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.
Citrus check station is not open during small game season. They used to plant food plots in there every year. Not sure if they still do as I haven't been in there in a couple years.
Years back they closed ALL the side roads in Tide Swamp WMA and planted every one of them in a beautiful food plot. It sucked to a degree, because it increased my walking distance. But I don't mind the walks really, and liked the benefits of the plots. Now the side roads are still closed and they no longer plant them. They have turned the entire place into one of the "Florida birding trails" or whatever its called. Now you can ride a town car on every road and they got scenic viewing points and all this crap. I miss the days of needing a jeep to get off the highway
I've only had 1 time when 2 fwc officers attempted to stop/check me, and I was on private land & had my disability permit and landowners permission form clearly visable on the dashboard. unfortunately it was just as a nice tom was finaly coming in, real bad timing, realy pissed me off. I told them I was 100% legal, all paperwork was visable on my dash and you are interferring/ruining my hunt "can you please leave". 2nd time I repeated myself and wasn't as nice and said will you please GTF out of here and they did. lol, lucky I wasn't tazed and cuffed.
One WMA I hunted last year I got checked more times than I can remember. This year I have been scouting on another WMA and havn't seen one yet.
Anyway, back on topic. It seems very clear to me that there are so mnay different opinions on what it takes to have a good deer herd that a clear answer may never be seen.
In any case it has been good to see the various viewpoints.
Back off topic..LOL!! I was with a friend in Indiana last year and got checked.....he waited until we wwre done hunting the field ( we were rabbit hunting) and then politiely checked us. Now, I am a Florida Cracker used to getting harassed my whole life by our "officers" so I was dreading walking over to the trucks but I'll be danged if he wasn't a very nice guy.. He talked with us for a while before he ever asked for our info and even then it seemed as if it was just an aside, he knew we were legal and felt bad for even bothering us...although he didn't since he waited a while fopr us to finish our hunt....
I wish our guys here would cross train with them dang yankees......never thought I'd admit they were better than us at something....
