everything into the boat. The boat will take you through the canal out to the sound and into the canal between Blackbeard and Sapelo island. The dock is on the southwest side of the island and you will unload, check in with the refuge people and they will load your stuff onto a gator and drive it to whatever campsite you choose.

You’ll immediately want to unload and head to find a good spot and get it marked. The further from camp, the better.

On the first evening, there is a mandatory meeting at the deer skinning shed where they give you all the rules and have a q and a session. From there, you just hunt and enjoy.

Sitting in a treestand is definitely your best bet but during mid-day, I have heard of people going still hunting and coming up on deer and pigs. I like to walk the beaches if I have spare time as they are pristine. It’s amazing what is on a beach when people aren’t always around pilfering all the shells and cool stuff that washes up.

The boneyard areas have some amazing tidal pools full of sea life of all types.

If there’s anything else you need, just hollah!

lyagooshka wrote: Etter,

You’re the best. 😉 Thanks for taking the time. I have too many places I want to go in order to make up for the years I thought that happiness came from an ATM machine 😳 . I figure I just have to make a list and start crossing stuff off. Sika deer, Proghorn, Elk, whitetail, mule deer, couse, ‘bous. That means I need to take some roadtrips to WY, CO, WA, TX, KY, TN, ID, PA (had to throw in the home state), GA, FL, etc. Thanks again for giving me a push just to start the darned list in the first place. No time like the present. Be well.

Alex

😀

Glad somebody is taking interest! Nobody would ever regret doing this hunt. It is a true wilderness experience on a place that has been almost completely untouched by man. PA is my home state originally as well. This is about as different a hunt as you can imagine!

broadhead wrote: Alex, you’ve gotten some good info from Etter. In fact too much, because now EVERYBODY will be flocking to our little island hunt:D Just kidding. You will not regret participating. And it would be great to meet you.

It is the oldest archery hunt in the state of Ga. I think it dates back to c. 1947. One word of advice, even though it is Held in early December, temps. In SE Ga have been quite mild. Prepare for ticks.

Nah…Too much work for 99percent of people to shoot a little tiny deer:D

Just over one week away. The first hunt was cancelled due to the govt shutdown.

tailfeather wrote: Hate to miss it for the second year in a row. The new job may have some perks, but asking for vacation in the first week ain’t one of em. Next year!!

Have fun, fellas.:D

I’ve got a heck of a spot picked out too. If we get some weather, this is going to be the hunt of all hunts on the island. An extra 15% more deer and pigs (don’t care much about em), but also the lack of pressure from the first hunt should have everything moving like never before.

Boy did we have a big time again this year. I’ll post some pictures when I have the time. Out of four guys, we killed 2 deer, but there were two misses and another shot passed up on. I saw a nice spike but he stayed out of range. Out of 206 hunters, we killed 120 or so deer and about 30 pigs. It was unseasonably warm so the snakes and gators were out in force. As were the mosquitoes and sand gnats. We saw cottonmouths all over the place. Hunters were finding dead deer up and down the island so I’m assuming we got a late bout of EHD.

It was quite a time. I saw pigs, deer, gators, several species of snakes, dolphins, porpoises, wood storks, eagles, etc etc etc.

Sorry guys. My laptop has been down and im doing all this by phone. Somebody post up an email address and ill send em out.

That name just won’t work. The governor died. I will never die:D

Ausjim was nice enough to send me his email and I sent him a bunch of pics to post. One is of my buddy Tom with a nice doe he killed. By the time we got to her (about 45 minutes), a group of pigs had eaten the majority of her head. That’s why we took the picture facing the deer’s tail.

Thanks Jim!

I think they’re all self explanatory.

None of these pictures are of myself. I’m not old.

paleoman wrote: Very cool pics and place. That game trail (was that deer or piggies or both?) gets any hunters attention! What was that in the pan? I am not used to lots of snakes though!

It was mostly pigs but there was deer sign all around that Savanna as well. The can was smoked oysters. One of my favorite mid day snacks.

And yes, there were a lot of cottonmouths….and gators. I was actually surprised because there are a lot of pigs at Blackbeard. Usually they do a pretty good job of eating whatever snakes they can find but I guess cottonmouths are usually in water, and thus, safe.

We are headed back on Wednesday. Word is that the water in the sloughs is high and that the FWS is doing a good job of keeping the pigs under control. I’m glad to hear. Hate them with a passion!!!

I’m bringing waders to cross a slough that is going to be infested with gators and cottonmouths but I doubt anybody else will have that idea and it’s a great funnel. Plus, I have to carry the neoprenes three miles from camp.

We are really pumped. It’s going to be warm again so I have a sand gnat problem to deal with but I can’t wait.

This was a thread that I bumped up from a while back. I did it because we are headed back this week.

Smithhammer wrote: Have a great trip, Sean! Looking forward to the pics – Blackbeard Is. seems like an unreal, somewhat mystical place. Especially when I’m sitting in snow-bound Idaho this time of year…

Thanks guys. This is a hunt that I think every traditional bowhunter should experience once.

Well, out of five of us, we only came back with one deer and it was killed with a white wolf beowulf recurve. (Not Mine).

We had a great trip, caught a lot of sea trout and saw a pile of deer. Due to the full moon, we saw most of our deer while walking to and from stands in the middle of the day. It was warm so we saw several cottonmouths and two eastern diamondbacks. I also had an interesting experience while crossing a slough in the dark when a 12 foot gator surfaced about 15 feet from me. It was exciting to say the least.

I got to shoot a few bows and the bowyer that makes zipper bows was there. Needless to say, I’m about to be out about 1100 bucks. He has one on the website that I really like so I won’t have to wait for it!

Sorry for the lack of photos but my phone broke on the first day and I never pulled out my big camera. Maybe Bunyan and Tommy will post some.