Another newbie seeking guidance

surreal

Hey all, I'm in Miami, with zero hunting knowledge but finishing up that hunter safety prerequisite.  I've been reading threads here for the past week or so to understand as much as i can, but i have a few questions. 

1. I don't plan on hunting anything larger than small game for the next year or so until i learn the basics. But with all this talk about preference points, should i be applying to places to start gaining points? What places should i apply to? I can't really find any help about this. 

2. I understand quota but how exactly does small game work? Check brochure for wma to make sure im good, park car at entrance, walk around, shoot something, and walk back to car? Is that the idea of a typical non quota day?

3. I dont mind traveling to naples area, what would be some good wma to start off with or just dedicate my time to big cypress?

Thanks for all the help!

H20dad

What small game are you looking to target?

what is your goal?  To just legally kill anything?

your thread is like asking where should I go fishing in Florida and hoping somebody tells you their secret spots. 

Spend time scouting, the learning part of hunting is the richest most memorable part. 

surreal

H20dad said:

What small game are you looking to target?

what is your goal?  To just legally kill anything?

your thread is like asking where should I go fishing in Florida and hoping somebody tells you their secret spots. 

Spend time scouting, the learning part of hunting is the richest most memorable part. 

I understand your post, but im just trying to figure out how to start. Of course it would be nice for someone to hold my hand,  but i think i can learn through my mistakes. 

Again i have no idea if I'm being ambitious,  but snipe, raccoon, squirrel interest me.  I don't know how to field dress so i don't want to go all willy nilly. I just want to take my time and learn the basics.

My ultimate goal would be working up to a hog, duck, or deer. But again, im in no rush.

Im not asking for spots, just simple guidance. If someone is very familiar with South Florida, maybe I'll learn that big cypress is a waste of time for small game and i should focus elsewhere. Pretty much, im ready to start scouting, all im asking is what should be my first steps in doing so. 

Thanks once again. 

H20dad

Fwc wma brochure website. 

Look at the ones closest to you. Look at when small game season is on each specific wma, you can only hunt small game during small game season unless you have a quota permit for a quota hunt. And then you have to use the weapon specified for said quota hunt, unless their are exceptions noted. There are exceptions and there are a ton of rules. Knowing all the hurdles, road blocks, unclear rules, loop holes and other agency crud is the hardest part of hunting in Florida. 

Each wma brochure has a map for that wma. There are rules on where you can enter, park, hunt, not hunt, pick your nose, and have free thought (the last two are a joke.)

YouTube has videos or at least had videos on how to butcher any animal possible. If not the Google can probably provide that information. 

I haven’t been to a Florida hunter safety course. Do they not talk about public land access? It is an order of magnitude harder than loading and shooting a firearm. 

N. Cook

Nothing easy about starting to hunt in South Florida.  Tell us the place you live and you should get a suggestion or two of a local WMA, perhaps without quotas.  Print the WMA brochures from the FWC web site and read them carefully.  Most WMAs are open for hiking, biking etc etc. year round.  Go out well before any hunting and scout out the terrain.....

Hollywoodcorolla

First thing is buy a shotgun. You can kill anything in Florida with it 

James243

I don’t have any advice when it comes to south Florida, but when it comes to hunting for food I would make sure you are pursuing something you want to eat. It seems common for people to come on here and say they want to start out after small game.  I think it takes more skill to turn a mess of squirrels into a top notch meal than to do so with a piece of venison.   There is nothing wrong with wanting to get a deer, turkey, or hog right away, especially if you are going to enjoy eating that rather than a raccoon, etc. In theory I enjoy eating squirrels based on the bag full of cleaned ones in my freezer. But in practice the venison is what my family goes for 95% of the time. 

My advice: don’t limit yourself with assumed prerequisites, spend time in the woods and maybe get somewhere with a check station where you can see some harvested game and potentially watch someone clean it there. I was fortunate to be exposed to all of this as a child so it’s actually hard to imagine what it’s like for someone in your shoes.  

ivn

Yeah, small game on non-quota is pretty much like private property, but there will likely be limits on dates/times/hours of access, where to park and enter/exit, etc.  Shame since a buddy has land that borders a local to me WMA on the opposite side of the entrance... I had planned to slip in that way and let the incoming folks drive 'em to me

Things are a lot easier today than they were 30 years ago when I was in a similar position...

If I were to decide to start hunting public land again I'd look at what WMAs are near me, narrow it down to those that allow small game etc and so on.  Then find them on google maps and hit satellite view, and start looking for the types of things your game critters are attracted to.  So for squirrels I'd be looking for oak tree crowns and such.  Then get paper map and mark it all up (or mark GPS points and send to phone I guess if you do that kind of thing).  Then figure out when you can legally access WITHOUT hunting and not during hunting season and get the lay of the land and see if you can start spotting squirrels etc.

Finding "wild" urban spaces (easy up here in Gainesville, not so easy in S Florida) and practice your game spotting, stalking, etc. there.  Once you know what food resources are in your hunting area, if close to home you can keep an eye on same species and know when acorns etc are about ready without having to travel out.

Good luck!

Pinman

There are some groups on Facebook that cater to helping new hunters and host small game clinics / hunts. I think they had one last year in N Palm Beach county. Hunt in Common and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers might be a couple of the groups but Im not sure.

Turner River Terror

Quick Big Cypress Racoon trick..
Camp at Bear Island , Bring your garbage bags from home.
Put them on the ground about 40 yards from your tent.
Get a Q Beam and a Banana clip.
You'll thank me later....

swampdog

Spot on james243! You said a ton sir. I’ll also be looking for a bag of squirrels this season as well. Deer for archery is first, so I can get a mess of mosquitoes and deer flies too.

surreal

H20dad said:

YouTube has videos or at least had videos on how to butcher any animal possible. If not the Google can probably provide that information. 

I haven’t been to a Florida hunter safety course. Do they not talk about public land access? It is an order of magnitude harder than loading and shooting a firearm. 

I'll definitly review youtube videos. The safety course never mentioned public land.  Only about the different weapons and how to properly use them. I saw the NRA course.  It was informative as i know nothing about muzzle loaders.

But no mention of public lands.

surreal

N. Cook said:

Nothing easy about starting to hunt in South Florida.  Tell us the place you live and you should get a suggestion or two of a local WMA, perhaps without quotas.  Print the WMA brochures from the FWC web site and read them carefully.  Most WMAs are open for hiking, biking etc etc. year round.  Go out well before any hunting and scout out the terrain.....

I'll check out big cypress and surrounding areas the next 2 weeks. Bear island looks promising. If anyone is familiar with homestead,  holey land, or rotenberger i would love some feedback.

I live in miami, dont mind traveling 2 hours each way if a certain wma is better or nicer to just spend time in.

surreal

Hollywoodcorolla said:

First thing is buy a shotgun. You can kill anything in Florida with it 

I do have a mossberg 500. I wouldn't mind getting a nicer semiauto but im good for the time being. No idea what real life vs trap is like, but i hit 23/25 in trap consistently. Never got the perfect 25 though.

surreal

James243 said:

It seems common for people to come on here and say they want to start out after small game. 

I only mentioned small game as i think getting into bigger game requires more skill.  Looking at youtube, people build up skills to anticipate animal movement to predict where the deer or hog will be and wait. Small game seems to be just walking around until you see something. Again, im sort of winging it and maybe you can sort of sneak up on a hog... I've never tried but i also haven't seen someone do it yet.

If small game doesn't taste good then i guess ill have to move up to deer/hog much sooner.

surreal

ivn said:

If I were to decide to start hunting public land again I'd look at what WMAs are near me, narrow it down to those that allow small game etc and so on.  Then find them on google maps and hit satellite view, and start looking for the types of things your game critters are attracted to.

I really appreciate your advice.  This weekend I'll start planning day trips with your guidance in mind.  Thanks once again!

surreal

Pinman said:

There are some groups on Facebook that cater to helping new hunters and host small game clinics / hunts. I think they had one last year in N Palm Beach county. Hunt in Common and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers might be a couple of the groups but Im not sure.

I'm going to join these and see. Thanks for the heads up. 

surreal

Turner River Terror said:

Quick Big Cypress Racoon trick..
Camp at Bear Island , Bring your garbage bags from home.
Put them on the ground about 40 yards from your tent.
Get a Q Beam and a Banana clip.
You'll thank me later....

Lolol

ivn

surreal said:

Hollywoodcorolla said:

First thing is buy a shotgun. You can kill anything in Florida with it 

I do have a mossberg 500. I wouldn't mind getting a nicer semiauto but im good for the time being. No idea what real life vs trap is like, but i hit 23/25 in trap consistently. Never got the perfect 25 though.

Your mossy 500 will do pretty much anything you can legally do hunting wise in Florida with a few basic accessories, proper choke selection and load choice.

For deer/pigs with slug/buckshot and turkeys or other large fowl with really big bird shot (ducks and turkeys mostly), getting some time on a range and shooting paper is important.  If you are shooting slugs, you'll want to figure out best way to aim with the primitive sights and where the slug will land in relation to your aiming point.  For buck, you'll want to see how much it spreads at what distance - you'll want 7+ pellets in the kill zone.  For turkey and waterfowl, you'll want to patter the gun again so you can see how many pellets will likely end up in the kill zone.

If you end up squirrel hunting in a area with longer shots, you'll probably want to change from shotgun to a 22lr rifle. 

FloridaOD

Surreal,
35/40 years ago I hunted small game ..... Rabbits......at what would become Rotenberger, Holy Land, and the then existing Big Cypress. 

Lucky you! 

Consider camping. Rabbit on the camp fire/ grill. 

Go forth and embrace the land, even if it kicks you from time to time. 

Pinman

Turner River Terror said:

Quick Big Cypress Racoon trick..
Camp at Bear Island , Bring your garbage bags from home.
Put them on the ground about 40 yards from your tent.
Get a Q Beam and a Banana clip.
You'll thank me later....

This does work...

Back in my younger days we camped on the end of a canal dike on Lake Okeechobee and duck hunted. A Raccoon was chewing up our coolers and getting to the ducks inside. We placed a Mottled Duck in the road 30 yards from our nighttime campfire and I laid my loaded shotgun next to me. Nice moonlit night and the blob of the duck was easily apparent. "There he is!" One spark from the Winchester and we didnt have any more chewed up coolers....

Big Mak

Pinman said:

Turner River Terror said:

Quick Big Cypress Racoon trick..
Camp at Bear Island , Bring your garbage bags from home.
Put them on the ground about 40 yards from your tent.
Get a Q Beam and a Banana clip.
You'll thank me later....

This does work...

Back in my younger days we camped on the end of a canal dike on Lake Okeechobee and duck hunted. A Raccoon was chewing up our coolers and getting to the ducks inside. We placed a Mottled Duck in the road 30 yards from our nighttime campfire and I laid my loaded shotgun next to me. Nice moonlit night and the blob of the duck was easily apparent. "There he is!" One spark from the Winchester and we didnt have any more chewed up coolers....

Can you imagine trying that solution on that same levy today?

Pinman

Big Mak said:

Pinman said:

Turner River Terror said:

Quick Big Cypress Racoon trick..
Camp at Bear Island , Bring your garbage bags from home.
Put them on the ground about 40 yards from your tent.
Get a Q Beam and a Banana clip.
You'll thank me later....

This does work...

Back in my younger days we camped on the end of a canal dike on Lake Okeechobee and duck hunted. A Raccoon was chewing up our coolers and getting to the ducks inside. We placed a Mottled Duck in the road 30 yards from our nighttime campfire and I laid my loaded shotgun next to me. Nice moonlit night and the blob of the duck was easily apparent. "There he is!" One spark from the Winchester and we didnt have any more chewed up coolers....

Can you imagine trying that solution on that same levy today?

You could still do it on this dike, its still way out in the middle of nowhere. Just cant drive down it anymore. But you are correct...as a general rule "fun is not allowed" in South Florida these days.....

FloridaOD

I believe actually hunting/shooting from some levees no longer allowed.
Yep,that's what my Dad and I used to do.....but back then we would look out over an expanse that was under Sugar development,finally became Rotenberger and Holy Land...and of course the Moore Haven area...so be it. It was not all fun then.
For the original poster- plenty of good opportunity.

FloridaOD

surreal;
I suggest a .22
Low power scope
Most shots/opportunity will be stalk and spot. Rabbit and Squirrel.

Or...a .22 hand gun,like I often used.

bowhunter4life

Pinman said:

Big Mak said:

Pinman said:

Turner River Terror said:

Quick Big Cypress Racoon trick..
Camp at Bear Island , Bring your garbage bags from home.
Put them on the ground about 40 yards from your tent.
Get a Q Beam and a Banana clip.
You'll thank me later....

This does work...

Back in my younger days we camped on the end of a canal dike on Lake Okeechobee and duck hunted. A Raccoon was chewing up our coolers and getting to the ducks inside. We placed a Mottled Duck in the road 30 yards from our nighttime campfire and I laid my loaded shotgun next to me. Nice moonlit night and the blob of the duck was easily apparent. "There he is!" One spark from the Winchester and we didnt have any more chewed up coolers....

Can you imagine trying that solution on that same levy today?

You could still do it on this dike, its still way out in the middle of nowhere. Just cant drive down it anymore. But you are correct...as a general rule "fun is not allowed" in South Florida these days.....

Ip or UJC levee?

Big Mak

IP, I'm willing to bet. 

H20dad

I gotta laugh. You guys will drop public names on here like raindrops but don’t want to give up a raccoon levee on lake okeechobee. Never cease to entertain. 

bowhunter4life

I might have to knock several years of dust off my decoys with all your talk about the bombing range!… Your slipping Bobby!😜

H20dad

bowhunter4life said:

I might have to knock several years of dust off my decoys with all your talk about the bombing range!… Your slipping Bobby!😜

Bring bolt cutters. They’ve been locking the gate until opening time at sawgrass, unless you got another way in, like me. 

Pinman

Yeah lp   It was a great place in the late 70's-80's