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jrain904
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FL help

Unread postby jrain904 » Tue Sep 28, 2021 8:27 am

Any beasts hunt the Florida palmetto/pine woods and crazy thick swamps? Looking for some help.

I'm trying to put it all together but only having 3 day hunting seasons on WMA's and overall low deer density is kicking my but. There are enough does around to see one or two during a 3 day hunt and sometimes a small buck will show up, usually a tiny 6 point. Historically cameras have shown only one buck i believe to be older than 3. Seldom does a 2.5 year old show up. Every once in awhile during the height of the rut a truly big FL deer will be taken. I am starting to believe that the big bucks choose to live on surrounding private where they are fed. The FWC does nothing to manage our WMA's to create Better deer habitat.

I'm starting to wander the line between "giving up" on a giant being on a WMA and "lowering expectations" to something a little more reasonable.

If someone is a FL hunter and can help me please drop some knowledge. Thanks.


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PK_
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Re: FL help

Unread postby PK_ » Tue Sep 28, 2021 8:38 am

What is your idea of a giant?
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Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
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Sailfish_WC
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Re: FL help

Unread postby Sailfish_WC » Tue Sep 28, 2021 8:51 am

I’m a FL hunter (using that term loosely)
I only started public land a few years back and it’s been tough.
First off I will say, we have deer. We also have decent racked deer public and pvt

If your from the north like MI and such, it’s diff hunting,
but the deer still have the same needs: food safety sex
Depending on the time of year one may be priority over the other.
Our rut sucks. Especially in Central FL. Across the state itself it’s also all over the place but generally more consistent.
We don’t have soybean fields and corn fields Our deer eat a lot of browse. Learn what they are eating and where.
Boots on the ground
Pick a management area and learn a square mile or two.
Then another. Scout it. Watch it. Cam it (only if you can afford to have it stolen).
Also (and this may not hold true for PK down where he hunts) but I have been to places thick, far and wet. And think “yeah, I’m the first who’s ever hunted here” and then I find shotgun shells, a wrapper, a stand lol. It’s just FL man Probably every state on Public land
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jrain904
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Re: FL help

Unread postby jrain904 » Tue Sep 28, 2021 9:10 am

PK_ wrote:What is your idea of a giant?


Really just an older deer. There are a lot of what I consider 1.5 year old 6 points and sometimes something a little bigger like this:

Screenshot_20210927-170847_Messenger.jpg


* my buddies photo, not mine*

I would totally pull the trigger on one like that but its still not a "giant" to me. Seems like maybe a 2.5 yr old, maybe 3.5?? I still am looking for those 5 year old I see every one else chasing.
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Tribute80
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Re: FL help

Unread postby Tribute80 » Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:42 am

I live in Florida and hunt public from time to time. I never killed a good buck on public but have seen some buddies kill nice deer on public. Also seen a few out of range. IMO it takes lots and lots of hours to find the spots that hold them. More hours then the places I hunt out of state. It may take years of scouting hunting and running cameras to find one solid spot. So much is the same thick swamp or pines palmetto it’s hard to notice the difference.

I’m by no means a master buck killing sob in Florida so take it for what you paying for it. The best advice I have heard from the beast site that I feel like I could apply to Florida are the following.

First get out the map and mark off all the areas that are boring same nothing ness.
Second scout/sit as many hours as you can at the un marked off areas. Grid hunt it if you have to.
Eventually something will shake out it may just take time.

As for the quota thing find a buddy that you can tag team quotas with it will double you time scouting plus give y’all the chance to draw every year. Some public even though they are quota are accessible year round you just can’t hunt.

The ones I have seen killed came from extremely low pressure areas. When I say low I mean no pressure for multiple years.

Good luck remember it’s supposed to be fun.
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Eddiegomes83
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Re: FL help

Unread postby Eddiegomes83 » Tue Sep 28, 2021 12:19 pm

Florida is just tough and takes time. Cameras can be your best friend. Find a target buck and start trying to identify bedding. Once you find bedding start looking for food near the bedding. If you can find buck sign and food near bedding all the better.

Find as many of those spots as you can so you can adjust as needed to pressure and wind and such.

It's kind of like fishing. You have to be fishing in areas that hold big fish to catch big fish. Not saying you can't run into a good one from time to time in areas that only have a few but odds are higher in big fish lakes.


But to improve your odds focus on areas known for holding bigger than average Florida bucks. Scout them even when you don't have a permit. Maybe you will get lucky with a redraw or maybe you have to wait until you have points. But scout those areas like crazy to start finding as many areas as possible.

To me it's a numbers game. Have lots of spots and lots of hrs on stand. Hunt fresh sign and don't settle on mediocre spots.

It's simple.... ;)
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Rich M
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Re: FL help

Unread postby Rich M » Wed Sep 29, 2021 1:36 am

Moved down around 1996 - First public land whitetail seen from stand was 2018 - shot first public land whitetail in 2018. Seen 4 bucks and 1 doe from stand in 2 mornings as a beast hunter.

Been raining a lot late evenings lately - we set up cams and saw sign of deer activity in same area - just a little less than 2018. We'll see how it goes. Heading out this weekend.
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Re: FL help

Unread postby PK_ » Wed Sep 29, 2021 2:02 am

jrain904 wrote:
PK_ wrote:What is your idea of a giant?


Really just an older deer. There are a lot of what I consider 1.5 year old 6 points and sometimes something a little bigger like this:

Screenshot_20210927-170847_Messenger.jpg

* my buddies photo, not mine*

I would totally pull the trigger on one like that but its still not a "giant" to me. Seems like maybe a 2.5 yr old, maybe 3.5?? I still am looking for those 5 year old I see every one else chasing.

That is what I was afraid of. I have been down this road personally. There was a time when I was passing on deer like that thinking they will grow, only to find out they were mature. Now I won’t pass a deer like that unless I know for fact a bigger one is in the area and I feel like holding out for him…

That deer is very likely mature, at least 3.5 IMO. Keep in mind I do believe it is extremely hard to judge age accurately from a single cam pic and zero history with a deer. But if you pay attention to the neck/brisket you can generally tell 1.5-2.5/2.5-3.5/3.5-4.5 and 4.5+. Meaning that some 2 year olds look like 3 year olds and vice versa, for each age class. Each age class has more overlap than other states because we have such a prolonged rut. Two fawns born the same season can have a 3-6 month age difference…

That deer might be a beefy 2.5 but I doubt it, our 2.5s usually look like yearlings from other states. They usually don’t start to get definition in the brisket like that one, until 3.5, at 4.5 the neck gets thicker and blends into the brisket and they start to get a broad chest and usually at 5.5+ the brisket and neck starts to sag. Generally this is the case, always exceptions of course, and certain angles of pics can be deceiving.

But our deer don’t usually get the sway back and saggy belly unless they have the rare genetics for a very big body. And rack wise most bucks will not get much bigger than that. They don’t all get mass or trash like they do in other states. I used to keep all the jawbones out of the bucks I killed for about a decade and had a few dozen and quit caring about age because without trail cam history of specific deer, aging them on the hoof in a hunting situation is nearly impossible. When you see a decent rack like the one you posted and have to make a quick shot that deer could be 2.5 or 5.5+

Anyways. Back to your point. If a deer like that doesn’t get you excited on FL public you either need to just go out of state or you had better be good at running cams and have a lot of them. Know the areas that kick out bigger than average deer on a regular bases. Know how to play the quota game, know how to kill mature deer efficiently and pray for a lot of luck. Because even if/when you do find a big one, if it’s on a quota hunt you have what, 3 days to get it done rain or shine.

If you are just hunting whatever random WMAs, for any decent racked buck, you will have to kill a couple dozen of those to get one that is 110” and you will have to kill 30-40+ to get one that is 120”, on average, trust me, been there done that.

The guys who are killing bigger than average (rack)bucks every year have spent a lot of time finding WMAs (and the specific areas within those WMAs)that produce them regularly. And they also spend a ton of time each year finding and keeping tabs on those specific bucks. Even the holy grail WMAs in the state known for producing studs each year have a ton of basic 90-100” 8pt mature bucks for each stud it produces.

So yes, antler-wise, unless you are ready to put in a ridiculous amount of time/effort, you need to lower expectations to something more reasonable. Unfortunately, I hate to say that but it’s the truth. But the silver lining is that there are fully mature deer to chase on every large WMA in the state.

Last thing, I am not sure where you are seeing ‘everyone’ chasing 5+ year olds on public? Or are you talking about public and private?

Also I hope nothing in this post is offensive. It’s just my experience and opinion.
No Shortcuts. No Excuses. No Regrets.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
jrain904
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Re: FL help

Unread postby jrain904 » Wed Sep 29, 2021 3:24 am

PK_ wrote:
jrain904 wrote:
PK_ wrote:What is your idea of a giant?



Last thing, I am not sure where you are seeing ‘everyone’ chasing 5+ year olds on public? Or are you talking about public and private?

Also I hope nothing in this post is offensive. It’s just my experience and opinion.


I was more so referring to people out of state. There is not a lot of chatter about FL hunting when it comes to beast style stuff so I was just trying to see what my expectations should be.
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Re: FL help

Unread postby jrain904 » Wed Sep 29, 2021 3:31 am

I really do need to start hanging cameras again now that I understand beast style hunting. I hung cameras on my wma for years, mostly on trails or areas that just felt "right" to me at the time. I knew nothing about bed hunting then. I got plenty of small bucks and does on camera but found that the cameras kinda messed with my head and had me losing confidence in spots rather than building it. So for the past several seasons I have not hung a camera at all. I have been content shooting does lately here. I just really would like to target a bigger deer and needed to understand what that means here and I think I know where those expectations need to be now.

I'm going to hang cameras in some thermal hubs, on some community scrapes, and on some trails on public leading to feeders on private. Just to get a new idea of the bucks on my wma.
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Re: FL help

Unread postby Eddiegomes83 » Wed Sep 29, 2021 3:49 am

jrain904 wrote:I really do need to start hanging cameras again now that I understand beast style hunting. I hung cameras on my wma for years, mostly on trails or areas that just felt "right" to me at the time. I knew nothing about bed hunting then. I got plenty of small bucks and does on camera but found that the cameras kinda messed with my head and had me losing confidence in spots rather than building it. So for the past several seasons I have not hung a camera at all. I have been content shooting does lately here. I just really would like to target a bigger deer and needed to understand what that means here and I think I know where those expectations need to be now.

I'm going to hang cameras in some thermal hubs, on some community scrapes, and on some trails on public leading to feeders on private. Just to get a new idea of the bucks on my wma.



Also remember trail cams not only tell you where you should be spending your time but also where you shouldn't. To me, knowing not to spend my time in a certain area is just as important. So just because you don't get good pics doesn't mean you didn't get any info.
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Re: FL help

Unread postby UncleBuck3268 » Wed Sep 29, 2021 7:48 am

I give all of you FL hunters a lot of credit. Swamps in my neck of the woods (WI) can get really nasty as far as thick and mucky but we do not have to deal with the gators or anything poisonous.
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Re: FL help

Unread postby Rich M » Wed Sep 29, 2021 1:36 pm

UncleBuck3268 wrote:I give all of you FL hunters a lot of credit. Swamps in my neck of the woods (WI) can get really nasty as far as thick and mucky but we do not have to deal with the gators or anything poisonous.


Besides small deer, the worst part is the heat. Guys I know hunt in flip flops and shorts at times.
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Re: FL help

Unread postby Sailfish_WC » Wed Sep 29, 2021 11:01 pm

Rich M wrote:
UncleBuck3268 wrote:I give all of you FL hunters a lot of credit. Swamps in my neck of the woods (WI) can get really nasty as far as thick and mucky but we do not have to deal with the gators or anything poisonous.


Besides small deer, the worst part is the heat. Guys I know hunt in flip flops and shorts at times.


Sept 18 was opener in one region I hunt.
It was horrible.
Not making this up, in the dark, get out of the truck, walked as slow as I could , I was drenched. Drenched in sweat and I hadn’t even climbed up the tree.

I do hate that.
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Re: FL help

Unread postby UncleBuck3268 » Wed Sep 29, 2021 11:40 pm

Sailfish_WC wrote:
Rich M wrote:
UncleBuck3268 wrote:I give all of you FL hunters a lot of credit. Swamps in my neck of the woods (WI) can get really nasty as far as thick and mucky but we do not have to deal with the gators or anything poisonous.


Besides small deer, the worst part is the heat. Guys I know hunt in flip flops and shorts at times.


Sept 18 was opener in one region I hunt.
It was horrible.
Not making this up, in the dark, get out of the truck, walked as slow as I could , I was drenched. Drenched in sweat and I hadn’t even climbed up the tree.

I do hate that.


I’m sure the heat can be unbearable. I know I sound spoiled, but even 70s in WI feels extremely warm to me going out early season. But come winter time, we do get some finger numbing temps.


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