Public Hunting: General Information

Information on Florida’s public dove fields is available in late September. Visit MyFWC.com/Dove to get the latest information on special-opportunity dove hunts and dove fields on Florida’s WMAs. Information is updated every Thursday throughout dove season and includes dove densities, previous week’s harvests and field conditions.

Green Swamp camping: Camping permits are available for the archery, general gun, small game, hog, spring turkey, and fish and frog seasons on designated sites within the Green Swamp Wildlife Management Area.

For information on specific WMA’s choose a region below:

• North Central
• Northeast
• Northwest
• South
• Southwest

National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) hunts: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has partnered with FWC to make several NWR hunt permits available through FWC’s limited entry permitting system. These are U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hunts issued by FWC. For more information on NWR hunting opportunities, contact the local NWR office (see Hunting Florida’s national wildlife refuges).

• Lake Woodruff archery and muzzleloading hunts
• Lower Suwannee antlerless deer and hog hunts
• Merritt Island waterfowl hunts
• St. Marks archery, general gun, and mobility-impaired hunts
• St. Vincent Island Sambar and white-tail deer hunts

Quota permits: Quota permits are a specific sub-type of limited entry permits that have their own unique set of rules and regulations on how to apply. Some of these permits allow group applications, guest permits, and the accumulation of preference points. Be sure to check the permit specific information and application worksheets at MyFWC.com/Hunting (under “Limited Entry Hunts”) for a complete list of details for each of these quota permit types.

• Airboat
• Archery*
• General gun*
• Family
• Mobility impaired*
• Muzzleloading*
• Quail
• Spring turkey*
• Track
• Wild hog*
• Youth
• Youth spring turkey

*Guest permits are available for this permit type.

Residents age 65 or older; residents with a Disabled Person Hunting and Fishing Certificate; residents in the U.S. Armed Services stationed out of state and home on leave for 30 days or less; and children under age 16 are exempt and not required to have quota permits to participate in many hunts. Due to lease agreements, size and other factors, some hunts do not allow exemptions. Hunts where all persons must have quota permits are listed in bold print on the quota permit worksheets. This also is indicated by the phrase “no exemptions” found under the Quota Permit Information section in specific WMA brochures. Children under the age of 16 may accompany any quota permit holder, age 18 or older, on hunts with “no exemptions” provided the youth and permit holder share a single bag limit. A person whose license indicates Hunter Safety Deferral may hunt with any quota permit holder age 21 or older who holds a hunting license provided that both hunters share a single bag limit. A supervisor (must be 21 years of age or older) who holds a valid license (unless exempt) may hunt with any license holder whose license indicates Hunter Safety Deferral and who also holds a quota hunt permit (must share a single bag limit).

Recreational use permits: Recreational use permits are designed to provide more revenue to private landowners in the Wildlife Management Area (WMA) System. Money set aside by the FWC to compensate those private landowners for hunting use on their lands was not sufficient enough to compete with private hunting leases. Rather than have WMAs drop out of the system, the FWC offers recreational use permits. Fees collected from these permits supplement the private landowners, keeping their lands open to public hunting.

Except for hunting, recreational use permit holders and their spouses or dependent youth (under 16 years of age) may participate in other activities on designated WMAs. Only permit holders and one dependent youth (under 16 years of age) may hunt. If spouses or more than one dependent youth (under 16 years of age) wish to hunt, they must purchase a recreational use permit. These permits also include a management area permit that may be used when hunting other public lands not in the recreational use program.

Recreational use permits are only valid on the area designated on the permit and may not be used on other recreational use program areas. Once permits are issued, they can be renewed annually for two additional years, essentially making them a three-year permit.

The six recreational use areas and their annual permit fees are:

• Public Hunting Areas: South Region
  
• Wild Hogs – Nuisance or Hunting Opportunity?
  
• Public Hunting Areas: Northeast Region
  
• Public Hunting Areas: Southwest Region
  
• Public Hunting Areas: Northwest Region
  
• License & Permit Fees
  
• Public Hunting Areas: North Central Region
  
• Recreational license, permit information and requirements
  
• Season Dates and Bag Limits