WELL I HUNT, BUT WORK FULL TIME! IT IS NICE TO LEAVE YOUR CAMPER THERE AND BE ABLE TO GO THERE FRIDAY AFTER WORK AND NOT SPEND ALL THE TIME AND GAS EVERY WEEKEND TO GO CAMPING AND HUNTING. THE GUYS WHO ARE THERE IS REALLY NOT THE PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM IS WHEN YOU TRY TO GET A SPOT AND THEY TELL YOU THERE IS NO SPOTS FREE. THEN YOU GO OUT THERE AND 75-80% OF THE CAMPING SPOTS ARE NOT BEING USED AT ALL. WHO IS GETTING THE SPOTS AND NOT USING THEM??? THAT'S THE BIG PROBLEM.
There would be no available spots because guys set a camp up for 6 months, and leave it. When they are not hunting. Not fair to the other people who just want to camp for a week, or a weekend. You know a big pull behind camper is not a requirement to camp in the woods. It is your choice on how you want to camp. Tents work for camping also, and do not require as much work, and fuel to haul, and set up. Now you go out there, and most the spots are not being used, and it is frustrating. Before you would go out there, and all the camping spots would be taken, but most of the camps would have no one there because they were all at work. Still frustrating. It is definately a much more civilized camp ground now. I truly believe the anti hunters are applying, and taking up the camping spots. I think the best solution would be to have all the spots on a first come first served basis. You should be required to sign a log in book every day to make sure some one from your camp is actually there hunting. If no is going to be there you need to break camp to make space for others. If you do not pull camp, and no one is hunting then they should impose a fee, or ticket lets say $25.00 per day. Like I said before this is not a lease do not try to treat it as one. That is what the old camping system promoted. Another solution would be to have a first come first served camping area, and charge fees for setting up camps for more than 3 days. lets say $25.00 per week. Any thing is better than the old way.
CITY SLICKER YOUR LAST POST HAD SOME GOOD POINTS AND BAD POINTS! I HAVE CAMP MANY DIFFERENT WAYS, BUT AT MY AGE I LIKE TO USE MY CAMPER. NO ONE IS GOING TO PAY $25.00 A DAY, THAT'S CRAZY! A SMALL FEE FOR THE YEAR WOULD NOT BE BAD. YOU CAN NOT KEEP YOUR CAMP THERE FOR 6 MONTHS. IT HAS TO BE REMOVED AFTER EVERY SEASON. READ THE CAMPING RULES. IF NON HUNTERS ARE TAKING UP SPOTS? THE FWC NEEDS TO STOP THAT! I SAY IF YOUR NOT USING YOUR SPOT IT SHOULD BE FREE FOR OTHERS TO USE. I WILL BE TALKING WITH THE FWC TONIGHT AND WILL SEE WHAT HE HAS TO SAY? WILL LET EVERYONE KNOW WHAT HE SAID.
MAY BE EVERYONE FROM THIS FORM SHOULD GET TOGETHER AND FORM A HUNT CLUB AND WE ALL CHIP IN FOR SOME LAND RIGHT NEXT TO A WMA AND WE WON'T HAVE TO GO THRU ALL THIS B.S. I CAN NOT AFFORD A LEASE AND I THINK IT IS CRAZY WHAT SOME GUYS SPEND TO DO SO. IF YOU ARE GOING TO SPEND THAT KIND OF MONEY, WHY NOT USE IT FOR A DOWN PAYMENT ON YOUR OWN LAND?
I don't hunt GSW, so I can't really vouch for what is going on. From what I have read on the forums the last few years, it sounds much better than it used to be. I camped there about 10 years ago and had never seen so many drunk rednecks in my life. I slept with my thumb on the hammer
Bud, you sound disgruntled because you were late to the game applying for a camp site. And please, for the love of nature, please stop typing in all caps
Now here is another one for yall.. Me and a buddy have 2 campsites in Croom WMA in Twin Ponds. I actually turned mine over to him a couple years ago so he has them both. They were like $35 for the deer season(keep in mind its only like a 3 week season, no bow season, and camping doesn't open till after m/l weekend)
He got his renewal notice this year and it went up to like $55/site. Check this...He gets a letter the other day that the camp sites were going up to $125/site next season.
Now if he keeps them he is gonna have to be a dick and collect money from everyone that stays there just to recoup some of his money. back in the day we didn't worry about it. Some folks would offer to pitch in a few bucks, or bring supplies instead, it really didn't matter
So be thankful you have the opportunity to camp for free
I’ve been hunting and camping Green Swamp for four years. The years before the quota to camp, which was first come/first served, were crazy. Although I only experienced it in 2007, I saw and was told that non-hunters, were setting up camps and stayed for free for almost 8 months, thus hunters were unable to camp and hunt. I saw the big refrigerators outside, piles of wood, building materials and all the other stuff new regulation prohibits.
Then, in 2008-2009 we went to first come first served. That system I liked, but at the same time I know it wasn’t fair for those unable to be in front of a computer at 10:00 am to get a campsite. That system also didn’t provide for hunters willing to camp for only a few days out of the whole season. The only option was to get a campsite, use it for a weekend, or every weekend, but no one was able to use it during the week. Again, not a perfect system.
2010 saw the random drawing system. A fair system, but with the same flaws, if you needed the site for one weekend or a few days, you had to apply and if lucky, the site was yours the whole season, sitting there empty when you were not hunting. Now, when I didn’t get a site during general gun last season, I asked on this forum and was lucky enough to get someone to let me use his site, and that is how I met my friend Pandaxmx.
This season we got a combination of both worlds, half quota half FCFS. How is this going to work, I don’t know. However, although I didn’t get a site, I think is a system with more options for hunters.
All we need is to start building relationships with people and use this forum (and others- sorry Carlos) as a way to build upon those relationships. I’m already set up with 2 of my friends that got a site for archery and we will share with others we hunt with (Andy/Bob, I’ll PM you later). If I don’t get a site during general gun, I’ll do the same, ask around, and I’m sure I’ll have a spot to camp.
As someone who owns a camper and hunted 78 days last season, I agree with Budman76, taking the camper every weekend is not the best option, but it is what it is. I also agree that a camper is not necessary and sometimes is better to enjoy a hot humid Florida night in a tent, but we are creatures that sometimes prefer a little comfort at the end of the day (by the way, this year I won’t be using the camper as it is at my lease).
I also agree with the statement that sites were empty a lot of times. As I mentioned before, one week I stayed there in December this past season I was the only soul camping from Monday to Thursday. All the other 83 sites were empty.
I agree that a fee system is probably an option that have the potential to work. That is how hunt camps in Ocala ($30 month) and Arbuckle ($5 night) are managed and I think it works. Green swamp is a nice place and I’m sure that a lot of people will be willing to move to a fee system, if they can guarantee having a campsite available for long term or short term use.
Budman, you know me personally and I consider you a friend so nothing personal here . I have to say that in terms of a lease, this is a topic for a lot of debate. Different people have different reasons to pay for a lease. I’ll use my case as an example. I camp with my wife and son 2 nights every other weekend, year round. State parks went to a $25.00 per night fee which means I was spending $100 month ($1200 year) for camping. I got into a lease for almost the same amount and I can camp whenever I want and hunt hogs year round which is a plus. Although I didn’t pay for storage before, you know how much you end paying for storage a year, so again, sometimes a lease is not that bad after all. The good thing about it is that you can get out at any time and don’t pay a loan on X amount of acres if your finances change.
At the end, am I going to stop hunting the Green Swamp because of all the issues with campsites?, absolutely not. Even though I’m on a lease, I value the friendship of all the people I met the past years hunting there (Jon, Bob, Jimmy, David, Andy, Troy, to name a few) and I’m sure that someone there will clear a little space on his campsite to make room for my tent cot and truck.
There is not, and will never be, a perfect system for hunting/camping public land. We need to make the best lemonade out of the lemons we get. Lets just wait to see how the new system work. In my opinion, the new system is a fair system, but that creates some challenges for the “GS regulars”, myself included.
