See where
you can hunt hogs on wildlife management areas this spring and summer. These weekend
opportunities start in early May.
Wild pigs occur in all of Florida's 67 counties within a
wide variety of habitats, but they prefer oak-cabbage palm hammocks, freshwater
marshes and sloughs, pine flatwoods, and more open agricultural
areas. They usually travel in small family groups or alone. Wild pigs eat
a variety of plants and animals and feed by rooting with their broad snouts.
They may disturb the soil and ground cover vegetation and leave the area
looking like it has been plowed. Learn more about hogs.
The 2017 Guide to Alligator Hunting in Florida is now available. The new guide covers alligator
hunting rules and regulations and provides tips on how to safely and
responsibly hunt them. It also provides information about how to process, store
and cook the meat, and preserve the hide.
In addition, those new to alligator hunting
will find information about the application process and hunt structure in the
guide. The Phase I application period for recreational alligator harvest permits begins May 12 at 10 a.m. and runs through May 22.
Hunters can submit their application at
license agents or GoOutdoorsFlorida.com to draw one of approximately 6,000 permits that allows the take
of two alligators on a designated harvest unit or county.
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Brochures outlining the 2017-2018 regulations at Florida’s wildlife
management areas are now available online, just in time for the
May 15 start
of the phase 1
application period for fall quota, special opportunity and national wildlife refuge hunt
permits.
In past years, printed WMA regulations brochures were available at tax
collector offices, FWC regional and field offices, some WMA cooperators’
offices, and at MyFWC.com. As part of our ongoing mission to reduce waste and
improve efficiency, we’re phasing out the mass printing of these brochures. Instead FWC will promote
their availability via download at MyFWC.com and the
Fish/Hunt FL app.
This phase-out will
begin with FWC discontinuing the distribution of printed 2017-2018 WMA
brochures to Florida’s tax collector offices. Printed copies of 2017-2018 WMA brochures will still be provided to
FWC’s regional and field offices and WMA cooperator offices they are normally
available at.
In 2018-2019 WMA brochures will not be
printed. They will only be available at MyFWC.com and the Fish/Hunt FL app,
which can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.
Implementing this change enables
FWC to reduce waste and make more funds available for priority fish and
wildlife conservation projects and outdoor education. In addition, it will allow us to
make real time updates to ensure stakeholders have access to the most current
WMA regulations information. With the vast majority of Floridians using the
Internet, electronic delivery of WMA brochures a responsible option while
providing the convenience of immediate access to all the WMA regulations
brochures. See these FAQs for more information.
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Hunting small game with any dog
A rule change that takes effect this year allows
any dog to be used to hunt small game during the small game season on 60 wildlife
management areas where only bird dogs and retrievers were allowed for hunting. These
60 WMAs are in addition to the 31 WMAs where this change was implemented last
year. The rule change applies to small game species, which are quail,
rabbit, squirrel, and migratory game birds, and only during small game seasons.
The rule helps ensure the traditional activity of hunting squirrels and rabbits
with dogs is allowed.
Expanding small game opportunity
At its April meeting, FWC’s Commission approved other rule
amendments to expand
small game opportunities to be advertised in the Florida Administrative
Register for final action at the July meeting. These rule changes would expand
small game seasons on 18 FWC-lead managed areas by increasing the number of
days open for hunting. This would add just over 700 days of small game hunting,
representing an 86 percent increase in public small game hunting opportunity,
on 18 FWC-managed areas.
Rule
changes also would allow northern bobwhite to be released and taken by shotgun
during small game season on 9 FWC-lead managed areas. It would make opportunities more broadly available to
public land hunters and accommodate bird dog training.
If
approved as final rules in July, all rules would take effect Sept. 1, 2017, in
time for the coming hunting season. FWC continues to seek public comment with the proposals remaining available for public comment
until the July 2017 Commission meeting.
Small game provides gateway for introducing new hunters
Increasing
small game hunting opportunities aligns closely with FWC’s initiatives to expand
participation in conservation. Small game hunting is sustainable and provides a
gateway to recruit new conservationists. With lower barriers to participation,
it allows experienced hunters to pass on the heritage to youth or adults new to hunting.
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The FWC annually conducts a survey of Florida hunters’ participation in
hunting wild turkeys. You may receive a postcard asking you to complete a brief
questionnaire about your wild turkey hunting experiences this past spring. Study
participants are selected randomly among licensed hunters to maintain a
scientifically valid study. If you receive a survey card, please complete and
return it to assist us in better understanding hunters’ participation in turkey
hunting, hunter success and satisfaction. Please note that it is important that
all hunters who receive a survey card respond, even if they did not hunt
turkeys this year or do not hunt turkeys in general, as this information helps
us better understand how many people actually hunt turkeys and better estimate
total harvest.
If you have any questions about the survey, please contact wildturkeyprogram@MyFWC.com.
The new Python Pickup Program offers valuable
prizes to participants who remove and report Burmese pythons. Starting now,
anyone who removes a python will receive a free Python Pickup T-shirt for
submitting their first entry (with photographic evidence). For every submission
received, participants will be entered into a monthly prize drawing as well as
a grand prize drawing to be held next year. Check out the video for more information about the
program and receive training to identify and safely remove pythons.
As part of the Python Pickup, people can
submit pythons removed from any property in Florida where they have
authorization to do so from the property owner or land manager. In addition, a
recent Executive Order allows people to remove pythons year-round from 22
public lands with no hunting license or wildlife management area permit
required.
Report
sightings of Burmese pythons and other nonnative species
to our Exotic Species Reporting Hotline at 888-Ive-Got1 (888-483-4681), online
at IveGot1.org, or by downloading the free
“IveGot1” smartphone app.
The Florida Youth Hunter Education Challenge (FLYHEC) is being held
Saturday, May 13 at the Ocala Conservation Center in Silver Springs. The program, developed by the
National Rifle Association for hunter safety course graduates, offers lessons
in leadership and safe, responsible hunting and target shooting. For more
information, contact the Ocala Conservation Center at George.Warthen@MyFWC.com or 352-625-2804.
Phase 1 application period
for quota/limited entry hunts begins May 15
The
application period for many fall quota hunt, special-opportunity hunt, and
National Wildlife Refuge hunt permits begins at 10 a.m. on May 15 and runs
through midnight on June 15. Hunters
can choose quota/limited entry hunts for deer and hogs as well as hunts for
families, youth, people with disabilities, bowhunters and those hunting with
muzzleloaders and modern firearms. If you’d like to take part in one or more of these
hunts, apply at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com, county tax collectors’
offices or most retail outlets that sell hunting and fishing supplies. Get more
details about fall quota/limited entry hunts.
New web pages for FWC-managed
public shooting ranges
Find a
wealth of information about FWC-managed public shooting ranges including where ranges are
located, what opportunities they offer, hours of operation, updates, and more! Also,
check out FWC’s shooting range safety video, too.
Take a
hunter safety course
Hunter
safety courses cover firearms safety, wildlife conservation, responsible
hunting and more. Students can attend a no-cost traditional classroom course.
Or they can complete the classroom portion online, and FWC’s website offers
several course options. After the online classroom portion is complete,
students must sign up and attend a skills day.
Take a bowhunter education course and learn about bowhunting skills, techniques, tackle and safety.
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