central florida public land
 

i am new to hunting public land in central florida, i want to apply for a couple places but i am not sure if they are good spots or not. Here they are:
1. tosahatchee
2. seminole ranch
3. Bull Creek
4. three lakes
thanks for the advice.

RE: central florida public land
 

Come on i know someone has to hunt atleast one of these places.

RE: central florida public land
 

Sorry Partner ,
I only hunt the Green Swamp..I've been through 3 rivers but with the price of gas..I've decided to devout myself in learning the Green Swamp..It's the closest placeto me. The place is excellent if your willing to walk deep..Honestly...some days I walked 3 miles deep..But when your that far in ..it's like having your own private land.

RE: central florida public land
 

The only thing is, green swamp is really far away from me.

RE: central florida public land
 

I hear 3 RIvers is very good but they all need serious scouting ...It's supposed to be better than the Green Swamp.

RE: central Florida public land
 

I have taken Hogs at Three Lakes from the Williams Rd Entrance off of 441 10 miles north of Kenansville. All the way West under the FLTurn Pike.....

RE: central Florida public land
 

^ thanks rebel, Chuck 7, where is 3 rivers? or did you mean 3 lakes.

RE: central Florida public land
 

Threee Lakes..;)sorry. [&:]I was only up there once.I'm a birder as well and the vice president of Audubon drove me there to help me add some birds to my Bird Lifelist..I was able to get the Bachman's Sparrow.and the Whooping Cranes.

I was hoping for the Red Cockaded Woodpecker, Grasshopper Spearrow ,Snail kite and a Crested Caracara...but they did not cooperate.;)As we drove through Three Lakes though a big 8 point buck ran across the trail in front of us.I also saw a few turkeys. Getting there is a pain for me..You have to drive completely south thriugh Polk County on highway 60 across the Kissemme River..then at Yeehaw junction you drive north on 471 about 15 miles as Rebel pointed out. When I was there some of the roads were grass and wet..:(my vehicle doesn't like wet grassy roads. You can also get there another way..by St. Cloud from the Disney area.It's a good 60 miles from my house..and there are no shortcuts..

It takes a long time to really do a WMA justice..with the gas prices I'm just hunting the Green Swamp.It's only 26 miles away and there is game there..the place is tough because of the pressure, deer are mostly nocturnal and they go DEEP and THICK for shelter...
but it's making a better hunter out of me. ;)I plan to have 2 different wheel barrows hidden and locked up out there..my spots are very far off the road. I mostly try and hunt during the week days to advoid the crowds.

Here's a Crested Caracara

RE: central Florida public land
 

^ that is cool what you do, and what kind of "vehicle" do you have that dosnt like wet grassy roads:D

RE: central Florida public land
 

2 wheel drive Explorer Sport.;).Most of the people I''ve talked to would rather hunt 3 Lakes than any of the other local WMA..

RE: central Florida public land
 

^ wow thanks for that help, that is deffinately a place i want me and my dad to hunt this year, thanks for all the help guys. does anyone konw about the other places?

RE: central Florida public land
 

A little warning about 3 lakes. It does have some deer, some pretty good deer, but not anything close to what it used to have. I had not hunted there for about 10 years, but my wife and I drew muzzle load. permits 2 yrs ago. We left after the second morning. Them boys drive all over, even off "named or numbered" roads as it says in the pamphlet. Technically, you are allowed to shoot from the truck, as long as it has come to rest and is not under power. We walked 1.89 miles from the nearest named or numbered road and still had people driving in on us though! We did see 3 bucks and shot one, but some of them boys are just A-HOLES! I'm not the type to gripe about other hunters, etc., but they have no respect for anything. The only way that I would go back is if I drew the Prairie Lakes unit which happens to get patrolled and has better deer. Just my 2 cents.....

RE: central Florida public land
 

Well I was just out turkey hunting at seminole ranch this past year. As far as terrien goes it has large open pastures with cows surrounded by heavely wooded areas. It does have some food plots for the cows and does seem like it would be a good area. I have heard tosohatchee is a good wma to hunt but I dont know first hand. Honestly all the areas you named are good places. The number one thing you have to do is put in the time and figure where and how the deer are moving, eating, etc. My big thing would also be drawing the opening day hunts. Get out there when the hunting pressure hasnt hit them full force. AlsoLook at the wma maps onthe fwc website and look at through with google earth to get an idea of what the place is like. Well best of luck to you this season.

RE: central Florida public land
 

You're 100% right on!:)......I always hunted hogs on the other sideof the Turn Pike and not many A-Holes around there.:DOne year they were geting out of hand in the Camp grounds and that's when we called it quits on Three Lakes, after 5yrs of it..We liked the Camp Grounds off Williams Rd cause we could spot the trailer easy.

I started going to Three Lakes after 11 yrs at Cross City (Stienhatchee)&Perry, also6 yrs at Aucilla WMA.

RE: central Florida public land
 

teh three lakes prarie do you need a qutoa the whole season or just for the first nine days.

RE: central Florida public land
 

I know it is hard to get a deer or see one if you dont know the land, but how do you get in there and scout if you cant use a vehicle once you get there??? cause that is how it is at the other WMA's we hunt, or are the ones i named not like that.

RE: central Florida public land
 

go to fwc's site and read the pamphlet.. You can drive on named and numbered roads that go thru the wma, they're dirt and some are mud, so have a 4wd if you want to be able to go everywhere. I took our 4 wheeler. Good luck.

RE: central Florida public land
 

^ thanks, (I wish i had a 4 wheeler) but i have a truck that is a 4x4 so i am good.

RE: central Florida public land
 

but how do you get in there and scout if you cant use a vehicle once you get there???Millerhunter

Most of the WMAs ;if not all, are open all year for bikers and hikers..YOu simply park outside of the gate .and go in through a 3 foot entrance.At Three Lakes the roads are open 365 days a year for birders..Anyone can drive on in. They are never closed.They do want you to leave money in a wooden box at the entrance .It's about 3.00. The Red Cockcaded Woodpecker is on the endangered list and they have many nest boxes in there. Florida has a big birding interest..Florida is #3 for the best birding state.



It's been my experience that once you find a good deer hunting spot..you can hunt that same area every year..

RE: central Florida public land
 

LOL....the food plots aren't for the cows silly, they're for the doves come dove season,the cows just find their wayinto them sometimes,lol......How did you do out there during turkey?this is my 2nd Seminole bird, took years to get him but i finally did.....


Toso. and seminole are both ideal W.M.A.'s....the problem is that everyone wants to hunt them and the hunts are almost impossible to get because everyone is always putting in for them and if you don't have any rejections, it's tough....even with rejections, it's tough.
i agree with what they've said about 3 lakes and bullcreek......i try to hunt all 4 of them every season, but i didn't get out to 3 lakes this year.....i would have if i hadn't limited out on turkey early, oh well....lol....

RE: central Florida public land
 

Way to go Huntnma...I shot one really good one and went back and called in 3 other birds...within 50 yds.They were all hung up on me..Out of 11 hunts I saw or heard game 10 times..I was very excited..All of this was in the Green Swamp..I did a lot of scouting..Somedays I walked up to 3 miles deep in the swamp..

RE: central Florida public land
 

Huntnma like if you were looking at the map of seminole, where would you say would be a good place to deer hunt?

RE: central Florida public land
 

lol........now i can't give up my honey holes, lol.....
On the deer counts out there, most are seen in the pastures but i hunt the marsh, not as many want to walk the walk.......i have my favorite areas and i just can't get away from them.....if i could, i would hunt the pastures, the marsh, the creek, etc......i'll let ya know after the deer counts are done, but you'll have to remind me to let ya know where i have seen most of the deer for this year.

Chuck7 , sounds like you had some exciting hunts........i had a year to remember for sure.....got my first bird out at Toso.( 9 1/4''Beard), then the next weekend i got my seminole bird, then the following wekend i played guide for my friend from MD., got him a bird the first day and i called up a nice gobbler the following day for another friend that never turkey hunted, he passed on the shot...but he got to see what it's all about....i'd be out there hunting them birds everyday if i could.It was a very vocal year.....birds every morning.....

RE: central Florida public land
 

time to set up game cam's! i'll be setting cam's this week.

RE: central Florida public land
 

Chuck7 , sounds like you had some exciting hunts........i had a year to remember for sure.....got my first bird out at Toso.
NEAT!!

( 9 1/4''Beard), then the next weekend i got my seminole bird, then the following wekend i played guide for my friend from MD., got him a bird the first day and i called up a nice gobbler the following day for another friend that never turkey hunted, he passed on the shot...but he got to see what it's all about....i'd be out there hunting them birds everyday if i could.It was a very vocal year.....birds every morning..... Yep..me too.This was my first successful year.If I knew what I was doing I could have gotten 2 more birds..Once I didn't know it but I was set up under a roosting tree. They were within 50 yds when they returned my yelp..I was fine tuning my set up when they flew away from a tree looking down at me..The other one I found a mile away farther..I was simply hiking and yelping about every 300 yds..When he answered I set up on a traill which I learned is a no no..The birds liketo stay in the swamp..I also found some hogs and deer. I love turkey hunting;)
I'm glad you had such a great year Huntnma..and blessed others as well.
Have a great day!!
C7

RE: central Florida public land
 

I know you can give away the honey holes LOL, but i will remind ya.

RE: central Florida public land
 

got my cam's out in a gooooooooooooood area;)

i found a spot with about 100 rubs from last year. the rubs were on tree's that were up to 10" in diameter! i know this buck wasn't killed last year because the spot isn't far from where i hunted and i would have heard about it. i am stoked about this year. i already can't wait to check my cam's and they have only been out for 1 day.

RE: central Florida public land
 

^ which WMA is this?

RE: central Florida public land
 

Ocala ;)