St Vincent
National Wildlife Refuge
Sambar Deer
St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge really is a
jewel of a hunting area, especially for sambar deer. It is an undeveloped
barrier island just offshore from
the mouth of the Apalachicola River, in the Gulf of Mexico.
The down side is
they have only 3 hunts a year.
If you like to bow hunt or black powder
hunt, don't mind the 'draw' system and can
get off during the week to go -- this is an
honest to goodness American safari adventure!
Primitive Campsite
There are a lot of rules and structured guidelines.
You have to follow the rules or they won't let
you come back. The only access is by boat at designated
landing points. Camping is allowed only in designed
camp zones. You have to walk everywhere, or you
can take a bike to ride if you can handle the
sandy roads.
Tim and Kenny at St. Vincent
But the St. Vincent experience is well worth the
effort as my son Tim and I found out first hand.
You can take a hog on any hunt; but the
big game is limited to the specified
hunt. We opted for the black powder sambar deer
hunt. We chose the sambar deer because
of its unique stature in the North Florida
game hierarchy. This is the only place
you can find them. The sambar is a
relative to the Asian elk. The largest
male killed on record is over 500 pounds.
The does aren't quite as large, but it's
more meat than you can eat. While on the island
we picked up sheds from both whitetail and
sambar deer -- remember this is a
relative of an Asian elk so they are
quite large.
We hunted during the day.
We fished from the beach at night. When we
weren't eating fish, we ate steak complements
of a fellow hunter. The comradery
with the other hunters, some of which are
regulars, can highlight your experience.
We didn't take home
a deer, but I saw several during scouting
before the season opened. And the only
live doe I saw stepped out into the open;
I raised my gun, prepared to fire -- and
she took off! So I didn't get her. Which
means we didn't have to drag, skin,
debone, and haul out 200+ pounds of pure
meat -- but that would have been okay too.
We will be going back.
See also on our website Frequently Asked Questions
re: St. Vincent Deer Hunt for more information.
St. Vincent Fact Sheet
St. Vincent NWR REGULATIONS
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge
(Return to Public Hunting Land)
(Return to HOME PAGE)
|
