Florida Deer Forecast: Stick to the West for the Best Chance to Harvest a Whitetail

• This whitetail hunting forecast for the state of Alabama is part of Game & Fish’s “Great States" project identifying the best deer-hunting states in the country. Read more: America's Top Whitetail States

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Florida Hunters Should Be Happy This Season

Just imagine soaking up rays on the beach, deep sea fishing and dining on gourmet seafood. You’ll find all of that and more along Florida’s Gulf and Atlantic Coasts. If you have enough time during your Sunshine State stay, Disney World, the Florida Keys, Everglades National Park and the Kennedy Space Center are a handful of other must-experience allures.

Believe it or not, Florida also offers some good whitetail hunting. No, you won’t hunt the same size bucks that roam Texas or the Midwest, but with more than 6 million acres of public access, you certainly don’t need to hire a guide to have a good deer hunt.

DID YOU KNOW?

BAG LIMIT

Florida has a season limit of five whitetails, of which only two can be antlerless.

Florida divides its many Wildlife Management Areas into three categories. Quota WMAs require folks to apply and draw for access. Non-quota WMAs are open to all hunters with no draw needed. Special Opportunity WMA hunts are lottery-based, and hunters can submit unlimited entries for $5 each. Special Opportunity Hunts are high in quality and sought after.

A popular non-quota WMA among deer hunters is the Blackwater WMA (although it does have a quota for the first and last few days of the general gun season). It’s one of Florida’s most expansive state forests, sprawling across more than 200,000 acres of longleaf pine, loblolly pine, hardwoods and pitcher plant bogs. Atlantic white cedars adorn the Blackwater River’s banks and those of its tributaries.

There are many popular quota WMAs, but hunters might check out the 8,000-acre Apalachee WMA in Jackson County, which features a mixture of ponds and wetlands with longleaf pine uplands. No rifle hunting is allowed on the WMA, which is noted in the WMA brochure. Another quota WMA with good deer hunting is the Twin Rivers WMA, which is about 9,000 acres covering 14 non-contiguous parcels. Most of the WMA is nestled in the 100-year floodplain of the Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers. Whitetails thrive in both river bottom hardwoods and upland hardwoods, as well as natural pines and pine plantations.

Feeling lucky? Throw your name in the Special Opportunity Hunt hat for the Triple N Ranch WMA or Green Swamp West WMA. If drawn, you’ll have access to prime habitats, solid deer numbers and minimal hunting pressure. Of the two, Triple N Ranch boasts a higher success rate.

Regardless of where you decide to hunt, all Florida WMAs have brochures that state special regulations pertaining to each individual WMA.

 

THAT’S A FACT

NON-MEMBER

Florida is one a few states that does not have a Boone and Crockett whitetail on record.

Lauren Claerbout, one of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s public information coordinators, noted some areas of the Sunshine State that boast high deer numbers. “We don’t have density estimates by county, but the counties in the Western Panhandle are likely to have some of the state’s highest densities,” she said. “Counties that consistently have some of the highest buck and doe harvest rates each year are Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Jackson and Gadsden.”

Claerbout said that Florida’s deer haven’t been subject to any severe disease mortalities. Interestingly, though, she mentioned that Florida’s first case of CWD was detected in June 2023, but that no subsequent cases have been detected. “This suggests an early detection in Holmes County,” Claerbout said, “and biologists are hopeful that the disease can be contained as response efforts are initiated.”

For the business end of Sunshine State deer hunting, “nonresidents must have either a $151.50 nonresident annual hunting license or a $46.50 nonresident 10-day hunting license,” Claerbout said. “Additionally, they must have a $5 deer permit. If they’re hunting during the archery, crossbow or muzzleloading gun season, then they must have those respective permits, which are $5 each. If they’re hunting on a WMA, then they must have a management area permit, which costs $26.50. The annual bag limit is five deer, of which only two can be antlerless. However, on lands outside the WMA system in Deer Management Unit D2, three of the five deer may be antlerless. Antlerless deer may only be taken during seasons when they are considered legal game. If hunting on a WMA, they can mostly only be taken during archery season, but each WMA has its own regulations.”

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