I have an opening week quota hunt in Central Florida and was wondering if any locals could tell what the water levels are looking like. Is it shaping up to be a wet or dry spring in the woods?
Also, are there any different strategies you would recommend for hunting birds in wet vs. dry areas?
Not sure about Central Florida, but extremely dry here in North Florida,
Dry, dry and more dry of S FL
I remember the first years I hunted down in Florida in 2009 and I was in a WMA in the central part of the state. It was dry as could be I could see the high water mark on the trees. You could cross a lot of the cypress swamps, and that's where the birds move into. I didn't get a bird the first year it was to much of a learning curve for me back then. So when I came back in 2010 it was so wet you could go no where with out walking in water somewhere. Andi found gators also, but the birds were still in them swamps. Why do you think they have such long legs for because there walking belly deep in water all the time. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20250209/9afc87560f46ae973f8cdb34d76276a0.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20250209/0081f5961c5984372c153fcbc98043f4.jpg)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When you say Central Florida you are talking about a very large area that has a lot of wma's with a very diverse land layout. It is hard to say one is dry or not as the area was just hammered with a hurricane and some areas dry out a lot faster than others. I can tell you the wma I hunt on is not as wet as I have ever seen it but it is no where near as dry as I have seen it either. Best advice is actually go out and walk it. Take rubber boots cause it will be a 50/50 chance you will get your feet wet. Regardless if it is dry or wet.
https://fireweather.fdacs.gov/wx/kbdi_index.html (https://fireweather.fdacs.gov/wx/kbdi_index.html)
Maybe this will help. Its pretty dry most places I frequent, despite the hurricanes.