Green Swamp WMA in Florida

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hookspur
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by hookspur »

The Buffalo Gnats are sometimes horrendous, too. One year every turkey you saw was way up in the top of the trees, trying to keep out of their devilish way. The exposed skin of the only turkey I killed that year was all scabbed-over. At first I thought he was diseased, but a buddy was hunting with decoys and told me how the head and neck of his deke was completely blackened by gnats every time he put it out. Yuck!

The last two years the deer flies (yellow flies, to the Crackers) have ruled. I smacked 87 (confirmed kills) on the 1/2-mile hike out of a hunting spot last year. There's just no escaping them. Man, I hate those evil bastids almost as much as ticks!!
BumbleFoot
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by BumbleFoot »

By my accounting, you run the risk of encountering:

1). Hordes of out-of-State hunters
2). Record numbers of mosquitoes
3). Gators galore
4). Cottonmouth moccasins
5). Rattlers
6). Big-ass pythons
7). Bears
8). More lightning & thunderstorms than anywhere
9). Floods
10). Bigfoot
11). Lil monkeys
12). Albino armadillos
13). Goat-suckers
14). Hormonal 16 year-old girls who text
15). Illegal aliens
16). Love bugs
17). Giant lizards

Promise you’ll take a video camera...
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MKW
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by MKW »

BumbleFoot wrote: June 27th, 2018, 9:23 pm By my accounting, you run the risk of encountering:

1). Hordes of out-of-State hunters
2). Record numbers of mosquitoes
3). Gators galore
4). Cottonmouth moccasins
5). Rattlers
6). Big-ass pythons
7). Bears
8). More lightning & thunderstorms than anywhere
9). Floods
10). Bigfoot
11). Lil monkeys
12). Albino armadillos
13). Goat-suckers
14). Hormonal 16 year-old girls who text
15). Illegal aliens
16). Love bugs
17). Giant lizards

Promise you’ll take a video camera...
LOL...I noticed that turkeys are not on your list of things likely to be encountered. :LMAO: :LMAO:
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howl
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by howl »

You won't see the turkeys because the buffalo gnats will give you river blindness. And that's not to mention if you're not having seizures from the nodding disease.

I have no idea. I was googling trying to figure out what y'all were calling a buffalo gnat, because what I call one doesn't bite.
hookspur
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by hookspur »

Those in FL will bite the crap outa ya! They love to go for the eyes and lips, and make your face swell up so much your own Mother won't recognize you.
Brandon Martin
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by Brandon Martin »

BumbleFoot wrote: June 27th, 2018, 9:23 pm By my accounting, you run the risk of encountering:

1). Hordes of out-of-State hunters
2). Record numbers of mosquitoes
3). Gators galore
4). Cottonmouth moccasins
5). Rattlers
6). Big-ass pythons
7). Bears
8). More lightning & thunderstorms than anywhere
9). Floods
10). Bigfoot
11). Lil monkeys
12). Albino armadillos
13). Goat-suckers
14). Hormonal 16 year-old girls who text
15). Illegal aliens
16). Love bugs
17). Giant lizards

Promise you’ll take a video camera...
I just got a good laugh at this lol
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Hognutz
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by Hognutz »

hookspur wrote: June 28th, 2018, 6:39 am Those in FL will bite the crap outa ya! They love to go for the eyes and lips, and make your face swell up so much your own Mother won't recognize you.
I’ll take my snowdrifts.. You can have all of the above! :LMAO:
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howl
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by howl »

We have in the high country in GA and SC big black gnats I thought were buffalo gnats. We were covered up in them camped in the mountains the other week. Fortunately it was real breezy and we kept camp smoky.

This is probably ignorance, but we call big biters flies, little biters fleas and little others gnats. A gnat will try to drink out of your mouth and eyes, but it doesn't bite. Of course in FL at the beaches we got tangled up with biting sand gnats. I would called them sand fleas like back home, but then you get people thinking you're talking about mole crabs. People will wonder why you're talking about hating sand fleas when you're using them for bait. Mess.

Speaking of fishing, I back in the swamp ketching (that's like catching, but done in the swamp) bass out of a creek one afternoon. I thought I was going to have a mess for supper. Then I got to noticing all of them had worms half embedded in the roof of the mouth and wriggling down like tentacles. :pukeleft: :pukeright:
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GLS
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by GLS »

Here in the lowcountry we have sand gnats. "Flying teeth" and will bite the bejeebers out you. They come out when the temps are perfect in the spring and fall. Anywhere from high 60s to low 70s. Gil
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guesswho
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by guesswho »

BumbleFoot wrote: June 27th, 2018, 9:23 pm By my accounting, you run the risk of encountering:

1). Hordes of out-of-State hunters
2). Record numbers of mosquitoes
3). Gators galore
4). Cottonmouth moccasins
5). Rattlers
6). Big-ass pythons
7). Bears
8). More lightning & thunderstorms than anywhere
9). Floods
10). Bigfoot
11). Lil monkeys
12). Albino armadillos
13). Goat-suckers
14). Hormonal 16 year-old girls who text
15). Illegal aliens
16). Love bugs
17). Giant lizards

Promise you’ll take a video camera...
You forgot

Aggressive big horned killer goats
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BumbleFoot
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by BumbleFoot »

18). No-see-um gnats
19). Big-horned killer goats

And a better chance of seeing BigFoot with a Lil Monkey on his shoulder than killing a turkey.
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kythunter
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by kythunter »

The Green Swamp sounds like a tough place to kill a gobbler and the numbers don't lie.
If I read the 2018 harvest report correctly there were 44 turkeys killed. The swamp consists of 50,000 acres. Again I could be wrong but those are the numbers I saw.
I couldn't tell how many hunters there were the report wasn't clear but regardless you kill a gobbler there and you've done something.
hookspur
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by hookspur »

You remember the old game, "Barrel of Monkeys?" It was a kids game of a plastic barrel holding a bunch of different colored monkeys with interlocking arms. Well, one of our fun-loving members brought some into camp, and everyone that didn't kill a bird was subsequently given a monkey to keep in their vest until they could come back and redeem themselves; ie: getting the monkey off your back.

Let's just say that in 2018 there were some darned-fine turkey hunters from our camp who are now carrying these plastic monkeys all over the country.
Last edited by hookspur on June 29th, 2018, 8:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
BumbleFoot
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by BumbleFoot »

kythunter wrote: June 29th, 2018, 3:20 pm The Green Swamp sounds like a tough place to kill a gobbler and the numbers don't lie.
If I read the 2018 harvest report correctly there were 44 turkeys killed. The swamp consists of 50,000 acres. Again I could be wrong but those are the numbers I saw.
I couldn't tell how many hunters there were the report wasn't clear but regardless you kill a gobbler there and you've done something.
I too looked it up on Florida’s website. Looks like a little over 2000 hunters killed those 44 turkeys on that forsaken area. Let’s call it 1 out of 50 hunters—on average—being successful on a given day. If you hunt a week there and you’re average lucky (or good), you got about a 1 in 7 chance of bagging a “male turkey” (not necessarily a longbeard). Good luck Brandon!
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guesswho
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by guesswho »

BumbleFoot wrote: June 29th, 2018, 8:11 pmI too looked it up on Florida’s website. Looks like a little over 2000 hunters killed those 44 turkeys on that forsaken area.
1956 out of staters. 44 locals.
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Brandon Martin
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by Brandon Martin »

Thanks again everyone this post is becoming quite interesting and enjoyable lol. I have had some people tell me that there are alot of turkeys there but im just not sure. Would anyone else have any other public ground to reccomend thats located near the Tampa area
BumbleFoot
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by BumbleFoot »

The numbers for “Green Swamp West” don’t look so bad. I’m guessing it’s a smaller and/or less heavily hunted area. But it may require a limited entry permit. Worth exploring.
hookspur
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by hookspur »

GS West is a Special Opportunity Hunt. Check the regs for acquiring a permit for these types of properties, as they all offer MUCH better odds of killing a bird!
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SwampDrummin
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by SwampDrummin »

This post gets me thinking. I can't find the article but there was a turkey hunter with a blog or something that hunted a big public tract in florida or (or just a big swampy tract) who just off and disappeared while turkey hunting. I read enough about him or by him that I'm fairly sure he was taken by a gator. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

More gators are living longer and growing bigger and the temptation to cross water you shouldnt is always there with a turkey. I used to wear a life jacket to get across a large creek in an area that wasn't supposed to have gators (North Mississippi). Later, when the area was dry I found the carcass of a giant gator. I've killed and and skull mounted a 10 ft 1 incher and this guy was double the skull mass. Gave me the heebie jeebies thinking that this guy would have been alive and in the area while I was crossing back and forth. Always thought I would see in the news sometime where some turkey hunter got grabbed.
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guesswho
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by guesswho »

Wild gators usually aren't a threat, Kind of Like the Florida Gators football team.

It's the gators who live around people daily that are a big threat. No fear and always looking for an easy meal. Lot of dogs and cats turn up missing in the retirement places down there, they just seem to run away and never come back.

When we were kids (60's early 70's) a lot of the time we went swimming there would be gators in sight no more than 75 yards away. They would usually just go under and you could see their bubbles getting further away then they would pop up way off somewhere. We would even try to catch smaller ones like 3-4 feet. We never worried much about them. The only time we would stay out of the pits was when the young gators had hatched. i wouldnt swim in those pits now. Been to much human interaction over the years. Now instead of going away from you they get closer looking to be fed.
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deerhunt1988
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by deerhunt1988 »

The cottonmouths in that area worried me more than the gators! Didn't see any snakes the first trip.. The second trip the woods were really wet and we encountered several, including a few brutes.
Brandon Martin
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by Brandon Martin »

Gators really dont bother me however i keep hearing the cottonmouths are aggressive thats what im most worried about. I feel like its going to be like most wildlife though just respect it and u will be fine.
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by timbrhuntr »

Hey man the planning and anticipation of one of these hunts is more than half the fun for me anyway. The 2 times I went to Florida and the one time I went to Alabama I went the last week. Most everyone said that I wouldn't get on any birds that late because they had been messed with too much by then but I was on birds every hunt. I think the birds knew that the pros like hookspur had already left !
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howl
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by howl »

A cottonmouth doesn't quit until you're well away or you kill it. We used to have them come at us while bank fishing at night on the lake or river. You'd catch that white patch of mouth shining in the lantern light. I've had a cottonmouth chase me all over a pond. I'd like to know how a snake can tell you're there from halfway across a pond. I generally don't kill snakes, but with a cottonmouth you might as well go ahead.

Still, the most dangerous snakes are the small ones you don't see. Young venomous snakes will dump all their venom into you at once. Larger snakes will meter it out, so there is less volume in you. FL has coral snakes, too.

As an aside, I was watching a video about farming gators and crocs. They showed how docile gators are compared to crocodiles. You could keep a gator as a pet, like some people keep snakes, but any croc over three or four feet can't be trusted. Crocs come out of the egg fighting and biting anything they can get in their mouths. I never saw a croc in FL. I think they're at the Southernmost?

The one you really got to worry about is the crocagator. That's a crocodile on one end and an alligator on the other. They're all teeth and meaner'n all Hell, because they can't.... :toothy7:
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Re: Green Swamp WMA in Florida

Post by Brandon Martin »

timbrhuntr wrote: July 1st, 2018, 10:03 am Hey man the planning and anticipation of one of these hunts is more than half the fun for me anyway. The 2 times I went to Florida and the one time I went to Alabama I went the last week. Most everyone said that I wouldn't get on any birds that late because they had been messed with too much by then but I was on birds every hunt. I think the birds knew that the pros like hookspur had already left !
Thanks for the words of encouragement its going to be a daunting task but ill be eager for the challenge and the most important part of any hunt the experience and enjoyment with buddies.
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