BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

[jeep4x4greg]

Hey all,

I'm considering a move to the central and/or south Florida area......

Can someone shed some light onto the local hunting opportunities to be had?

Here in central IL theres a ton of opportunities, so hopefully FL has equivalent opportunities even if its different game and seasons..

1)what do you hunt
2)how available are hunting areas
3)is the game of your choice abundant?
4)what game is really hot for hunting down there.....IL is huge on deer...EVERYONE seems to deer hunts.....does FL have something like that?


Please share your opinions.....i love the midwest for its fall hunting...but moving would sure be nice too......got to weigh all the factors!!

thanks!

[urbaneruralite]

My advice is take up fishing. The fishing is awesome. Unless you're just nuts for bass, I'd move toward the coast. If you're boatless and don't want to learn to kayak or canoe do the east coast. The surf fishing is pretty good. The Gulf isn't much for surf fishing due to the shallow water. SW FL surf is known for snook, though, and that is a great thing. Sharking is pretty reliable too, but you'll want a yak to surf your baits out for the big stuff.

Hunting on private land is $$$ IF you can find it.

Public land hunting is in swamps with lots of other people. The deer in some of the swamps get to decent sizes by Southeastern standards, but they're still a little small compared to Midwestern deer. Deer outside the swamps are tiny. I'm typing about peninsular FL. The panhandle is different. I think FL has like three or four different sub-species of deer, so it really depends on where you are.

There's hogs and turkeys, too. Hogs are hogs. The turkeys make Midwestern birds seem like suicidal gobbling fools. I'm not exaggerating.

The real up side to FL hunting is the waterfowl. That is actually pretty good. As all water in FL is public, any body of water that has a public ramp can be hunted. Pretty much everywhere in FL has some duck hunting very close by.

[Highflyer]

Where I live next to the Ocala National Forest in central Florida is pretty hit and miss. However, numerous road closures on the Forest this year may create a bit less pressure in a lot of areas and hopefully better hunting. It used to be a four wheel drive circus but now it's fairly decent in certain areas if you have two feet and aren't afraid to use them. I've never looked into private leases because I go out West every year and hunt around here just for fresh air so to speak. And on the bright side, even if the game isn't lurking around every tree, the season is long and the weather is always good. Good luck.

P.S. The regulations can be complicated, especially if you want to hunt public land. Be careful and if you have any questions you can e-mail the Game Department and they will get back to you in a day or so.