millerhunter13

ur funny NOTactually our deer's mass is small, but alot of their racks are pretty big. like one of the new state lands that i am going to hunt this year, they guys at the check station were showing me some of the deer taken the previous season, and man thye were pretty big. the biggest ones weighed like around150, so not too too bad.

BigValleyOutfitting

Yeah that first post was a joke but you PA guys dont have sh-- for deer eithe. I have 10 clients coming from PA and a 130 is big for your state. Also what in the hell does the civil war have to do with this post. Fl deer are a joke and i hope they get it all worked out. Im tired of the FL people coming to AL shooting my 120 inch deer, which i bet 90% would piss on themselves if they shot one. Hell most dont let it get past 90 inches. Makes me furious, but a lot of you PA people are the same damn way. My PA clients are all afraid that they wont know what a 140, is so i have to go sit in the stand with them, if that goes to show anything about PA hunting

BigValleyOutfitting

AND WHAT FLORIDA DOESNT HAVE IN DEER THEY DAMN SURE MAKE UP FOR IT IN WOMEN, and Noone from the north can compete against that.

bryant1

I can't speak for my fellow Floridians, but i harvest plenty of deer in Florida and see more overpopulation problems than anything else in north florida. Heck, I saw a small buck and 3 does 50-60 yds from the interstate this morning close to a subdivision. What we dont have in size, we make up for in population in north florida. I like to pull the trigger and thin the herd anyway....

timbercruiser

Bryan, do you hunt on or near the Foley tract outside Perry?

bryant1

On the Foley tract south of hwy 98, between hampton springs road to the econfina river. About 60-70,000 acres called Camp Misery hunting club.

All the Foley tract has been split up into 4 major hunting clubs, our club is the smallest acreage and most of the others are 90,000-130,000

CamoCop

ummm, i believe the vote confusion came from all of the yankee's who retire and move down here. the only counties to have the voting "issues" were the counties with the highest retirement populations.

cowboy4513

Looks like an alcoholic to me. thats real FSU

strutnbuck

I have hunted the midwest state, including my annual bow trip to Nebraska. Florida will never have the size, nor population of the midwest, but Florida Fish and Wildlife ar starting to take the necessary steps to make hunting in Florida better. To this day, we have been legally able to harvest 2 bucks a day all season long on private land and take the limits allowed on our WMA's. Our mininum buck requirements has been 1 antler 5" in length. Even our biggest bucks taken in the books have seldomly been more than 4 yrs. old. We are a very diverse state, with a extremly different terrain from the Everglades to the hills in the panhandle. FWC has recognized that we can not manage the North like the South, or Central FL like either. I grew up in Homestead, hunting the Everglades and now reside in Sebring(Central Florida). Comparing our deer to the midwest is firstly noncomparable. The midwest is mostly open ag fields and rolling terrain, with parcels of woods. Where as Florida is much more populated, and having a much more diverse terrain from south to north. The Everglades, Cypress Swamp, Palmetto and Pine heads, and grass prairies, usually covered in water. Central Florida, with thick Cypress heads, massive pine and palmetto heads, thick hardwood hammocks, Orange Groves, and Cattle Ranches. The North changes in to much steeper hills with large Pine Plantation, Thick hardwood draws and crrek bottoms, and some open terrain like ranches or ag fields. These are considerably different that the midwest. But they do carry a lot of deer. Because of the past management in # of bucks allowed, the # hunter per acres of land, and the minimum antler size, our deer do not get to grow to their potential and spend much of the time dodging man. They have become smart, much not moving until after dark, when it is also alot cooler.
This year FWC has started the emplintation of a new managment plan that will change over the next 10 years. They have put antler restrictions of 3 points on one side atleast 1" in length on many of the WMA's, they are changing quotas drawn in the first phase to non-transferrable so that people can't draw permits for every member in the family for a WMA and hunt on their permits. Keep in mind, some WMA's only allow 20, 10, and 5 permits per hunt and 2 or 3 hunts..... Over the upcoming years, it is their goal to manage each region differently, comparable to "units" up in the midwest, but probably just 3 or 4 units. Then establish an annual buck harvest statewide, WMA and private combined. Not 2 bucks a day, every day. Trust me, it can be done, I've killed 10 in 6 days in the glades. But they are not quality..... They will also come up with a more stringent antler restriction instead of 1 antler 5" in length.
Ifor when FWC gets these changes made, Florida will start producing much better bucks on a common bases. It will not be an immediate change, but over time we will start seeing more bucks and they will also lilve to reach their potential reach 5-7 yrs old. An example would be the World record velvet buck taken in Green Swamp. That tract of land was not hunted for many years prior to becoming a WMA, and since there have been many good bucks taken there. That buck was 4 1/2 yrs old!!!!
Florida will never have the reputation of the midwest, but it can produce some quallity and at a higher quantity if they get the management right. BUT, THEY WILL HAVE TO BE ABLE TO ENFORCE THE PLAN FOR IT TO WORK, SOMETHING THAT THEY STILL CAN NOT DO EVEN NOW!!!!!!!

huntnma

This is a Florida public land buck..land has been hunted for years, but strictly managed....not bad at all....just imagine if it were in a W.M.A. that had the new Management plan...more would look like him...I really believe that they are taking steps in the right direction....