Pensacola Area Deer Hunting?
 

Greetings!

I'm from Wisconsin and have been stationed at NAS Pensacola for training. Been deer hunting for the past 12 years and wanted to know if anyone could point me in the right direction as where to hunt in the Pensacola area (public land etc). Also, considering I've done all my hunting up north, what are some major differences between deer hunting down south and up north (other than the obvious different seasons)? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Just a guy trying to put some venison in the freezer :)

I went to college at UWF in Pensacola from '80-'83 then lived there for a couple years before finding greener pastures. We hunted the Blackwater River State Forest still hunting areas. Used to take 191 out of Milton and take a right at Red Rock Road, hunted creek bottoms south of Red Rock. Until I moved to Tennessee in 1998 my largest 8 pt buck came from Blackwater in that area.
North of you in Cantonment is an International Paper mill. Used to be St. Regis when I was there. Anyway their timber land was a Wildlife Management Area and it was a great bowhunt area. Killed many a deer hunting persimmon trees on that property.
Back in the good old days when an Alabama out of state license was $50 we hunted the Conecuh State Forest around the Brewton area. We hammered deer in there during muzzle loader seasons putting on deer drives. I still remember watching a half dozen big rack bucks running full tilt down a fire break and my old TC Renegade and patched round ball missing by a mile. Those hunts were fun and some drives sounded like a dove shoot there were so many deer in those planted pines.
My next piece of advice is to get a permit and bowhunt the Eglin Air Force Base, Main Base unit. I promise you that place is infested with deer. Spend a little time scouting it, you will be rewarded.
Whatever you do good luck. Thanks for your service. You are in God's country in the panhandle. Oh, PS - You must learn how to gig flounder in the Perdido Bay.

I concur with everything buc said. NW Fl is an outdoorsmans paradise. If you want to know more about the fishing around here id be glad to give you some great spots. I live in Baldwin County al about 30 mins from NAS.

Born and raised in Pensacola.Go to Buck and Bass on Pineforest road and see if they can give you some advice on WMA's that are still there.I've hunted Eglin and it is loaded with deer but there are a lot of rules so read them and don't be surprised if a group of Ranger trainees come walking by.LOL
And thanks for your service.

I have family in the area.For public WMA's check out Eglin or Blackwater forests. Eglin is good for deer,hog,and turkey.
Watch out for hunting off Munson hwy in Santa Rosa County,ive heard of bad hunting leases there.Craigslist people said theres some leases there where you pay, then people hunt in your stand and are not respectful sportsmen.
Check craigslist for leases with openings in florida or nearby Alabama, it may pay for you to go to Alabama to get on a lease.Bigger deer,more of them.
http://pensacola.craigslist.org/spo/4073329301.html
http://pensacola.craigslist.org/spo/3986351783.html

I was stationed in P/Cola for 4 years. I did a lot of hunting and I took deer every season. Since I lived out on Mobile Hwy just east of the Bama line I hunted Perdido River WMA a lot. It's a quota hunt but I was always able to get firearm and muzzleloader permits for it. Blackwater can be good and there is also Escambia River WMA. Escambia River is hard to hunt if you don't have a boat.

Eglin has a lot of land and a lot of deer. I always got a base permit but I didn't hunt it much. I met a guy that lived north of Crestview and he had a bunch of property. He let me hunt so if I was headed that way I'd rather hunt the private land and not be aggravated with all the rules for hunting the base.

One thing to keep in mind about hunting around P/Cola is that the deer are a whole lot smaller than you're used to in WI. The biggest buck I saw taken in the area was shot by my Dad on that private property and it weighed 155 live weight. So don't be expecting big deer. Also they don't have the minerals for big antlers for the most part. If you see a 5 or 6 pt you better consider taking the shot. The cover can be really thick and even though it is deer season there may be snakes out. I saw both cottonmouths and diamondbacks while I was deer hunting.