Hunting in Tampa FL Area.

[jr4521]

Would like to know what are the best areas to Hunt close to the Tampa Fl. Deer or Boar, Rifle.

 

[FLAvalanche]

Best hunting?

Depends on how much you're willing to pay. If you want good hunting you'll have to pay for a guided trip on private land.

The other option are the state wildlife management areas around Tampa. There are 20 of them in the Southwest Flordia region.

The bad thing about them is they are usually packed on the weekends. Some, like the Picayune Strand are packed with berry pickers on the weekdays. I would suggest downloading the 2010-11 hunting regulations pdf from the FWC website. The last few pages are of all the WMAs in Florida.

The WMAs are all self-regulated. They set their own seasons, their own game regulations as far as sex and sometimes limit is concerned, and some of them have weapon regulations.

 

[BrandonFromTampa]

I saw on the discovery channel that the hog population is exploding in the Tampa Bay area. The red dot on the map looked like it was over Plant City. How do farmers control their pest problems such as squirrel and hogs? I have friend up in Tallahassee who tells me that he has a friend who makes his living hunting hogs for farmers. I'm not expecting to make any money, but is their any possibility of a farmer allowing someone to hunt his land?

 

[ScratchnDent]

Go here for maps and regulations.

http://myfwc.com/recreation/Hunt_WMABrochs.htm

I have hunted the Green Swamp West and Croom WMA's the last few years. They do get busy on weekends, and lots of people use dogs, so they are running around everywhere too.

That said, there are plenty of deer and hogs in both!

 

[FLAvalanche]

but is their any possibility of a farmer allowing someone to hunt his land?

Sure if the farmer knows you personally. You can pretty much forget knocking on a random farmers door and asking to hunt his land, it took me 10 years to find a private spot. Every last one I've asked was more worried about liability if I hurt myself than he was about crop damage due to hogs.

Getting on private land in Florida is getting just as bad as Texas.

And then the farmers sit back and wonder why Florida and Texas have the biggest hog problems...

Focus on the orange grove owners. The hogs do more monetary damage to orange groves than anything else usually from destroying the irrigation systems in the groves. They also don't have live stock and rarely have equipment in the fields for you to accidently shoot. They're usually more open to allowing hunters on their property.

 

[jr4521]

Thank you , I will take a look at the green swamp area / croome, its close and seems to be loaded with hogs.

 

[FLAvalanche]

Croome has a ton of hogs. Try and get there on the opening day of their hog season whenever it is. By the 3rd day the hogs are so pressured they go nocturnal.

 

[Uncle Mike]

Sure if the farmer knows you personally. You can pretty much forget knocking on a random farmers door and asking to hunt his land, it took me 10 years to find a private spot. Every last one I've asked was more worried about liability if I hurt myself than he was about crop damage due to hogs.

Welcome to the great state of Florida.....

When I was down there, the hogs were as thick as the cockroaches! There was a bunch of them. But as FLAvalanch says, it is hard to get to a place to hunt them, either plan on wading water up to your naval in some public cess pool, buying or building a swamp buggy and running dogs, or get in good with a land owner, other than that.....you'll be ahead to just pay hunt on private land, hey, your going to pay on way or another anyway!

 

[FLAvalanche]

plan on wading water up to your naval in some public cess pool

My buddy invited me down to hunt the Picayune Strand about a month ago. I went with him and the plan was to wear my Crocs to drive down then change into my hip waders when I got there. Half way to Naples I realized I left my waders sitting by the front door where I wouldn't forget them...

Didn't matter because the water was waist deep anyways.

 

[Uncle Mike]

then change into my hip waders when I got there. Half way to Naples I realized I left my waders sitting by the front door where I wouldn't forget them...

No worries, waders just add to your misery, they make hotter than it already is. I remember sloshing around all day in water from 6" deep to 4 foot deep!

Makes it easy to float out a deer or hog! Glad those days are behind me!

 

[FLAvalanche]

We didn't float anything out that day. Had a doe come in first thing in the morning which we couldn't shoot because that WMA is buck only.

Then we had a 6 point cross the field we were in like it was shot out of a cannon because all the berry pickers were out there picking berries.

That's why I hate hunting WMAs in Florida. They're overcrowded, underpopulated and they allow too much stupid crap like berry picking or swamp cabbage harvesting in the middle of hunting season.