TBG Blackbeard Island Rendezvous
October 15th - 19th
BLACKBEARD ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Location: McIntosh County, GA
Contact Information:
Phone: 1-229-652-4415
FAX: 1-229-652-4385
Email:
fw4_rw_savannah_coastal@fws.gov
Web:
http://blackbeardisland.fws.gov/blackbeardnwrx.html
Directions: Accessible only by boat.
Located approximately 18 miles from Shellman's Bluff, Ga. Several marinas on
the mainland (Shellman's Bluff area) provide charter service to the barrier
island for a fee. (See the charter list provided by the Savannah Coastal
Refuges Complex.) Private boats may be launched from the Barbour River Landing
at Harris Neck NWR on the mainland.
|
Charter List:
Pot Luck Charters
Charles Wells
1-229-832-6556 |
Belle Bluff
Campground
Marina
1-229-832-5323 |
Shellman's Fish Camp
Sands Iller
1-1-229-832-4331 |
|
Tangle
LineCharters
Cathy or Donny Sikes
1-229-832-5737 |
Delegal Marina
(Skidaway Island)
Joel Formby
1-229-355-7058 |
Suzanna Forsythe
1-229-832-4749 |
This is a fun hunt with a great opportunity to take
the second smallest sub-species of whitetail. Only the Key Deer is smaller.
Weights
normally range between 30 - 100 pounds. Buck to doe ratios are tight and there
is usually a few really nice 10 pointers taken every hunt. Hunter success
rates vary hunt to hunt but 40% is not uncommon. The deer are challenging and
beautiful, as is their environment. You should be able to do this hunt for
less than a couple hundred bucks including food so it is a good value too. The
roundtrip boat ride should cost about $125.
The barrier island hunt is unique and rewarding. Blackbeard
is 5,628 acres of pristine wilderness. 2,115 acres in a series of rolling
dunes covered in pine and live oak forests, and a sea of palmettos dotted with
sloughs and ponds. There are 1,163 acres of freshwater impoundments / marshes
and 2,000 acres of saltwater marsh. A channel on the South and West separates
the island from Sapelo Island. The Atlantic on the North and East provides
refreshing sea breezes and 340 acres of white sand beach.
Two Federal bonus tags will
be issued which do not count against your Georgia limit.
You must check in at the refuge dock prior to setting up camp. You
must have a valid Georgia hunting license and personal identification
(driver's license or official state ID card). They will not let
you on the island without these papers. Hunters 15 or younger must
have passed a state-approved hunter education course and must be
supervised by an adult (remain in sight and voice contact), one
youth per adult.
The grounds are primitive -- you should bring everything you
need to hunt, eat, drink, sleep, and cook, etc. Bring lots of ice.
There is potable water, showers, and flush toilets. Bring towels,
soap, and toilet paper. You get the idea. Firewood is provided at
a central location within the campgrounds. You may want to bring
a saw, as it is not cut. Bring whatever you need, just remember
you have to load it and unload it. There is a walk-in cooler to
store harvested game. Whatever you take on the island you take with
you when you leave. Bring rubber boots and bug repellent!!!
