Ossabaw Duck And Turkey Hunts Lost?

After months of meetings, hearings and work, the subcommittees revising the Ossabaw Island Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) have produced a draft of the new CMP, and two changes in particular will have an impact on hunters: both turkey hunting and small-game hunting, including the waterfowl hunts, have been removed.

“The deer and the hog hunting we’ve been able to justify over the years based on management needs,” said WRD Game Management Chief Todd Holbrook. “You can’t make that same argument for waterfowl hunting, and because it’s not necessary for management of waterfowl populations, we likely will be cutting out waterfowl hunting on Ossabaw.”

Throughout the CMP-revision process, every aspect of the island’s management has come under scrutiny from many stakeholders, including those serving on CMP subcommittees. The five subcommittees include scientists, DNR staff and representatives of hunting and environmental groups. Under the Heritage Preserve Executive Order governing Ossabaw, education, research and ecosystem management are among the goals and uses allowed, but recreation of any kind was specifically excluded. 

“The plan will allow us to have waterfowl hunting if it can be directly linked with the education or research missions, but that would have to be a very specific link,” Holbrook said. “You can’t just have waterfowl hunting and call it education.”

The quota turkey hunts may also be a thing of the past on Ossabaw.

“Turkey hunting will be lost, and again it’s for the same reason: there’s no management need there,” Holbrook said. “That, to me, is not as significant to hunters as the duck hunting. There wasn’t a whole lot of opportunity for turkeys, other than coming over to enjoy being on the island, but waterfowl hunting was pretty good, and good waterfowl hunting in Georgia is hard to come by. We’ve been doing those hunts since ’84, and there’s a long tradition out there.”

As for deer and hog hunting, these are easily and rightly justified under ecosystem management, Holbrook said. In fact, the hunting pressure on hogs may be turned up with the possible addition of another quota hog-only hunt. Most stakeholders, even those who would like to see less hunter presence on the island, agree that the feral hogs have a huge negative influence on the ecosystem. Some do not want to see the hogs completely eliminated, but Holbrook points out that with the extensive marsh habitat and dense hammocks, elimination is an impossible goal. Hunters, he said, take around 400 hogs annually from a population that could probably sustain an annual harvest of 2,000 animals.

“If we are successful in reducing the hog population as much as we want to, obviously there would be less hogs for hunters to hunt,” said Holbrook. “But I don’t see reduced hog-hunting opportunity. As much as possible, we want hunters to do the removal for us.”

Public access to Ossabaw may be increased under the new CMP on a limited basis. A small number of educational weekends may be planned, for which families or individuals apply for a limited number of slots (just like the quota hunts). Those drawn would camp in the hunt camp and go on guided educational outings. Under no circumstances, Holbrook said, would this system be like the one on Cumberland Island NWR, where the public is turned loose to roam where they will.

The details of the CMP draft were being finalized in late January. Holbrook said that two public meetings would be held in late March where members of the public could comment on the draft. These are likely to be held in Athens and Richmond Hill. Dates and times will be published in the March issue of GON, or hunters can write to WRD and request that they be put on the mailing list to receive notification of the meetings. Write to WRD Game Management, Attn: Ossabaw Mailing List, 2070 U.S. Hwy 278 S.E., Social Circle, Ga. 30279. Enclose your request with your name and complete mailing address.