How would a Florida travel ban affect hunting turkey, hogs, deer, gators etc. how about the bass fishing? Or any other sport fishing including bow fishing? I haven’t hunted or fished Florida, but I certainly wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to.
We go to Florida all the time. Matter of fact have a trip in March and another in April.
I usually try to hunt or fish every time. Have gator hunted twice, turkey twice, bass fishing twice, bowfishing and shark fishing to many to mention.
It would effect me definitely, but more so the people down there still trying to recover from the last year of BS. Florida is built around tourism and they are hurting big time.
They have slowly been recovering, but this talk of a travel ban would really hurt them.
Other thing is a lot of retired people live down there. I have several friends who's parents do. Let's say they go down every spring to help them back to midwest or worse they have a medical emergency will they not be able to travel to help them?
This is starting to just get completely out of hand.
If you are comfortable travel, spend money eat out and support the economy. Florida has tons of opportunities go enjoy.
I was born down there. I'm checking weather now to head down there in the next week or so. The Florida Gov does a good job with the virus and not shutting things down too bad so you should be able to go where ya need to. I think deer season already closed. Turkey's coming up but you may need to draw for a tag.....at least on the WMA's near where I'm heading to. Small game is still going on. You can do hogs all year on private property. On the WMA's you can do hogs in conjunction with small game season. Gators....I'm not sure how the tags work for that. I know my bud has to draw for them on his local WMA. Bass fishing.....everywhere. Bowfishing has a few options....just depends what ya want. Fishing.....the sheephead are starting to run on the east coast. I believe you can spear and bow fish those. I do those with fiddler crabs and night fish for trout floating live shrimp by dock lights. Offshore fishing is weather dependent this time of year.
The good thing about Florida is there is always something to hunt or fish for.
BG.......Daytona. We bought a house down there last year. Actually the wife did...I just tagged along. If it was up to me I would not have done it....but that is another story.
The Gov also gets high marks for his virus approach on the national level. Some Libs hate him because he is successful.
My first turkey hunt was up by palm coast. Slept in a swamp overnight on a lawn chair and small fire. I learned Florida gets cold lol
There is definitely always something to hunt or fish down there.
Also forgot to mention there is a very qunique hunt for free range samber deer. I think its st johns island. Very primitive hunt. A Google search will give you some good info.
From my reading way to many snakes on that island for me.
There is a WMA north of Palm Coast that has some hogs on it.
There's snakes everywhere in Florida....especially in the warmer times. The moccasins can be very aggressive and get an attitude quick. The skeeters can be a pain.
Desantis has been great with the virus, problem we have now is all the lefties fleeing NY and moving down here. They’re like locusts, destroy one field and move on to another. I know the beaches and places I fish were crazy crowded during all the Covid lockdowns.
The libs are fleeing the messes that they voted for. Unfortunately, they vote the same way when they move. They should have to go through "reprogramming" before being allowed to move.
When I was in Florida last Feb/Mar there was a big problem with infected New Yorkers bailing out of New York and going to Florida. If you had a license plate from any New England state....you were suspect. This was a big story in the local news down there.
I need an Osceola someday, and we spent a week last year at 30A near Destin and enjoyed the hell out of it. Zero Covid precautions at that time, and I believe that was July 2020. My wife read that stores were selling out, so we took our own food and basically walked the100 feet to the condo and beach and back each day :)
I'm a little worried about domestic travel bans or restrictions, even though both my wife and I are vaccinated. We just booked a driving trip last night for about 8 days for this summer. Our home in Missouri to Albuquerque. Take the scenic highway 60 from Socorro to Show Low, AZ, spend a day in Phoenix. Then spend a day in the AZ unit I hope to draw this year :). Little time in Sedona, then Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks, then back home on I-70.
We'll freaking camp if we have to, we need a vacation. Anyone have a camper to rent? With one hell of a robust air conditioning unit?? :)
Grew up in Homestead Florida and East Tennessee we have a home in Bradenton now for the winter.We had a hunting lease near Naples I can’t count the number of true Osceolas we killed now the NWTF puts them all the way up to the Ga line which is a joke.The Big Cypress holds a lot of birds. I fished all over Florida but mostly salt water but I have fished Okeechopee and in the spring it’s a great bass lake.You can also do the iquana deal which looks like fun and there are plenty.Good luck Lewis
Florida is hard to hunt, It’s a lot of big ranches and the lease prices for quality land is crazy. There’s some real good public land but they can be hard to access. The right place down here has great deer and turkey hunting though.
Forget Turkey Season...Cobia season is fast approaching! :)
Bake, to me where you were (30A)...actually from Pensacola to Panama City are the prettiest beaches in the state if not the country...Love the Panhandle :)
Cobia are great my best on fly was 76 lbs which was a world record for about a week then a friend of mine caught a 81 which put me out but they are fun to mess with. Back to the hunting unfortunately it has got really crazy expensive to hunt turkey with outfitters mainly because of the grand slam crap not sure what the availability on public land is anymore but if you like to bass fish spring is a chance to catch a hog Good luck Lewis
There's too many international and U.S. foreigners that own property in Florida. If they can't get to their condos or homes to make tee time on at the country club.....that won't sell.
Florida better not enact another travel ban. Cost me dearly last year owning a vacation rental down there. Silliest part was that hotels were open but vacation rentals were deemed unsafe lol
4n you are correct and it does not matter how long you fight them I gaffed a 55 lb my buddy had on 4lb line less than a minute after he hooked it but straight to the cooler and set on the cooler and headed home good luck Lewis
4n you are correct and it does not matter how long you fight them I gaffed a 55 lb my buddy had on 4lb line less than a minute after he hooked it but straight to the cooler and set on the cooler and headed home good luck Lewis
Fishing wise, FL has to be one of the best states. The salt water fishing is unreal and there is pretty much always something around to catch. The bass fishing is great as is the bream fishing... And all the exotics in mid-south state canals and all... It's fantastic fun.
I will say the saltwater fishing down there the few times I have done really got me addicted.
You just never know what you may hook. Its a blast.
For those that duck hunt. How do you retrieve your ducks? No way I would put a dog in the water down there.
I did a very remote bass fishing trip one time that would have been crazy for ducks, but we counted 125 alligators from fishing spot to dock. Thats only the ones we saw too.
Retrieving ducks.......dogs can do it. Otherwise....a kayak or canoe.
The Merritt Island NWR on the east coast used to be a big duck hunting place. That whole area is a huge trout and redfish area. I grew up fishing in Mosquito Lagoon. We would get on the grass flats at the crack of dawn. I like using top water dancing plugs like zara spooks. It was fun watching a top water bite.
When I was in my teens, me and some buds went down there bow fishing. I shot a big sting ray, and not being too savvy, lost my arrow when I tried to horse the sting ray and it broke the line and swam off with my arrow in tow. That was an expensive lesson.
You are killing me. It is snowing again and a high of like 5 today. I still have like 12 working days until I get back there. At least I have a bass fishing trip arranged for lake Toho.
WRT another bear hunting season.....I don't know. The FWP folks like the bear season as a management tool. There are a lot of anti-bear hunting folks out there who are greenies, city dwellers or northerners who migrated to Florida and brought their anti-attitude with them. The last season a few years ago was a mess. The FWP had X number of bear quotas and the season would end when X number of bears have been harvested. Well.....the FWP sold unlimited bear tags for big bucks. What happened was the quota was reached, they shut down the season real fast and a lot of folks never got a chance to hunt yet they were stuck with an expensive bear tag that was useless. Of course that didn't set too well the folks. My bud and my nephew almost bought a bear tag but luckily backed out and didn't loose their money.
Something about the Florida turkey's is they seem more lankier than the northern ones.
This is a pretty little bear. All of these wildlife vids are from the Tiger Bay WMA. That is a few miles west of Daytona.
I hunt tarpon for 4-6 weeks in SW Florida every spring. The rush of hooking up with a Silver King is second only to arrowing a bull elk, for me.
We had to cancel our extended trip last year. I snuck down there, solo, in mid-May for a week, but it wasn't the same as having my family and friends with me for a whole month, or more. I'll be very disappointed if Covid ruins our plans this year, again.
The bears are out of control where I live. They filled the quota in less than 18hours a couple years ago when they did the season. The FWC has no spine. Just wait till our mountain lions start eating people
I've probably mentioned this before, but the tarpon is considered "God's Fish" by some, because it's the only fish depicted by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The mystery is, no one really knows how Michelangelo knew what a tarpon looked like, since it wasn't a fish that was native to the Mediterranean Sea around Italy.
Just a bit of trivia and day dreaming, while I'm holed up indoors with below zero temps outside.
I'm heading to Homosassa mid-May for a week, have a Tarpon charter booked for one day. Looking to book another light tackle charter also, maybe Cobia/Redfish on light spin tackle... I think they are around all year but am not sure of that? Basically a pre-retirement trip to start getting more familiar with the area. Spent a lot of time on the east coast (New Smyrna) as a kid visiting grandparents, but I love the fishing opportunities and layout of the west coast. Aunt lived in Tampa and spent some time there also, but not as much as New Smyrna. Looking forward to hunting for those Osceola gobblers eventually also!
The bears are out of control where I live. They filled the quota in less than 18hours a couple years ago when they did the season. The FWC has no spine. Just wait till our mountain lions start eating people
The bears are out of control where I live. They filled the quota in less than 18hours a couple years ago when they did the season. The FWC has no spine. Just wait till our mountain lions start eating people
Who you fishing with ? If you are interested in a bowfishing trip I go with a guy out of crystal river and its a blast.
I love that area of Florida. The fishing is great too. One day caught snook, redfish, cobia, trout and I forget the name of the other fish. That was in 4 hours. Also saw sea turtle and dolphins.
If you get a chance check out Rainbow River and kayak or tub it, gorgeous river
I duck hunted Okechoppee for many years with my labs never had any big problems with the gators and my dog did have a 10 footer come up next to me in a float in the middle of the decoys right at daylight really got my attention lol good luck Lewis
Poons are a helluva fish I used to target them in the Glades and the Keys every spring and then try to be in Homosassa late April and May.One really good read is Lords of The Fly I had the fortune to knowing some of those guys.Al Pflueger is a buddy of mine and he took me up there the first time I went.I’ve known Flip Pallot for 40 years we fished and hunted together many times.It is incredible how many marriages were lost because of those damn poons.Great looking fish Matt love the picture Good luck Lewis
Poons are a helluva fish I used to target them in the Glades and the Keys every spring and then try to be in Homosassa late April and May.One really good read is Lords of The Fly I had the fortune to knowing some of those guys.Al Pflueger is a buddy of mine and he took me up there the first time I went.I’ve known Flip Pallot for 40 years we fished and hunted together many times.It is incredible how many marriages were lost because of those damn poons.Great looking fish Matt love the picture Good luck Lewis
I've been a huge Flip Pallot fan ever since watching his Walkers Cay Chronicles show back in the day. I've never had the pleasure of meeting him, but I'd love to. Fishing with him would be a dream come true.
I had the opportunity to pack out a bull elk with Andy Mills two years ago. He's another fishing icon that I've respected for a long time. He was as cool in person as he comes across on TV and his podcasts. For some reason, he seemed to like me too. We hope to fish together soon.
If you are in to some entertaining listening check out Andy Mills podcasts with Pfluegar,Flip,and Tom Evans plus another old buddy of mine Robert Trosset brings back a lot memories.Mo breaks I’ve heard a lot of great things about Hoppy Kempfer at Osceola outfitters if google hunting outfitters in Florida there is a bunch around Okechopee I have never hunted with an outfitter so I don’t any personal experience with any of them but they are rated pretty high whatever that is worth.Flip lived down the street from me in Homestead until Hurricane Andrew blew him north we got our captains license together about a hundred years ago Good luck I did not mean to ramble on I apologize just a lot of memories popped up Lewis
No Vacancy might work, but a wall would work better, build that wall!! Lol. Every time I drive by the Village’s it blows my mind how much more building is completed
