• Help Support TNDeer:

First FL public land deer

tn droptine said:
Been a while since I posted anything on here!

I moved down to FL about 2 1/2 years ago, and let me tell you - the deer hunting in these swamps is some of the most challenging hunting that I have done! I lived in West TN for about 8 years and I must say that the hunting I had out there was amazing. From there I moved out to Utah, and a few years of hunting the mountains out there was another blessing. Now living down here I have come to appreciate what I had even more. The deer densities down here are low, and there are so many places that are thicker than all get out for the deer to hide in that it is an accomplishment to see a legal deer, let alone tag one.

To put it into perspective, I looked up the harvest report for the public land that I hunt on - last year there were 13,012 hunter days (there is a check in station where hunters are counted as they come in) and out of all of those there were only 50 bucks taken. That is less than 0.5% of a success rate (I do not know the number of individuals that hunt out there, as I probably accounted for at least 20 of those hunter days myself last year).

My third year hunting in Green Swamp WMA and it finally came together - I had found an area on Friday during the scouting day that looked promising and had that "feel" to it, only way I can describe it, when I walked into this spot at the edge of a swampy area I knew I wanted to hunt it. I came back Saturday morning and had two does come through around 8:30, but nothing else. I still felt really good about it though, because even seeing a couple of does is a good day at GS. The next morning I almost decided to sit in another area, but went with my gut and headed back to that spot. I ended up positioning myself facing 45 degrees off from where I was facing the day before, and around 8:45 I caught movement in the palmettos. The sun hit his antlers just right and that is what tipped me off. Shot was about 70 yds and he ran towards me and I watched him go down about 30 yds from my tree.

I have killed some great deer in Indiana and Missouri, and even got to harvest a cow elk while out in Utah, but this guy will rank right up there in my eyes as one of my trophies, just for the amount of work that goes in to taking a buck out of the Green Swamp!
Click to expand...
Florida public land hunting is always a challenge.
 
FLTENNHUNTER1 said:
I have no use for hunters who use dogs to chase deer. Seems chickenshit to me. Saw many running for their lives from Richloam into Green Swamp with their tongues hanging out and completely exhausted. Not fair chase by any means.
Click to expand...
I have no use for ignorant people making stupid comments. I hunted with dogs many times as did all of my friends. Never seen a deer exhausted or tongue hanging out from being run by dogs in 40 years of hunting in florida.Exaggerate much?
 
gladesman60 said:
I have no use for ignorant people making stupid comments. I hunted with dogs many times as did all of my friends. Never seen a deer exhausted or tongue hanging out from being run by dogs in 40 years of hunting in florida.Exaggerate much?
Click to expand...
If you aren't man enough to hunt deer like a real man so be it. To each their own.
 
FLTENNHUNTER1 said:
If you aren't man enough to hunt deer like a real man so be it. To each their own.
Click to expand...
So how do i go about being a real man in your eyes? Climb a tree 40 ft and ambush from on high? I do that. Sit in a comfy box stand on a green field? I do that. Slip hunt through the woods on a drizzly day? I do that. If you think a specific way to hunt makes you a "real" man you have a lot to learn in life.
 
gladesman60 said:
So how do i go about being a real man in your eyes? Climb a tree 40 ft and ambush from on high? I do that. Sit in a comfy box stand on a green field? I do that. Slip hunt through the woods on a drizzly day? I do that. If you think a specific way to hunt makes you a "real" man you have a lot to learn in life.
Click to expand...

Poison dart blow gun.

Edit: I want to change my answer. Did you see the Alone episode where Roland shoots a musk ox in the hindquarter and then finishes it with a knife? That was pretty wild.
 
Last edited:
gladesman60 said:
So how do i go about being a real man in your eyes? Climb a tree 40 ft and ambush from on high? I do that. Sit in a comfy box stand on a green field? I do that. Slip hunt through the woods on a drizzly day? I do that. If you think a specific way to hunt makes you a "real" man you have a lot to learn in life.
Click to expand...
Just differing opinions. I've learned plenty in life. I've witnessed the deer as I described above with my own eyes. Don't need you to tell me otherwise. I have more respect for deer than to run them to the point of exhaustion. It's legal in 11 states so do as you wish. Just like fanning or using dekes. Some people have the opinion it's cheating and unfair. It's legal so go for if you wish.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top