My Florida Saga....

[Lostinthewoods]

I've really been focusing on trying to get my son his first deer. He missed one weekend before last. When I have had the chance, I've been fighting swirling winds and masses of gun hunters on a local WMA. Bow hunting when everyone around you has a scoped slug gun is not for the faint of heart. I'll PM you my number. You can shoot me a text if you have any questions about the Panhandle rut.

Good luck to you and your son. I hope he is able to put a deer down!
I'll definitely send you a text here soon and talk to you more about the rut. I feel like it's going to be a huge piece of this puzzle that I need to get down.
I've got a couple areas down so far, but hope to open up many more for next year. If I get some solid spots down, then you're more than welcome to bring your son down here next year and try to get him one. The range gets hit by hunters, but not as bad as people think.

 

[Tufrthnails]

You sir have a dandy spot. Been hunting Florida all over from Panhandle to south Florida for 25 year and never found a shed anywhere close to that caliber although I have seen at night. Florida is a crazy place to hunt. The rut is ridiculous. Good luck to you. If you don't have a set yet get a pair of snakeboots. Starting early march the moccasins are gonna be back in full force. Although by your pics it doesn't look like you are hunting Florida "swamp" they are still all over.

 

[Lostinthewoods]

You sir have a dandy spot. Been hunting Florida all over from Panhandle to south Florida for 25 year and never found a shed anywhere close to that caliber although I have seen at night. Florida is a crazy place to hunt. The rut is ridiculous. Good luck to you. If you don't have a set yet get a pair of snakeboots. Starting early march the moccasins are gonna be back in full force. Although by your pics it doesn't look like you are hunting Florida "swamp" they are still all over.

The first thing I ordered before I got here was a set of snake boots. I had been warned about all the slithery creatures that you guys have out here.
I had minor run ins with rattlers in NM and OK, but from the sounds of it I'll be seeing a lot more of stuff that wants to bite me out here.
I will admit that my arch nemesis out here are those large spiders that hang their webs waist to face level. I can't tell you how many times I've been trudging through the woods and came face to face with a 5-7" spider.... or I'll walk THROUGH the web and then magically be stripped of my clothing within 4 seconds.

As far as "swamp" land goes, I don't think I deal with it too much. This area Im hunting has a "swampy...ish" piece that I don't touch. It's where I believe the big buck lives and my luck I'd step in a sink hole and this hunt live thread would be over pretty quick.














Im still being a little call shy because I don't know what phase we are at in this area.
Im going to gauge it a little bit more before I start letting some grunts and rattling out.
Im also trying to get a solid read for the local population.... depending on my buck to doe ratio I may just hunt here silently or lean more to some bleats instead of grunts/rattling.




It's kind of funny because some coworkers caught wind of me chasing a big buck and started asking all kinds of questions.......
My response was very similar to this meme.





The weather is looking GREAT for this weekend and I finally ordered a fluid head for my camera arm. So maybe I can start getting some cool FL footage on my DSLR.

 

[Mudranger1]

I don't know if you mentioned it or not...are you hunting Eglin?

 

[Tufrthnails]

I don't know if you mentioned it or not...are you hunting Eglin?

Good deal. Yes the Banana Spiders suck. I'm gonna be not to far from you on feb 3rd weekend with my son on a youth only public land hunt. Hoping for him to get a chance to pull the trigger. Next year you should look into the St. Vincents Isl hunt. I haven't been in a couple of years, but it is a really fun hunt. I usually do the late season Jan muzz whitetail hunt it was last week and my buddy got a nice 8pt. I love the hunt because if I tag out first day I pull my fishing pole out and hit some of the ponds bass fishing in some of the best fishing I have ever fished and that includes the private mine pits I used to have access to down here.

 

[Lostinthewoods]

Good deal. Yes the Banana Spiders suck. I'm gonna be not to far from you on feb 3rd weekend with my son on a youth only public land hunt. Hoping for him to get a chance to pull the trigger. Next year you should look into the St. Vincents Isl hunt. I haven't been in a couple of years, but it is a really fun hunt. I usually do the late season Jan muzz whitetail hunt it was last week and my buddy got a nice 8pt. I love the hunt because if I tag out first day I pull my fishing pole out and hit some of the ponds bass fishing in some of the best fishing I have ever fished and that includes the private mine pits I used to have access to down here.

Good luck to you and your son on the youth hunt!
Please post pics if you guys put anything down and let me know if you need any help.

I've honestly been looking for someone to talk to about draw hunts. I definitely want to put in for some, so if you don't mind I'd love to PM you more about it.
I've heard nothing, but good things about that hunt you mentioned.

I don't know if you mentioned it or not...are you hunting Eglin?

This is Eglin range!

 

[cpoplayer]

Good deal. Yes the Banana Spiders suck. I'm gonna be not to far from you on feb 3rd weekend with my son on a youth only public land hunt. Hoping for him to get a chance to pull the trigger. Next year you should look into the St. Vincents Isl hunt. I haven't been in a couple of years, but it is a really fun hunt. I usually do the late season Jan muzz whitetail hunt it was last week and my buddy got a nice 8pt. I love the hunt because if I tag out first day I pull my fishing pole out and hit some of the ponds bass fishing in some of the best fishing I have ever fished and that includes the private mine pits I used to have access to down here.

Me and my dad put in for those St. Vincent hunts for 14 years straight and never got drawn! Next time you draw one let me know, I have some good trout and redfish spots in the bay behind the island. I have been on several of the St. Marks quota hunts and have always had a good time. We killed some nice bucks and I had a few shots with my bow at some real monsters in the mid-90's. We should get together and put in apps next year.

 

[Tufrthnails]

Me and my dad put in for those St. Vincent hunts for 14 years straight and never got drawn! Next time you draw one let me know, I have some good trout and redfish spots in the bay behind the island. I have been on several of the St. Marks quota hunts and have always had a good time. We killed some nice bucks and I had a few shots with my bow at some real monsters in the mid-90's. We should get together and put in apps next year.

The Sambar hunt is now a points system I believe I have 5 points now which should get me drawn for that hunt next year, but I draw the Whitetail isl hunt every year. I will say the whitetail are not what they were the first time I went 10 years ago and the hogs got slaughtered pretty bad when they brought in mercs with night vision scopes and piled them up on sour corn on the beach about 4 years ago I guess, but there is still a lot of game on the island. My buddy sent me pics and a video of three of the wolves on the island as they came under his stand. I've done the Jan muzz hunt 6 times in the last 10 years and seen at least one sambar deer each time. I'll post up a thread when it gets close to entry time.

Lost feel free to pm me about the quota system and putting in for them. I drew Point Washington wma up near cottondale this year on a 2cd phase draw but had to turn it back in due to conflicts. I have a hard time finding buddies willing to travel to N Fl with me on my hunts so I usually have a guest permit available at least until I am comfortable dragging my son into the middle of nowhere on public.

 

[Lostinthewoods]

Lost feel free to pm me about the quota system and putting in for them. I drew Point Washington wma up near cottondale this year on a 2cd phase draw but had to turn it back in due to conflicts. I have a hard time finding buddies willing to travel to N Fl with me on my hunts so I usually have a guest permit available at least until I am comfortable dragging my son into the middle of nowhere on public.

I've got a 26 ft travel trailer up this way if you ever need to use that instead of sleeping in a hotel!

 

[Tufrthnails]

I've got a 26 ft travel trailer up this way if you ever need to use that instead of sleeping in a hotel!

Nice thanks I'll keep that in mind for next season.

 

[Lostinthewoods]

My family has finally left! After 30 days of family and guest... ITS OVER.
So that means it's game time!!!!

I'll be in my stand tomorrow and it'll be a perfect morning to bring that buck down.
Also...I finally got a cool toy to go along with my tactacam.....

I'm so excited to set this bad boy up.

 

[cpoplayer]

Good luck! We are taking a family trip to the Gulfarium in Ft. Walton so, I'll be back in the stand Sunday.

 

[Gerald Martin]

This is a great thread! Good luck on your hunt and take plenty of pictures. It gets a little boring looking at 20" of snow the past two months.

 

[Lostinthewoods]

This is a great thread! Good luck on your hunt and take plenty of pictures. It gets a little boring looking at 20" of snow the past two months.

Thank you!
I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures and videos.
Please feel free to send me some of that snow.

Good luck! We are taking a family trip to the Gulfarium in Ft. Walton so, I'll be back in the stand Sunday.

Enjoy the Gulfarium today and good luck when you head back out Sunday!
Im so pumped to get in a tree here soon. Im going out extra early to set up my new camera.

 

[Lostinthewoods]

Today has been a beautiful day so far. Much cooler in the mornings which I like.
This morning I had squirrels giving me excitement heart attacks every 15 minutes.

I've got my new camera all set up and it seems fairly easy to control and is definitely going to take some experience time to master it.

Around 1100 I decided I wanted to go check some cameras, so I put the wind in my nose and navigated around. I found many does are still around and smaller bucks are in the area. I actually had this guy following me around! (see buck picture of him a few days ago) Maybe he thought I was a doe.

As far as buck age and maturity around here my cameras are showing mainly that big bruiser as the mac daddy, followed by much smaller bucks. I'm still a little call shy because of that and may either: continue being quiet and ambush, use a doe bleat, or grunt a bit.


I also found more turkey sign while I was walking around, so that gets me real excited!
Basically deer ends mid Feb, I go to Kentucky to scout and shed hunt, then come back to Florida spring gobbler early March! WOOT WOOT!
There may also be a February Barbary sheep hunt in NM, but that's TBD.

HOPEFULLY I have some cool updates for you tonight.

 

[Bowhuntrben]

This is an exciting thread...hope you get an encounter with that big guy!

 

[krshntr81]

I love this thread!! I travel to Panama City Beach every summer with the family and never think of the panhandle as big deer country I guess I was wrong! Wish you the best and will be looking closely for updates.

 

[Lostinthewoods]

I love this thread!! I travel to Panama City Beach every summer with the family and never think of the panhandle as big deer country I guess I was wrong! Wish you the best and will be looking closely for updates.

Thank you for following along and honestly I was surprised about the deer size too.
Given the healthy daily harvest limits (2 bucks a day) I figured everything would be a 1.5-2.5 years old.
It wasn't until I got down here and looked at the land layout that I realized they can definitely grow some good sized deer.
Out on the range there are plenty of zones that are off limits so they can always escape to there and grow old.
We also have plenty of deep, thick, and nasty swamps down here so they can definitely grow old in there too.

So naturally I found the swampy areas that bordered safe zones and WALA! We are looking good so far!

This is an exciting thread...hope you get an encounter with that big guy!

Thank you for following along! I really hope to even just see him... an arrow in his lungs would be just great too







Anyways, this evening was eventful...ish.
I can hear deer running all around, but they just won't come out and play!

I did get to mess around with my new camera set up. I need to practice a lot more, but it's SO SMOOTH moving it around.
I just need to slow down so it stays focused.

[video=youtube;6omg0eOpe-A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6omg0eOpe-A[/video]



It's amazing what you can find out on the range..... turtles, old ammo boxes, etc.
I am always VERY careful getting into some of these areas because there are still UXOs out there.

 

[Tufrthnails]

Calling can be iffy in most of the areas of Florida I have hunted. Fawn distress can be money if your looking to smoke a doe with your bow in early season. I almost never use my doe bleat. The grunt is almost reserved for line of sight to where I can read the buck before I decide to grunt or not. In heavy pressure areas I have had my grunt blow bucks out of the county. The only time it has seemed to be a money tactic is when I have a vocal buck out of sight where I can hear him but can't see him, but you have to be careful because almost always they will try to circle downwind of the call unless they are just really ramped up in the rut. Rattling seems to be a hit/miss tactic for me. If I visually see a lot of chasing not just rubs scrapes rattling will bring the younger bucks in for a peek, but again a lot of times the bucks circle. Since running cams I like to set a cam a stick high facing down on my down wind enterance about 50-70 yards short of where I think I am going to hang my stand and many times I'v catch bucks on cam working around me downwind. I don't call or rattle nearly as much as I used to and almost never cold call. I will rattle when I am seeing a lot of chasing or the does are on high alert and looking back.

 

[Lostinthewoods]

Calling can be iffy in most of the areas of Florida I have hunted. Fawn distress can be money if your looking to smoke a doe with your bow in early season. I almost never use my doe bleat. The grunt is almost reserved for line of sight to where I can read the buck before I decide to grunt or not. In heavy pressure areas I have had my grunt blow bucks out of the county. The only time it has seemed to be a money tactic is when I have a vocal buck out of sight where I can hear him but can't see him, but you have to be careful because almost always they will try to circle downwind of the call unless they are just really ramped up in the rut. Rattling seems to be a hit/miss tactic for me. If I visually see a lot of chasing not just rubs scrapes rattling will bring the younger bucks in for a peek, but again a lot of times the bucks circle. Since running cams I like to set a cam a stick high facing down on my down wind enterance about 50-70 yards short of where I think I am going to hang my stand and many times I'v catch bucks on cam working around me downwind. I don't call or rattle nearly as much as I used to and almost never cold call. I will rattle when I am seeing a lot of chasing or the does are on high alert and looking back.

This is mostly why I have been so call shy, I haven't been able to learn and adapt to the area.
The last thing I want to do is start pushing deer out of the area. Especially with this big guy running around.
One wrong move and he could be GONE! Thank you for the description of what you use down here, that information is very useful!
Also I can't thank you enough for that PM!