# St. Vincent Island NWR - Sambar Deer



## feathersnantlers (Jun 14, 2006)

Anybody applying this year?

I am along with some friends. It appears that parties get picked b4 individuals.

Some changes have happended see website for changes. Have to pay $5.00 to apply, can use copied forms to apply, etc.


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## cowboyron (Jun 14, 2006)

I have been wanting to do that hunt for awhile now. I think I will apply this year. If it's not to late. I'm heading for the FWC site right now.


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## SlipperyHill Mo (Jun 14, 2006)

Went two years ago nd had a good time.  Will wait another year to apply.

Bring your thermacell.


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## cowboyron (Jun 14, 2006)

SlipperyHill, I heard them skeeters were BAD on the Island.
Did you kill anything on your hunt or get a chance to see a Sambar Deer. Any helpful hints if one should pull a permit ?


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## HOGDOG76 (Jun 14, 2006)

Odds Of Getting Drawn Are Bad Enough Already , Pls Quit Putting The Word Out.


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## BOW'D UP (Jun 15, 2006)

buddy of mine killed the first one ever shot on a bowhunt there .
watch out for the rattlesnakes also.


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## SlipperyHill Mo (Jun 16, 2006)

cowboyron,

Did not see any live sambar, lots of tracks and 5-6 dead ones. I think one was over 600 pounds. Several whitetail a lot of gators a few rattlesnakes.

Mosquitos were awful for mid November.

Be prepared to do a lot of walking!!!!


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## cowboyron (Jun 19, 2006)

Thanks for the info.....now all I need is a permit.


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## Swamprat (Jun 19, 2006)

I think the island now has a breeding program for either red or grey wolves.

I have heard some of the stories involved in hunting there and it can be a challenge. At times the hogs can be terrific as well as the whitetail. As far as the sambar they are tough. Amazing that a 400 - 600 pound animal can hide on a island.


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## feathersnantlers (Jun 20, 2006)

*UGA published a study*

Shows where they radio-tracked the Sambar's.

Hint, that's where I will start looking I am going.


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## Outdoorsnole (Jun 20, 2006)

Swamprat said:
			
		

> I think the island now has a breeding program for either red or grey wolves.
> 
> I have heard some of the stories involved in hunting there and it can be a challenge. At times the hogs can be terrific as well as the whitetail. As far as the sambar they are tough. Amazing that a 400 - 600 pound animal can hide on a island.



They have a red wolf breeding program on the island now.  It's a tough but well worth the challenge to hunt on the island.  It's a pretty place that you will do a lot of walking on.  The archery hunt has unlimited permits and is at the end of Oct. which is still pretty hot and lots of bugs.  Then the Sambar hunt is the middle of Dec. and they give out 200 tags. The primitive weapons hunt is the beginning or middle of Jan. and has unlimited tags.  Each one of these hunts is only a 2 or 3 day hunt.  The success rate is really good for the archery and primitive weapons hunt, but this past year the Sambar hunt wasn't good.   Out of 160 something hunters they got 3 or 4 sambar with two of them being does or cows(whatever they're called).  

A friend of mine that hunted the Sambar hunt last year said that they saw a pile of whitetail and hogs but no Sambar except for one nice one that was shot.

Anyone can apply for the deer and hog hunts and you'll get a tag, but it's $5 per app for the Sambar hunt.  I'm not sure what the odds of getting drawn are but they give out 200 tags a year and there always around 120-170 hunters.  So I don't know if they don't give all the tags out or that some of the people just don't show up.

I plan on hunting for hogs and a buck out there during both the archery and primitive hunt.  It's a fun and different place to hunt, but I'll pass on the Sambar.  I'll be hunting opening day or another archery only place then with nice bucks on it.


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## SlipperyHill Mo (Jun 20, 2006)

Females Sambar are called hinds. Not sure why.


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## swamp (Jun 21, 2006)

what is a Sambar deer never heard of that before?


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## Outdoorsnole (Jun 21, 2006)

It's a deer imported from Asia.  I think it looks similiar to a Red Stag but doesn't have near as big of a rack as them.  
Here's a pic from the island






Harvest Summaries
http://www.fws.gov/saintvincent/harvestsummary.html

There once was zebra and other African game on the island too, now it's just the Sambar which likes the marshy swamp areas that almost half the island is made of.


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## Son (Jun 21, 2006)

*St Vincent Island Florida*

I and some other bowhunting buddies hunted the island for seven years straight in the 1970's. Sanbars were not legal then, but we saw a few nice big stags. This place can be tough, we always put in at Indian Pass and camped on the small end (nearest end to Indian Pass) Weathered a bad storm there one night. Five of us sat inside a tent and held it together for hours, soaking wet. The storm hit about midnight and lasted until mid morning. Nobody told us it was coming. Many boats were either lost and/or damaged. My old boat still carries the scars. In seven years I managed ten boar hogs and one buck deer. One year the skeeters were so bad we all needed a blood transfusion. Some of the sores were still irritating for two or more years. Another year the seed ticks were so bad some of us had a fever from 'em. To avoid walking so far we opted to take the boat to the lagoon access point, then walk in from there. If you kill something in the evening and miss the warden pickup jeep/trailer it's a long haul to camp lugging game. And the snakes, they were everywhere we went, so the hogs don't eat 'em. Gators are in all the sloughs when the islands wet. But if the islands dry the gators stay in gatorholes dug in the sloughs. So if you see a small round waterhole, don't walk right in front of it. The island is really a place for the younger hunter, but can be really tough on an older fellow.


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## Outdoorsnole (Jun 22, 2006)

Even thuogh it's not in GA, I'll give a report on how the hunts went this year.  Hopefully everything works out.  We have a group of 5 hunting two of the hunts.


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## SlipperyHill Mo (Jun 26, 2006)

Son, 

That was an excellent description of the island. The skeeters can be awful even in November.


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## Son (Jun 27, 2006)

*St Vincent Island*

Amen, and I'll leave it to the youngsters. But if Youth was to come on me again you would find me there because I enjoyed the challenge. It wasn't the size of the deer or the hogs that made it, it was the experience of hunting a place where it was very primitive. My favorite area was around 5B and C roads. And for those camping on the island, better take plenty of drinks and food cause you won't have time to be running to the mainland. For our group, it was up at 4 AM and to bed at 10 PM. Tough! I usually took a midday nap under a palmetto somewhere.


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## Outdoorsnole (Jun 27, 2006)

I can't wait to hunt it this year.  I try to get around to as many different WMA's that I can as long as they are decent.  

A pic from a guy that went last year of one of the Sambar's shot.


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## grouper sandwich (Jun 27, 2006)

Outdoor, are you still in Tallahassee this year?


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## Outdoorsnole (Jun 27, 2006)

yes, but I'm finally done with school.  This is actually vlcmsrfr from the over the other place.  I'm doing an internship for 3 months at Titus sports academy doing testing and stuff there so I'll be up here for another football and hunting season.


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## biggabuck (Jun 30, 2006)

Ok yall someone has to take me with to this place. I need to hunt here. Tell me what i need to do.


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## Outdoorsnole (Jun 30, 2006)

http://www.fws.gov/saintvincent/hunt-fish.html

Print the application packet and send it in.  If you wanna hunt the whitetail and hog hunts for archery and primitive weapons you'll get it.


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## feathersnantlers (May 30, 2007)

*Anybody apply year?*

2007!


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