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Post by pinman on Apr 18, 2024 19:02:15 GMT -5
Your right about the lack of non-quota areas in NE FLA. My son moved to Palm Coast not long ago. It blew my mind that the massive Ocala National Forest was all quota during Turkey season.
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Post by johnnybandit on Apr 18, 2024 23:19:46 GMT -5
Your right about the lack of non-quota areas in NE FLA. My son moved to Palm Coast not long ago. It blew my mind that the massive Ocala National Forest was all quota during Turkey season. Ocala SHOULD be quota only...... There are pockets of birds in there.....But only in certain areas....... I am in there all the time, year round.... it is easier to find bears than turkeys........ And the entire place is poachers heaven...... I have more confrontations with poachers in ONF than I have all other places in and out of Florida combined...
Frankly they should close Turkeys in ONF for a few years.... But that does not limit opportunities in that part of Florida...
Lower Suwannee NWF in Leavy County is wide open no quota for three weeks.... BETTER habitat and full of birds... Osceola NF is wide open for five weeks... BETTER habitat and Loaded with birds.
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Post by pinman on Apr 19, 2024 7:54:28 GMT -5
Your right about the lack of non-quota areas in NE FLA. My son moved to Palm Coast not long ago. It blew my mind that the massive Ocala National Forest was all quota during Turkey season. Ocala SHOULD be quota only...... There are pockets of birds in there.....But only in certain areas....... I am in there all the time, year round.... it is easier to find bears than turkeys........ And the entire place is poachers heaven...... I have more confrontations with poachers in ONF than I have all other places in and out of Florida combined...
Frankly they should close Turkeys in ONF for a few years.... But that does not limit opportunities in that part of Florida...
Lower Suwannee NWF in Leavy County is wide open no quota for three weeks.... BETTER habitat and full of birds... Osceola NF is wide open for five weeks... BETTER habitat and Loaded with birds.
Didnt know that. My Son and FSU11 should check out Osceola. Its massive also.
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Post by johnnybandit on Apr 19, 2024 18:21:50 GMT -5
Ocala SHOULD be quota only...... There are pockets of birds in there.....But only in certain areas....... I am in there all the time, year round.... it is easier to find bears than turkeys........ And the entire place is poachers heaven...... I have more confrontations with poachers in ONF than I have all other places in and out of Florida combined...
Frankly they should close Turkeys in ONF for a few years.... But that does not limit opportunities in that part of Florida...
Lower Suwannee NWF in Leavy County is wide open no quota for three weeks.... BETTER habitat and full of birds... Osceola NF is wide open for five weeks... BETTER habitat and Loaded with birds.
Didnt know that. My Son and FSU11 should check out Osceola. Its massive also.
Withlacoochee State Forest aka Richloam WMA is also wide open after the first nine days..... And really full of birds... But also a lot of hunters....
Three Lakes WMA is some sort of first come first serve daily quota permit system...
So is Green Swamp (Not Green Swamp West) after the first two days.
Green Swamp and Withlacoochee are right next to each other... And both part of the same greater ecosystem... Bunch of hammocks and river swamp with some pine hills....
That entire area is slap full of birds..... You do get hunters.... But weekdays, sunday afternoons.... etc...
I have a cousin that is a turkey hunting fool.... He takes vacation days to hunt private land he has access to in Florida and West Virginia.... But he hates the Florida quota system and his weekends(days off) rotates and is unpredictable.... And he does not want to waste Vacation days to hunt Florida Birds.... So he hunts places with no quota... or first come, first serve daily quota.....
He always gets his Florida Birds.... But I will say... he is ex army and a health nut.... And will walks miles and miles in the dark to get to where no one else will go..
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Post by pinman on Apr 19, 2024 19:53:47 GMT -5
Didnt know that. My Son and FSU11 should check out Osceola. Its massive also.
Withlacoochee State Forest aka Richloam WMA is also wide open after the first nine days..... And really full of birds... But also a lot of hunters....
Three Lakes WMA is some sort of first come first serve daily quota permit system...
So is Green Swamp (Not Green Swamp West) after the first two days.
Green Swamp and Withlacoochee are right next to each other... And both part of the same greater ecosystem... Bunch of hammocks and river swamp with some pine hills....
That entire area is slap full of birds..... You do get hunters.... But weekdays, sunday afternoons.... etc...
I have a cousin that is a turkey hunting fool.... He takes vacation days to hunt private land he has access to in Florida and West Virginia.... But he hates the Florida quota system and his weekends(days off) rotates and is unpredictable.... And he does not want to waste Vacation days to hunt Florida Birds.... So he hunts places with no quota... or first come, first serve daily quota.....
He always gets his Florida Birds.... But I will say... he is ex army and a health nut.... And will walks miles and miles in the dark to get to where no one else will go..
All those places are a bit far for a young adult in Palm Coast who may only have Sunday morning to hunt. He is lucky that he works in agriculture consulting so has a few farms that give him permission to hunt. Potatoes and Cabbage are all going strong during Turkey season so he doesnt have a lot of time.
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Post by johnnybandit on Apr 19, 2024 21:09:46 GMT -5
Withlacoochee State Forest aka Richloam WMA is also wide open after the first nine days..... And really full of birds... But also a lot of hunters....
Three Lakes WMA is some sort of first come first serve daily quota permit system...
So is Green Swamp (Not Green Swamp West) after the first two days.
Green Swamp and Withlacoochee are right next to each other... And both part of the same greater ecosystem... Bunch of hammocks and river swamp with some pine hills....
That entire area is slap full of birds..... You do get hunters.... But weekdays, sunday afternoons.... etc...
I have a cousin that is a turkey hunting fool.... He takes vacation days to hunt private land he has access to in Florida and West Virginia.... But he hates the Florida quota system and his weekends(days off) rotates and is unpredictable.... And he does not want to waste Vacation days to hunt Florida Birds.... So he hunts places with no quota... or first come, first serve daily quota.....
He always gets his Florida Birds.... But I will say... he is ex army and a health nut.... And will walks miles and miles in the dark to get to where no one else will go..
All those places are a bit far for a young adult in Palm Coast who may only have Sunday morning to hunt. He is lucky that he works in agriculture consulting so has a few farms that give him permission to hunt. Potatoes and Cabbage are all going strong during Turkey season so he doesnt have a lot of time. Just offering suggestions on the north half of Florida......
there is also Mallory Swamp WMA... Do not know much about it.... But it is not that far west of Osceola NF...
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Post by johnnybandit on Apr 21, 2024 0:44:28 GMT -5
Withlacoochee State Forest aka Richloam WMA is also wide open after the first nine days..... And really full of birds... But also a lot of hunters....
Three Lakes WMA is some sort of first come first serve daily quota permit system...
So is Green Swamp (Not Green Swamp West) after the first two days.
Green Swamp and Withlacoochee are right next to each other... And both part of the same greater ecosystem... Bunch of hammocks and river swamp with some pine hills....
That entire area is slap full of birds..... You do get hunters.... But weekdays, sunday afternoons.... etc...
I have a cousin that is a turkey hunting fool.... He takes vacation days to hunt private land he has access to in Florida and West Virginia.... But he hates the Florida quota system and his weekends(days off) rotates and is unpredictable.... And he does not want to waste Vacation days to hunt Florida Birds.... So he hunts places with no quota... or first come, first serve daily quota.....
He always gets his Florida Birds.... But I will say... he is ex army and a health nut.... And will walks miles and miles in the dark to get to where no one else will go..
All those places are a bit far for a young adult in Palm Coast who may only have Sunday morning to hunt. He is lucky that he works in agriculture consulting so has a few farms that give him permission to hunt. Potatoes and Cabbage are all going strong during Turkey season so he doesnt have a lot of time. I understand some are a stretch... But I could probably route a run from Palm Coast to Green Swamp or Richloam two hours each way...
I was in Green Swamp Saturday afternoon.... I grabbed a Daily quota permit... The guy at the check station said there were only four hunters in the WMA... I had a shotgun, my camo, my calls etc... but I was just messing around and driving the roads.... I had three gobblers run in front of me in about an hour and a half...
Edit.... I just ran some mapquest routes... Palm coast to Groveland is about an hour and a half.... Another ten minutes.. you will be in green swamp....
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fsu11
Junior Member
Posts: 32
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Post by fsu11 on Apr 22, 2024 7:52:19 GMT -5
Good ideas guys, I will look into Osceola for next year. Makes it a bit easier than only getting three days if your lucky, back to fishing for awhile.
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