FL quota hunts

[alloutdoors]

I'm thinking about trying to hunt FL at some point and am trying to figure out my options. I'm thinking about putting in for the quota hunts, but not exactly sure how it works so anyone that has been through it in the past that could provide some details, I would appreciate it.

Things I'm specifically wondering about:
What's are some good WMA's to try?
The hunting pressure in FL is legendary, and the horror stories abound, so do the quota hunts help with that much?
About how many preference points should I expect to accumulate before having a real shot at getting drawn?

[Old Gobbler]

You need at least 3-4 years worth of preference points to get and good permits , to be exact ... if you are from out of state you need to purchase 3-4 years of out of state licences $$ to get s shot at it - there is a harvest data area for all the wma areas , on the Fwc site that will help anyone its public information - as for dropping names of particular areas will result in a predictable upset hunter so PM's is the choice for particulars

[Gobblerjim]

No turkey's left down here. Well ok there's a few. But what OG said you'll have to work up some preference points to have a shot at anything worth a dam. There's a couple of wma's that don't need a quota but they get hit pretty hard. Good luck.


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[shadetree callers]

I suggest saving up a few bucks and hire an outfitter. Your success rate will be better on private land and you wont need any preference points. I know a few with 100% success rates of you are interested.

[alloutdoors]

I would consider an outfitter at some point, and I'm happy to hear suggestions, but I think I'll most likely try my luck on a quota hunt first. I don't mind waiting a few years to get drawn, heck I put in for some of the moose lotteries here in the northeast and I'm just hoping to get drawn in one of them some time in the next twenty-five years. Anyway, I put in for this year at Fisheating Creek, Three Lakes, Arbuckle, and Richloam, which I have seen people say good things about all of them. Not that it really matters this year since I won't be getting drawn. Between now and next year I can do some more research and really figure out what areas to go for.

One question I have now though is about the timing of the season down there, is it usually better to try and get the first week on any given area to get totally unpressured birds, or are the birds more likely to be more fired up a couple weeks in?

[Gobblerjim]

Earlier the better.


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[ChiefBubba]

Earlier the better.


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This^^^^^^.
If you got the money another option would be to try and get on the Special Opportunity hunts they have.  Once again apply for first hunts only on everything. Chief

[alloutdoors]

I did put in for some special opportunity chances along with my quota application, but I felt like I was probably just wasting my money based on how few I bought. Has anyone here gotten lucky and been drawn for a special opp tag as a non-resident when just putting in like 5 or fewer chances? With such a limited number of those tags, for non-residents especially, I figured there are probably guys who think nothing of buying 50 or more chances and you would have to get really lucky to compete in that pool.

[ChiefBubba]

If I'm not mistaken a Non Resident has the same chances as a Resident. You're only limited by how much you spend. Lol
I spent like a 100 bucks a few back figuring I'd buy my way in lol Didn't get picked! Now I just spend less then 25 bucks and take my chances. Chief 

[alloutdoors]

Non-residents are limited to 10% of the tags for a given hunt, if 10% is less than 1 then one tag is allotted for a nonresident. No special opportunity hunt actually has more than 10 tags, so by default each hunt has only one non-resident tag available. At least that is my understanding from the website.

By my count there are 37 non-resident special opportunity tags available for 2014 vs 224 tags for residents. Bottom line, the odds are not even close to the same.

[ChiefBubba]

Wow never knew that! Thank you. If that's case even Quota WMA's are going to be tougher might take more then a few years. Going with an Outfitter looks more appealing now. Chief

[alloutdoors]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. The 10% limit is only applied to the special opportunity hunts, at least as I understand it.

[ChiefBubba]

Lol oh okay. Was thinking those out of state boys have it tough. Chief

[Gobblerjim]

The regular quotas are the same for everyone. As you build preference points the better your odds are. I got a permit this year with 2 pref points. March 1st couldn't come fast enough. There are some areas that take 4 or 5 but they usually only have 5-10 hunters per hunt. I've only gotten one spec opp permit once in 10 years.


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[Old Gobbler]

I went from 1999 until 2011 before I got a spring permit , that's when they started preference points , the bull sheet was so bad during that period that out of state and even out of country ( Canada) hunters were getting quota permits and selling them openly on forums  , under the guises of " guide service" I remember distinctly and many others do a Canadian " guide" selling a -fish eating creek spring permit for $1600 !
The Fwc is well aware of people selling permits .......hint...hint