Thanks to the DNR and Ducks Unlimited, the Altamaha Waterfowl Management Area is your option!
Spring 2024
By Jimmy Jacobs
Unfortunately for waterfowl enthusiasts, Georgia’s geographic position mostly places it away from the direct routes of North America’s migratory flyways. Technically, we are in the Eastern Flyway, but few ducks get any farther inland than our coastal counties.
Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources
On the other hand, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Ducks Unlimited have been busy in recent times making sure those counties attract as many birds as possible. That is accomplished by habitat improvements along the coast. One of the main areas for these efforts has been the Altamaha Waterfowl Management Area.
The waterfowl area is located within the boundaries of the 27,000-acre Altamaha Wildlife Management Area. The waterfowl area consists of 3,154 acres of managed waterfowl impoundments in it total of 11,402 acres. The WMA is in McIntosh County along the Altamaha River in the vicinity of Darien.
The managed impoundments are separated into three units: Butler Island, Champney Island and Rhett’s Island. The first two are accessible via roads and open for quota hunts annually, but Butler Island was closed for the 2023 waterfowl season as work to repair damage from Hurricane Ian continued. Rhett’s Island is open during the entire waterfowl season, with hunting allowed on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and state holidays. This tract, however, is only accessible via boats.
Photo by Jimmy Jacobs.
Back in 2020, the first phase of a multiphase $8.7-million project to install 12 water control structures on Rhett’s Island was completed. The ongoing project is a partnership between the GADNR and Ducks Unlimited. The water control structures have enhanced circulation and water management on Rhett’s Island and will be utilized by the GADNR biologists to promote the growth of wigeongrass and other emergent or submerged aquatic vegetation. That growth will supply forage to support migratory waterfowl, wading birds and shorebirds that utilize this important area on the Georgia coast.
The ongoing repairs on Butler Island are part of Phase 2 of the project. Included in this phase are seven water control structures, 9.5 miles of dike rebuilding and elevating, 2.7 miles of slope repair and 1.4 miles of berm re-establishment. The entire project is forecast to be completed in the summer of 2024.
Ducks Unlimited has 18,678 members in the Peach State. In 2023 they raised $2,576, 879 for conservation projects that aided in protecting 28,354 acres of wetlands on which waterfowl depend.
Jimmy Jacobs is the editor of Georgia Outdoor Adventures, as well as being editor/publisher of On The Fly South. He also is a member of the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association. He makes his home in Marietta with his English setters, Luke and Lulu. He can be contacted at jimmyjacobs@mindspring.com.