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An aerial view of Giles Island. (Courtesy Mossy Oak Properties)

A map of Giles Island. (Courtesy Mossy Oak Properties)

one of the lodges on Giles Island. (Courtesy Mossy Oak Properties)

The interior of one of the lodges on Giles Island. (Courtesy Mossy Oak Properties)

An aerial view of lodges on Giles Island that is for sale for $20,000,000. (Courtesy Mossy Oak Properties)

Hunters at Giles Island. (Courtesy Mossy Oak Properties)

A deer harvested on Giles Island. (Courtesy Mossy Oak Properties)

A deer stand on Giles Island that is for sale for $20,000,000. (Courtesy Mossy Oak Properties)

A historic marker on Giles Island shows where James Bowie had a famous knife fight. (Courtesy Mossy Oak Properties)

Tom Middleton of Mossy Oak Properties is the listing agent for Giles Island. (Courtesy Mossy Oak Properties)

NATCHEZ — One of the South’s premier hunting destinations, which happens to be in Adams County, is on the market, and it could be yours for $20,000,000.

Giles Island, including 6,350-plus acres and several top-notch facilities, is being offered through Natchez’s Mossy Oak Properties with Tom Middleton as the listing agent.

Despite the Adams County address, Giles Island is actually located on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River, having been cutoff by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Middleton said.

The island is accessible by road until the Mississippi River reaches the 34-foot stage at which time the island can only be accessed by boat, Middleton said.

The property has had only two owners in the past 130 years, states the listing at mossyoakproperties.com.

“Giles Island is long known as the premier deer hunting destination in the Southeast United States, if not the entire country,” the listing states. “This 6,350 acre deer hunting paradise has produced many legends over the last 25-plus years. However, deer hunting is not all this tract is known for, as it offers excellent hunting opportunities for all critters in which there is a season. Chief among them are ducks, doves, squirrels, turkeys and alligators. In addition to hunting, the abundant lakes, miles of old river frontage and 1.8 miles of Mississippi River frontage offer the finest crappie and bass fishing to be found anywhere.”

Giles also is the site of the James Bowie Sandbar Fight Mississippi Historic marker that states the fight took place 3.2 miles east southeast of the sign.

“This incident occurred on Sept. 19, 1827, on a sand beach on the eastern shore of the Mississippi. Begun as a formal duel, it soon devolved into a Wild West gun and knife fight. James Bowie, one of 13 men from La. involved, though severely wounded and armed only with a knife, killed one opponent, wounded another, and became a legend almost overnight,” the sign reads.

Middleton said the property, currently owned by Steve Bancroft of Monroe, Louisiana, has been listed since June 23 and he has had a lot of interest from potential buyers, who are split between people interested in continuing the commercial hunting business and people with private interests.

“It is a first-class operation over there,” Middleton said of the commercial hunting operation. “I’ve been the forester on it since 1998, for 22 years, and as a private consulting forester as well as a realtor, I spent most of my foresting career working up and down the Mississippi River, and I’ve been on a lot of river islands and a lot of river front tracts, but I can tell you in my 41 years of doing it, this is the No. 1 tract I’ve ever been on. It has outstanding timber, outstanding wildlife, aesthetics, fishing and facilities. It is just second to none. The facilities are second to none.”

A check of Giles Island’s website at gilesisland.com shows prices for hunts for deer range from $2,500 for three days for bow hunting only to $6,000 for three days, bow or gun hunting in the prime rut season. Duck hunting is $800 per person, per day with a two hunters minimum and a two-day minimum.
The island also features at least three lodges, enclosed deer stands and more.

Middleton said despite the interest, he does not yet have any offers on Giles Island.

“I would not say we are close to (anyone) making an offer yet, but we have got some real strong candidates that we have been working with awhile,” Middleton said. “They are still doing a lot of their diligence and it looks very favorable.”

Tom Middleton can be reached at Moss Oaks Properties Land Investments, 112 Main St., Natchez, by phone at 601-304-0744 or by email at tmiddleton@mossyoakproperties.com.

“This place is second-to-none,” Middleton said of Giles Island. “It is my favorite all-time tract in my entire career.”

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