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Another Great Sapelo Island Hunt

PickettSFHunter

PickettSFHunter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2004
Messages
22,196
Location
Jamestown, TN
My favorite hunt of the year, the Georgia DNR just knows how to run a quality quota hunt on this barrier island.... The mosquitoes weren't so bad you choke on them this year, so that was a positive. The sand gnats were fairly bad however. Thermacell and Shannon Bug tamer suits are your friend. The high was 85 one day but stayed pretty well in the 70's after that. The bucks were rutting as usual. I killed the doe first, a 3.5 year old that weighed 39 pounds dressed. Passed on several other deer hoping to see a Sapelo giant. Passing on deer is not really something you do on this hunt but it
actually worked out for me. This buck is considered a very nice deer for Sapelo. 4.5 years old and 77 pounds dressed. Those are the views where I got the deer. Everyone should at least experience these hunts. The bugs, the heat, the snakes. It's great
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rem270":1yv06z95 said:
That's great man. Never heard of the Sapelo hunts. Stupid question, why do the deer weigh so little?
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The DNR guy says nutrition. It's a barrier island off the coast of Georgia. No crops, just
Palmettos, pines, and live oaks primarily. So thick you can barely walk through a lot of it and you can hear the deer bulldozing through it. The soil is sandy but there are also very rich black soil areas that were once a working plantation but have since reverted to palmettos. This is a picture of a typical palmetto thicket to the left. I had a buck at 5 yards in this stuff, couldn't see it. Could only see the bushes shaking when it grunted back at me and circled to catch my wind.
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PickettSFHunter":2iaph960 said:
rem270":2iaph960 said:
That's great man. Never heard of the Sapelo hunts. Stupid question, why do the deer weigh so little?
Click to expand...
The DNR guy says nutrition. It's a barrier island off the coast of Georgia. No crops, just
Palmettos, pines, and live oaks primarily. So thick you can barely walk through a lot of it and you can hear the deer bulldozing through it. The soil is sandy but there are also very rich black soil areas that were once a working plantation but have since reverted to palmettos. This is a picture of a typical palmetto thicket to the left. I had a buck at 5 yards in this stuff, couldn't see it. Could only see the bushes shaking when it grunted back at me and circled to catch my wind.
01615bd7da8f5a7d3597a7976a4a201b.jpg



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Click to expand...

That's pretty neat right there man!
 
Congrats!
Those lite weight deer should make for a easy pack out at least[emoji14]

Do you notice a taste difference in them?


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AT Hiker":12dq5tpa said:
Congrats!
Those lite weight deer should make for a easy pack out at least[emoji14]

Do you notice a taste difference in them?


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Click to expand...

I personally don't notice a difference. DNR has a walk in cooler so I hang my deer for the duration of the hunt and that makes for some good meat. I've noted over the 3 years I've gone that almost no one down there ever field dresses a deer, I'm the weird one that does that, just makes it easier to pack out and I would think would cool off the carcass quicker. I also hang my deer in a tree while waiting for pickup or else the ants will invade it quickly.


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Roost 1":4epgqmmp said:
Congrats on a successful hunt. Gotta ask, do you always sit with hammer cocked?
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When I'm in the stand, yes I do. It's a 2 trigger system where you have to "set" the second trigger to fire but I figure there will be some issue with that since its TNdeer.


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Great hunt, I used to hunt Blackbeard Island years ago archery only, those liv3 oaks are so huge u don't need a stand, just walk up limb and sit down. Dunno about now but population was over 75 deer per square mile. Too much fun.
 
PickettSFHunter":1x08o4m1 said:
Roost 1":1x08o4m1 said:
Congrats on a successful hunt. Gotta ask, do you always sit with hammer cocked?
Click to expand...
When I'm in the stand, yes I do. It's a 2 trigger system where you have to "set" the second trigger to fire but I figure there will be some issue with that since its TNdeer.


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Click to expand...

I have that same gun, 2 triggers right? Pull the back one to set it and then barely blow on the front one and she's going off lol.


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Andy S.":2c1q5bsd said:
Super cool hunt and experience, congrats, and thanks for sharing Steven.

What was bag limit? Earn a buck? Likelihood of drawing? Yearly, every three years, etc?
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The bag limit is 2 deer, unlimited hogs. I just didn't see any hogs this year. Not earn a buck, you could actually shoot 2 bucks. I have drawn 3/3 years, however, there is a small chance you won't draw every year traditionally. 125 are drawn, normally only about 40 show up. This year 42 showed up. Several brought rifles though and had to leave, a few more wimped out due to heat and bugs. You pick an area(a number) you want to hunt. You get on a trailer that is traveling that route, get dropped off and picked up at your number at times that are voted on. Any issues, you call or text the hunt manager. You have your area to roam and pick a spot to hunt. With few people showing up, you have other areas you can transfer to if you don't see what you like.


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That's real interesting on the deer and nutrition. Good pictures. Is that a Thompson Center Hawken muzzleloader? Looks like one from pic and they are great mizzleloaders.
 
Matador":1dkcmadh said:
That's real interesting on the deer and nutrition. Good pictures. Is that a Thompson Center Hawken muzzleloader? Looks like one from pic and they are great mizzleloaders.
Click to expand...
It is labeled "Made in Italy for Charles Daly" A more traditional ML is not required, just what I choose to take there.


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Dang nice buck, congrats! How many bucks did you pass before you saw that one?

But you can have the bugs and heat, exactly why I quit bowhunting here in south MS. Just isn't fun to me personally
 

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