St Marks Refuge Adds Additional Lands and Opportunities

The St. Marks Natural Wildlife Refuge has offered hunters with a mobility impairment a section of land near Sopchoppy, FL to hunt White-tailed deer for many years. This approximately 3,800 acre parcel of refuge is virgin territory to rifles and trucks before the hunt.  Mobility impaired hunters get to fire the first gunshot of the season in these woods.

The Friday hunt meeting at 3:30 pm before the Saturday opener is always like a family meal with cousins you haven't seen in a while. They draw names out of a hat for stand locations and the tension builds as pins get placed at the known "spots". Whispers from the crowd let you know when the best spot gets claimed. Rules on driving the roads, stand hours, and government regulations are showered on the whole group before people disappear down their road. Each hunter is allowed a companion hunter and the bag limits must be shared. 

Hunters and staff alike realize that hunting the same ground is rewarding for history's sake, but new territory brings about a challenge. Are the best stands yet to be found in the new territory? or is the old Jay Leonard block still the hot spot? 

Either way, a new additional section called Purify Bay (approximately 4,000 acres) has been added to the hunt area this season. The quota permit numbers doubled from 15 to 30 in anticipation of this new addition being popular. Prescribed burning keeps these units in top ecological shape and the scenery is uniquely Gulf Coast.   

Share this post:

Comments on "St Marks Refuge Adds Additional Lands and Opportunities"

Comments 0-10 of 0

Please login to comment