Florida Roll Call!

[Sailfish]

Hello Florida hunters!
Looking forward to hear about ya'lls hunts, reports, etc this year!
Where your from and where you hunt.

Opening day for Archery is just around the corner.
This year I will be hunting Green Swamp West archery, Upper Hillsborough arhcery, and perhaps another public land.
I reside in Tampa.

Good luck to everyone

[Spurred]

I'm not from Florida, but I'm curious. Never thought much about Florida as a deer state. Whats your population like and how big do they run? When's your rut.

[Sailfish]

Reportedly it's a million + strong!

And the rut depends on which part of the state. And it varies even from coast to coast.

The earliest (depends on how you look at it) is mid July, the latest is end of February.
It truly can be  2 months apart just a couple counties away. It's difficult to track to say the least.

The further south you hunt the smaller the deer.
There is also an area on the west coast that has poor soil, and little nutrition and the deer tend to be on the smaller side. The phrase that our deer are not "much bigger'n dogs" is not true. Of course Key deer are quite small, and some other area's have smaller deer. But that dog thing is a tad overblown

They harvest B&C every year. We certainly are not growing many 200#+ whitetail in the wild, but in certain areas their are some fine animals.

This is one of Florida's finest last year (not from a "game outfit" or fenced enclave):



PHILIP ADKISON poses with his 11-point, 205-pound Florida buck in a planted field on his family farm near Chipley. The buck's antlers measured 154-7/8 Boone and Crockett inches, ranking it #10 on the list of Florida's all-time highest-scoring whitetails ever taken.

[Corey Graff]

That's a dandy buck, thanks for posting. The large variance in rutting activity in Florida from the East coast to the West brings up some interesting questions.
 
 

[Sea Monkey]

I live in St. Petersburg and hunt on a lease up in Chiefland.  I usually hit a WMA or two during the year.  Less than 3 weeks until archery!

[Sailfish]

Hello Sea Monkey!!
 
Welcome to DDH forum. You'll find this place chock full of information and a great bunch of hunters to say the least.
 
Chiefland is fine hunting land for sure.
We always stop (doesn't just about everybody) at the Chiefland Wal-Mart on our travels north. Actually they have a decent hunting section (much greater than Dale Mabry/275 Wal-Mart for sure) I like to browse.
 
Look forward to your posts and pictures.
Good luck on your hunts!

[Sea Monkey]

Thanks for the friendly welcome, Sailfish.  There's rarely a trip to the hunting camp when we don't make a stop at the Wal-Mart. 

Reading your signature, I was just watching Blazing Saddles last night.  I'd forgotten how funny that movie is.

[FlDeerman]

From DeFuniak Springs Fl NW next to Alabama.I hunt in an area I doubt you have ever heard of,Sweet Gum Head.Family land,we only have very small deer[8|].Remember all Florida deer are REAL small.LOL

[69Viking]

I live in the Fort Walton Beach area and currently hunt in Conecuh County Alabama on a friend's father in-law's land.  I only get to hunt there on a limited basis so now that I'm a more experienced hunter I'm going to look into hunting public land in NW Florida.  I live just south of the Eglin Air Force Base WMA managed by Jackson Guard and know the area pretty well so I'll be looking to hunt that area.  Just driving around the area I see plenty of deer along the highways that border the Eglin WMA.

FlDeerman, good to see someone else on here from the area.  You are a very lucky man to have your own private land to hunt in this area which is mostly taken up by the Eglin WMA and Blackwater WMA. 

[FlDeerman]

Viking I've hunted Eglin,make sure you read there rules.Don't be suprised if you're up a tree and a squad of Rangers walk by.That's where they do part of there training.Great place to hunt.