Florida WMA Non-Resident Restriction - UPDATE

[arkrem870]

What
Florida/mississippi/Kansas etc residents need to understand is this will negatively impact all turkey hunters that travel. It's setting a precedent for other states to follow.

[joey46]

Nothing would surprise me on this issue. Bottom line is that 30+ states have the Eastern species.  Plenty of non-resident options for this big bird.  Only one state has an Osceola option. Betting the Florida outfitters will be doubling their  already excessive fees.  This has the potential to snowball out of control.

[joey46]

can a florida resident on here give me an honest thumb up or thumb down on these changes?

do you approve of these changes?

Mixed feelings.  The nine days is overkill.  The 10% limit and annual license long overdue. Maybe now a resident not need 6 years of preference points to draw a good quota hunt.

[kytrkyhntr]

can a florida resident on here give me an honest thumb up or thumb down on these changes?

do you approve of these changes?

Why would residents be anything but elated? If I were a resident, I'd be doing cartwheels down Alligator Alley.

MY THOGUHTS EXACTLY... but i just was curious

[zelmo1]

Joey is spot on. Better get your Osceola now before its out of reach.I am doing one more try this year. If I don't connect then its probably the last chance I will get. He is also right that there ae turkeys in other states. Rumors are flying around about the state reciprocity regulations here too. The "49ers" will be the casualties here. Good luck to all and God Bless. Z

[squidd]

We all know that most public birds are taken in the first week or two of season. 9-days would keep me from going to another state, especially if it were FL.

I did not vote for the changes, as in life, you can work around anything if it is that important to you!

I do plan on hunting other states and it would have been hypocritical to vote for changes I would not like being made towards me as a NR.

[deathfoot]

In my opinion, I don't see the nine days as being an issue. I hunted a WMA in California back in 2005 and they had a first 9 day hunt by permit only regulation back then (before youtube). Although, I can't recall if the special permit was for residents only. However...It didn't bother me in the least and there were still a ton of birds to be found. But that's me, I tend to steer clear of open weekends/week when I travel if I'm hunting public, if at all possible. Again, that's just me.

[Ridge]

In my opinion, I don't see the nine days as being an issue. I hunted a WMA in California back in 2005 and they had a first 9 day hunt by permit only regulation back then (before youtube). Although, I can't recall if the special permit was for residents only. However...It didn't bother me in the least and there were still a ton of birds to be found. But that's me, I tend to steer clear of open weekends/week when I travel if I'm hunting public, if at all possible. Again, that's just me.

You can't compare California in 2005 to Florida in 2025. In no way are they even remotely similar, for a multitude of reasons. 2005 was THE time to be a turkey hunter. While the math says 20 years, the difference in the two are much greater. I would wager to bet your experience after the first nine days of season would be vastly different today. 

[deathfoot]

In my opinion, I don't see the nine days as being an issue. I hunted a WMA in California back in 2005 and they had a first 9 day hunt by permit only regulation back then (before youtube). Although, I can't recall if the special permit was for residents only. However...It didn't bother me in the least and there were still a ton of birds to be found. But that's me, I tend to steer clear of open weekends/week when I travel if I'm hunting public, if at all possible. Again, that's just me.

You can't compare California in 2005 to Florida in 2025. In no way are they even remotely similar, for a multitude of reasons. 2005 was THE time to be a turkey hunter. While the math says 20 years, the difference in the two are much greater. I would wager to bet your experience after the first nine days of season would be vastly different today. 

No doubt. My point was. 9 days or 29 days. If I wanted to hunt that area I would. Like when I travel in late May to public. It's been hit hard. But guess what, I'm successful. So I'm not sure why 9'days is a big deal. At least from my seat. It's actually ideal. Let them have at it. I'll clean up after them

[Old Gobbler]

Well , apparently the fwc approved the changes

I am ...going on 41 spring seasons hunting several of the management areas mentioned....it took a few years before we ran into other turkey hunters in some of them ..that was the 80"s ..

I DO NOT APPROVE of the 9 day deal ...it will be the start of a back and forth trade of "localized " rules...it started with a handful of wmas. I'll go on the record stating that it will spread to the rest of the state within 5 years for all public wmas

What was amazing to me is the FWC finally..after a decade ...woke up and closed up the loopholes on the "stacking" of preference points ..this has the practice of people buying swarms of management stamps ALONE and flooding the permit system...then turning back in the permits to stack of preference points
..they would then use a the "buddy " aspect of the permit to perpetually hunt quota areas ...

It's all gone now ... 

[arkrem870]

The dominos are starting to fall. I pray newtons 3rd law is wrong in this case.  Loose lips sink ships

[Ridge]

It's all gone now ... 

Can you elaborate on this?

[jdl80]

As a native south Floridian, I'm stoked on this. Sorry not sorry, but it's become a zoo down here. I will be cartwheeling my way down the alley in a few hours and seasons following. The season is also a month long down here, it will just thin out those who are dedicated to the sport and traveling vs the influencer look at me crowds. Having to save up half a decades + worth of points to hunt my backyard doesn't seem right. Times are changing, you can adapt and plow on, or not kill crying on the couch.

[fldoghunter]

Well , apparently the fwc approved the changes

I am ...going on 41 spring seasons hunting several of the management areas mentioned....it took a few years before we ran into other turkey hunters in some of them ..that was the 80"s ..

I DO NOT APPROVE of the 9 day deal ...it will be the start of a back and forth trade of "localized " rules...it started with a handful of wmas. I'll go on the record stating that it will spread to the rest of the state within 5 years for all public wmas

What was amazing to me is the FWC finally..after a decade ...woke up and closed up the loopholes on the "stacking" of preference points ..this has the practice of people buying swarms of management stamps ALONE and flooding the permit system...then turning back in the permits to stack of preference points
..they would then use a the "buddy " aspect of the permit to perpetually hunt quota areas ...

It's all gone now ... 

You're crazy. There is no way to "game the system" through the guest permit deal.  If you think there is, please explain.

[2flyfish4]

The 9 day deal will be interesting to see how it plays out.
I could see a scenario were the non residents are now forced to other wmas that did not have this nonresident restrictions which will put an overload in those wmas. So the residents that hunt the wmas without those restrictions all move to the wmas with the 9 day non resident restrictions. Which in turn just makes it the same old circus, just the circus will be residents on some wmas and non residents on the others.

The 10% quota hunts to non residents may be a good deal. I would need to see actual numbers of nonresident and resident application ratio to see if it will be as beneficial as one would believe. I think there are several wmas that have very low nonresident applicants.

The 10 day license to a yearly license isn't going to change anything. The added cost isn't going to keep anyone from coming.