There's Still Plenty of Time for Great Florida Whitetail Hunting

Once the calendar rolls into December and January, Florida’s deer season becomes the very Dickens to hunt. Throughout most of the state, it’s the worst of times, a winter of despair, as the rut has passed and, with it, the prime chances at tagging a buck.

For other areas, it’s the best of times since we still have everything before us in the Panhandle and Green Swamp regions as the rutting cycle is just underway.

As you likely know, Florida’s Deer Hunting Zones and the seasons within them are largely tailored to accommodate rutting activity. In the southern end of the peninsula (Zone A), seasons begin in early August.

In Zone C, which constitutes the majority of the peninsula north of SR-70, mean rut dates are scattered from mid-September through December. In the western Panhandle (Zone D) and in central Florida (Zone B), though, peak breeding dates run as late as February and March.

Even if you hunt outside of these last two areas, not all is lost. Periods of secondary rutting activity will often place chasing bucks in range of your stand.

So knowing that, let’s draw down on the best statewide deer hunting opportunities available as we enter the New Year, in no particular order.

The Secondary Rut

For hunters whose prime rutting periods have recently closed, the secondary rut might be the last-second option needed for bagging a buck. Simply, if after the first rutting cycle a doe remains un-bred, she will come back into estrous approximately 26-30 days later and tote the boys along with her. Since most of the other does have been bred, she’ll be about the only game in town and have multiple suitors harassing her like yellow flies.

Generally speaking, this occurs more often on properties with a surplus of does and is by no means a guaranteed phenomenon. It’s a crapshoot, but if you can find that one hot doe, the action is likely to be wild, so circle that week a month after the peak rut in your area, and hunt feeding areas and travel trails.

Zone B

Cradled between I-75 to the west, Highway 50 to the north, Highway 441 to the east, and State Road 60 to the south, Zone B is a wedge of rutting activity in the Green Swamp Basin that runs from December through just about the beginning of spring turkey season. Why this is an outlier compared with rutting dates elsewhere in central Florida is not clearly understood but could have to do with restocking efforts in the mid-1900s and from where the deer originated.

Not only is the rut later, but this Green Swamp area grows outstanding trophies. The soils are fertile, and the thick vegetation and rough hunting conditions allow many bucks to mature.

On the downside, the best hunting areas are on private properties with a mixture of agriculture fields, pine flatwoods and cypress swamps. Access is very difficult to obtain.

Luckily, there is ample public property with relatively easy access throughout the winter months. These include popular Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) such as the Green Swamp and Richloam. Both places receive heavy doses of hunting pressure but are expansive lands with opportunities to venture off the beaten path.

Better are WMAs with limited-entry permits, such as Hilochee, the Baird Unit, Upper Hillsborough and Green Swamp West. These are usually in high demand, so save up your preference points for when applications are available in late spring.

Always check WMA brochures for hunting dates, but deer seasons on private lands this year in Zone B end Feb. 23.

Zone D

For public access to hunt where one can consistently find the biggest bucks in Florida, Zone D in the Panhandle west of Highway 27 is where to look. Three of the five largest bucks taken in 2023 came from this area, according to FWC’s Buck Registry.

The sheer acreage available is astounding and covers a multitude of deer habitats from river bottoms and coastal marshes to scrub uplands and oak hammocks. In addition to WMAs, this area is home to Eglin and Tyndall Air Force bases, which are open to deer hunting, at least partially and by permit through the winter months. St. Marks and St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuges also offer unique whitetail opportunities, though permits must be obtained during the limited-entry permit application period.

As for private land opportunities, Zone D provides more chances at obtaining a lease at a semi-reasonable cost than on properties in peninsular Florida, presumably because of less development and closer availability to deer hunting lands in Georgia and Alabama.

And, for those seeking the absolute last bit of deer hunting they can stand for the year, look to Zone D, as well. The final private land season ends March 2 with the conclusion of muzzleloading gun season.

Final Thoughts

If the secondary rut has passed, and you’re outside of the Green Swamp or the western Panhandle, these are dark days. Conjuring up a buck without a spotlight seems impossible. The dumb and unlucky ones are gone, and the nocturnal survivors regroup away from the hassles of orange vests and 4x4s.

Still, as they say, you can’t kill them on the couch. Concentrate on food sources in overlooked and tucked away spots away from much activity and you just never know.

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