Now for my opinion, years ago I decided that any deer that I was able to kill was a trophy! Treefarmer
X2 :clap
#3. Manage the hog population. I believe alot of the problem here in FL and most of the states in the SE is hogs, which have a huge impact on the deer herd. Deer compete with hogs for the mast crops, browse and agricultural crops for sustainment. I would open hog hunting up 24/7 on public and private land like they currently do in most states in the SE in an attempt to keep the hog population in check. Hogs are not native to North America and are considered a feral animal.
I would hate to see this. As it is right now, the FWC is under staffed. You would need an FWC officer assigned to every WMA allowing "365 hog hunting". You know as well as I do, this would lead to poaching in a big way. Plus, the benefit I have as a bow hunter is hunting the woods that are un pressured. When I walk into my lease this Saturday,and my favorite WMA next weekend, neither have been hunted since March. That's the beauty of bow hunting. I am in favor of more summer hog quotas on select WMA's thru the summer, but NEVER for 365 hunting.
This coming from a guy who loves shooting hogs
I love shooting hogs you are correct, my point was they compete so heavily with deer that I believe they have an impact on the deer herd in the SE. GA has hog hunting year around and still have plenty of hogs for everyone everywhere, although they have five times the amount of public land open for hunters than FL does. If they opened all of the SFWMD land to hunters we'd have nearly three times the amount of public land available to hunt on today and hunter overcrowding wouldn't be an issue.
The hog quota I went on last year with Triple Creek had 25 slots with 25 Guests and on the 1st day (9 people signed in). They definately don't have an overcrowding problem that this WMA, although PITA may have gotten 20 of the 25 quotas, who knows...
As far as a FWC officer at every WMA, why? No need. No bag limits on hogs and 365 24/7 wouldn't require much enforcement. OK, I'd go as far as say no night hunting on public land like in GA, but other than that we have way to many hogs in the SE...
Here's a thought, why doesn't the FWC and it's officers who are out there on there own nearly 95% of the time get with the local county Sheriff's Dept and set up a random check point from time to time during the season to check for illegally taken game while making routine DWI checks near the entrance/exit of a WMA. Why, because FWC officers are under paid, over worked and used as detail bodies for other LE organizations to direct traffic and sit in construction zones to deter speeders.
granted I've only hunted 4 different wma's I don't recall there ever being a fwc officer there full time. saw them make 2 brief visits when called by the person working the gate, an old retiree or young bio student on an internship (free labor) and I doubt the old guy got paid much. every time I hunted citrus wma (not during a quota) the check in was closed and nobody there. I wouldn't mind paying a SMALL daily fee if they put in some food plots,permanent stands some handicap accessible or any kind of improvements if that would help them pay for it.
I guess i hunt the popular places i see FWC officers more than not. Now i hunt 6-10 different WMAs ever year. I already been stopped and checked twice this year and i'm not hunting yet.
I get checked every year. I got checked last year by a FWC guy on foot 1/2 mile from the road. He scared the crap out of me too
