South Florida Zone A deer hunting

Anyone hunted public land in Zone A for the Florida whitetail season?

I see there's a Spirit of the Wild WMA and Oklachoocheeee State Forest east of Ft. Myers and northish of Felda.

Was in the area about 10 years ago but was on private land. Anyone have knowledge or experience of the public land opportunities there?

I hunted Big Cypress a lot and Corbett once back in the 90’s and early to mid 2000. Mostly in Big Cypress. Rough hunting. Back then I killed some hogs and deer in Turner River unit but stopped because of all the restrictions and having to deal with the National Park Service. It’s usually wet and now it is where you see the guys on tv hunting pythons. Buck only. Deer are small like 80-90 maybe 100 pounds. Big Cypress is usually very wet and you need a swamp buggy, ATV, or airboat to get around which is all regulated by National Park Service. Easy to get stuck even with winch and good tires. I remember 3 of us walking out 6 miles because of a broken swamp buggy. Hunters are very territorial there so you need to be careful. Those folks will mess with your stuff and you. I had to laugh watching Troy Landry and Pickle out there hunting pythons and getting hassled by the locals. Honestly they’re both lucky they weren’t killed by locals. People have been killed out there. Real pain in neck dealing with Park Service too. Back in the day before pythons started up I used to hunt an area called Windmill Prairie and get up there via atv. About 8-9 mile trip on 4 wheeler but beautiful area. North of there were abandoned home with sour orange trees. Great marinade in camp for wild hog meat. Used to hunt with a group of friends who have since passed away. That and the regulations made me hunt private land in Panhandle and AL. Public land in zone A just wasn’t worth the hassle. Farther north you might find better options like OK Slough and other areas. I’m too old and don’t have the patience to deal with public land anymore.

Thanks. I have an itch to get down there again but figured it might be as you described. It's unique, in many ways, for sure.

North end of zone A and going to zone B the deer will start to get a little bigger. There was one WMA either in north part of zone A or possibly B that had a state buck record many years ago. Think it was further north but I don’t have any personal experience in that area. Other area that used to be good in zone A is Dupuis WMA but you have to put in for quota hunt permit. They’re limited hunts and area is In Martin county bordering Corbett north of Palm Beach county. You also might look at Avon Park military base. Used to have good hunting there but not sure now or what there rules are

I really don't know anything about hunting down there. I live and hunt in zone B. I do know I hear a lot of good about the WMAs you mentioned. I'd bet in South FL, a good WMA quota would take 8-10 years to draw. There are some WMAs throughout the state that either have easy to get quotas or don't require one. These areas are very crowned and can be wild at times, but the same folks seem to consistently kill deer on them every year while the majority of users constantly bitch that their aren't any deer left and laws need to change. If you try it, just keep an open mind and don't expect the hunting to be like it is in Alabama.

The area you're thinking of is Green Swamp West in zone B. The deer you mention was taken in '98 and scores 203" or something like that. That WMA was a high dollar hunt club until the late 80s until the Water management district got it. '98 was the first year it was legally hunted. Woods and Water magazine has an issue once a year where they list the names of all the new entries to the buck registry from the year before and also the top 10 typicals and top 10 non-typicals of all time. At one time 4 of those top 10 (20) deer came from that property. That 200" deer, a 160 something several 140 and 50s. Some of them came out through the gate and some through the fence. This in a state where an 85" deer is a good deer and a 100" deer "makes the book" There are still good deer that come out of there, but it's not like it used to be.

I've never lived more than 10 miles from there, but I've never hunted it. The state calls it a special opportunity area. You can put in as many applications as you want @ $5 per application, then if you get drawn, the permit costs you $100. I know folks that put in thousands of dollars in applications, but there are some that have drawn it with $20. I never liked the way it was handled, so I didn't participate. The area I hunt is separated from it by a rickety fence and a fire break, and it's free.

https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-samsung-gs-rev1&sxsrf=APwXEdcBYVKKm-xy8ntu9QLVQ1wR3m_9zw:1685060750505&q=james+stovall+buck&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi4pNW73JH_AhWYUjABHRC2C0IQ0pQJegQICxAB&biw=360&bih=667&dpr=3#imgrc=h3UVXEkFXOmGxM&vwlns=WyIwQ0JJUWg2Y0dhaGNLRXdqUTI5ZUozWkhfQWhVQUFBQUFIUUFBQUFBUUF3Il0=&lns=W10=

Florida state record deer