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Florida Turkey Outfitters

Started by gatrapper, May 22, 2013, 06:44:48 PM

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TURKEYWHACKER

Like Rut and Shannon said, public land can be tough. If you can put in the time to scout hard for a place most others will not put the effort in to get to, you up your odds tremendously. We have places we reach by boat, wade in through swamps and ones that are nestled between private lands or major roads. Sure it's annoying to have to wait for traffic noise to slack off to make some yelps and purrs, but the gobblers don't seem to mind. That being said, an out of stater with only a few days to hunt and little scout time is in for a hard row to hoe. Most walk in WMA's are inundated with all kinds of (I'll try to keep a straight face) turkey chasers. While coming out of the woods and reaching the road I had parked along I heard a truck coming that sounded in desperate need of major engine work. This did nothing to stop the two "hunters" from hanging out the window to yelp loudly on box calls almost non stop while driving about 5 mph past me. Ahhh, the joys of a crowded WMA. :toothy9:

ElkTurkMan

I would recommend D&C.  I know they are full for 2014, but I would send my money in for 2015 and lock down a spot.  It's a fantastic place to chase Osceola's.

Rokhal07

No doubt about it. Id second that vote for dc. Fantastic place

RutnNStrutn

Quote from: warrent423 on May 24, 2013, 04:41:43 PM
Don't let these guys fool you. Florida has more public land(wma's) than most states in the union. Excellent turkey hunting on many of them.
I'm not trying to fool anyone. I'm just stating FACTS!!
Yes, FLA does have a lot of public land, BUT not all of it is open to turkey hunting, AND the vast majority of them are by permit only. And those permits are VERY coveted and difficult to come by.
Excellent on most of them? Now who's trying to fool someone? ??? That's (I'll be nice here) NOT true at all. While there are some excellent hunts, there are also a lot of just OK hunts, and a lot of hard, or just plain lousy hunts as well. And the handful of open WMA's that don't require a permit are absolute madhouses. There can be 100 or more hunters roaming those woods. Dangerous, and unproductive. I live in FLA, and there are only a handful of WMA's that I will hunt.
Also, the "buddy" system in FLA virtually guarantees that the number of hunters on any given WMA is doubled on most hunts. Most of those hunts were overcrowded to begin with even before the advent of the buddy system.
The quest for a Slam is what is hurting FLA's turkey hunting opportunities. :TrainWreck1:

BigGobbler

You hit it 100% Rut I know two wma areas that were almost a guarantee shot until the buddy system came along with the self check in its a free for all clean um out situation now. You do your homework and put some woods time in you can be successful on any wma but by the time you do that you have some money tied up in by gas money your almost better off paying for one of the lower end private land hunts. Then that takes the busters/interference inconsiderates out of the hunt, #1 Florida wma problem and escalating more and more every year. Its frustrating but thats they way Florida turkey hunting is (the worst of any state i have hunted) just gotta brush it off and keep hunting.The sop hunts are a good way to go if you get drawn and a lot of these hunts are being grabbed up and guided now. A payed hunt looks better and better as the days go by with multiple hunts busted and without a bird over the shoulder and the days winding down