Anyone else participating in the Florida Youth Hunt 3/11-3/12 ?

[TURKEYWHACKER]

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My father and I are taking 2 of my grandkids up to Live Oak to hunt a small piece of private land. It borders 600 acres that doesn't get turkey hunted and that butts up against a state park. I hunted the place in last years opener and got a really nice eastern. Can't guarantee them a bird, but they should at least see and here gobblers. Wish us luck. 

[Twowithone]

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Good luck to you guys and have a good time that's what its all about.

[RutnNStrutn]

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Good luck Mike!! That's great that you get the young uns out into the woods!!
No opportunites for me so far. In fact, I may not hunt FLA this year at all. No permits, again.

[TURKEYWHACKER]

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Getting ready to load the truck for the journey north. Can't wait till morning...good luck Bryce and Madi 

[Dr Juice]

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Good luck Mike!! That's great that you get the young uns out into the woods!!
No opportunites for me so far. In fact, I may not hunt FLA this year at all. No permits, again.

I don't get it. Aren't you a resident?

[RutnNStrutn]

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Good luck Mike!! That's great that you get the young uns out into the woods!!
No opportunites for me so far. In fact, I may not hunt FLA this year at all. No permits, again.

I don't get it. Aren't you a resident?

Yes, but due to overdevelopment of FLA, there is less land available. That land is owned or leased by rich businessmen. What is left that is worth hunting is leased up by outfitters selling Osceola hunts at $2,000+ a bird. That leaves an average Joe resident like me to hunt public land.
Then we're talking FWC, who has totally F'ed up the public turkey hunting opportunities. They have a preference point system that takes you from 1 to 3 years to draw up enough preference points for a hunt, depending on which WMA you put in for. There are a handful of no permit required WMA's where you can take an Osceola on. Most suck and give you sparse opportunities, and only one is near my house. The ones with birds are well known, and well advertised, and heavily pressured.
So yes, I could "hunt" every year, and face dismal odds. That's true. Instead, I wait to get drawn for hunts where I have a fairly good success rate. If I don't get drawn, I go to my lease in SC, and travel to other states.
Then here's the kicker. Florida owns numerous parcels of land, containing hundreds of thousands of acres of pristine "public" land that is loaded with flocks of Osceolas. However, hunters - who are the only ones required to pay to access "public" land, are not allowed to set foot on those areas. Instead, hikers, bikers, campers and equestrians recreate on these beautiful "public" lands for FREE. So you get the privilege of driving by these lands in the spring, watching strutting gobblers, and herds of deer and hogs that you cannot hunt. Then you drive by the parking area and see Tahoes, Escilades, Suburbans all with horse trailers, hippy cars with liberal stickers and bike racks, and all of these people are setting out for their kind of recreation without putting one thin dime into the state's coffers. It really frosts your a$$ to see it.