Florida public land any advice.

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Alabama
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Joined: April 9th, 2013, 5:53 pm

Florida public land any advice.

Post by Alabama »

Hopefully some of you Florida guys could help me out or maybe someone that's hunted the WMA's. Considering strongly going to Florida next spring. Looking for some advice on some of the WMA's. Not looking for your secret spot lol just some advice on which management area would be better then others and if you could tell me why that would be great too, Shoot me a PM. Could also do private land hunt swap for Alabama Eastern if anyone is interested.

Thanks
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howl
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by howl »

Usual first advice is buy a private bird. Second is, if you must hunt public, do your best to find a bird well away from anyone else and hunt during the week. If you can find an area that requires a machete to get back in, don't overlook it.
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Jaybird
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by Jaybird »

Keeping track of some of my Florida buddies, they are struggling to even here a Gobble on Public. Tags filled are coming off of private paid hunts. I don't know if numbers are way down this year or what, but these guys and gals live there, and know the land well. Kind of strange.
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Alabama
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by Alabama »

Jaybird, Thats not a very encouraging sign. I completely understand the difficulty of public land gobblers. I hunt some public land in Alabama as well as private. Which WMA's does your florida buddies hunt? Maybe I should stay clear of those, an look at others to try.
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gblack15
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by gblack15 »

No Doubt it is a Tough Year in Florida. Water was really high early spring nad now we dropped fast. The weather also went from 40's and 50's to high 80's in just a few weeks. I spent a lot of time scouting my old favorites at Tosohatchee and Seminole Ranch. Turkeys seem to be on the move the hens I saw were way back in the marsh and seemed to be roaming more than ususual. I never roosted a bird and only saw 1 gobbler who was more interested in feeding than my calling. Sure seems like the pattern in this area is about a month late and they were not chasing at all. The recent rains have the fields starting to Green up late as well.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20
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Gobbler
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by Gobbler »

Good luck to you.

If you want to kill one call my buddy Chris Graham. He takes a limited number each year and he doesn't charge a ridiculous price.
This year 6 people all killed their Osceola's with Chris. Over half are members on this forum.

If you already killed an Osceola and want to mess with a public land hunt. Look around Ocala and Lake George area management areas and try to get drawn on a quota. :thumbup:

PS this is first year in as long as I can remember that I didn't at least get in a battle with a Gobbler in Florida. So I am re-evaluating my options for next year also.
Alabama
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by Alabama »

Gobbler, thanks for the info. Could you pm your friends info? The quota hunts is what I been looking at.
joey1946
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by joey1946 »

Florida public land is about as tough as it gets. There are several type quota hunts you can look at. Some have preference points some do not. Some require a fee some do not. Some give residents an edge some do not. Take a long look at FWC.com. All the info you need will be there but you will have to "hunt" to find it. There is even a section that will show harvest results from many of the WMAs over several years. A good place to start. As I'm sure you already know there is a magic line where a bird becomes either an Osceola or a Eastern. Don't even whisper the word "hybrid" in those northern Florida counties. Good luck and yes Florida was tough this season (still open through the 26th north of State Route 70).
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Johndoe
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by Johndoe »

Go someplace else. Terrible here. No gobbling and birds run from you when called to
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There are no numbers on any of my clocks below 8. Then all of a sudden, 2 days before turkey season they appear. Then right after the season they disappear.
What's up with that
Alabama
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by Alabama »

Thanks Joey, I have checked out fwc.com. Im just not sure which wma to try an get a permit for over all the other wma's. I just need to do a little more research an find the major ones lol.

And Johndoe that sounds just like the birds here in bama.
KPcalls
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by KPcalls »

Well....with all the Internet discussion on public land in Florida and in other states it will now take you several years to draw anything in Florida. I've been drawn several times and killed many.....but those days are over. Do your homework on public land areas and keep your findings off the Internet. I've watched several WMA's become ruined because of topics like this....
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howl
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by howl »

It's not the difference in birds or terrain. It's the pressure. Blame circus down there. All I can say is take your sense of humor and your fishing tackle!
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WoodMoose
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by WoodMoose »

as others have stated, it's tough,,,,,,,I went the private land route for my first,,,fun hunt and the fellow I went with made it a nice hunt. I do like the public lands down there (hunted them hard when stationed at MacDill) but it is tough,,,,,,,,,,
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HunterGKS
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by HunterGKS »

It's been 6 years since I hunted FL but when I lived there, Fisheating Creek was good for Osceola's (the WMA not the defunct hunting camp). Green Swamp & Upper Hillsborough are also good but very tough. They had just opened Citrus a few years ago & I heard they had a good population. Early season is really tough on the WMAs as everybody & their brothers & sisters are coming to FL for Easterns. It is a lot less crowded later in the season but the birds are tougher to work.

Be sure to have a good pait of knee high snake boots or chaps as the rattleemupmoccerheadedcoral snakes are thick. That said, I hunted FL for 30 years & never had a run-in with a snake but it's better to be safe than sorry. A Thermacell is a must as the skeeters are big enough to carry you off. Watch for gators as well. I have seen some that seemed to be thinking "LUNCH" when they look at you.

Lots of good advise here. It is well worth the time to re-read the DNR site, as Joey suggested.
George

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OLE RASPY
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by OLE RASPY »

This is why I went on private land in Florida. Only had a limited amount of time and didn't want to spend it scouting and looking and also didn't want to go home empty handed. It costed a lot more but it was worth it to me.
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HunterGKS
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Re: Florida public land any advice.

Post by HunterGKS »

OLE RASPY wrote:This is why I went on private land in Florida. Only had a limited amount of time and didn't want to spend it scouting and looking and also didn't want to go home empty handed. It costed a lot more but it was worth it to me.
Even when I lived in FL, I always got my 1st bird at Fisheating Creek Hunting Club the 1st weekend of the 1st season if memory serves. Then I could spend the rest of that season & the other 2 hunting WMAs. The out-of-staters had pretty much gone home & it was a lot less crowded.
George

YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR BODY STILL. YOUR HEART JUST HASN'T CAUGHT ON.

.17 = NITRO OF THE RIMFIRE WORLD USAF 1969-1973


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