How to Hunt Florida's Public-Land Hogs

Fort Drum Wildlife Management Area (WMA) east of Yeehaw Junction is approximately 21,000 acres of mostly marsh and large swaths of inaccessible hellscape, which helps explain the quality hog population but also the relatively few quota permits available over a series of annual hunts.

What remains is pretty piggy-looking, but despite lower hunting pressure, the hunts are definitely not gimmes, if lucky enough to be drawn. The western half of what is huntable is cattle pasture and prairie, but when I started sneaking around Horseshoe Lake one cold February morning, it’s where I located a sweet spot.

Stalking an old path along the manmade pond, not far from a pavilion where other users no doubt picnic and photograph sunning gators, I sneaked up on a sounder rooting under the oaks. The first two or three bolted across to safety, but one black sow paused long enough for a close shot and drag back to the truck.

Fort Drum is a wild spot, and while I loathe advertising one site and risk decreasing my future lottery odds, I sacrifice today to help illustrate the wealth of Florida’s public-land opportunities for wild hogs and how to tackle these opportunities for consistent hog hunting each season.

According to FWC, Florida has one of the largest WMA systems in the country at more than 6 million acres, and wild-hog hunting is permitted on the majority of it, and throughout most hunting seasons, except for spring turkey. So, if you’re in a stand during a public-land deer hunt, from archery through general gun, and a boar waddles by, he’s fair game.

Better, in my opinion though, is hog hunting during small game seasons, when one can forget boogering deer and devote time to pigs. Small game seasons usually come with far easier permitting requirements, and some properties that require a limited-entry permit for deer will oftentimes allow for daily “over-the-counter” access during small game. The downside, however, is that weapons are usually restricted to shotguns or muzzleloaders.

Beyond these possibilities, FWC also offers the limited-entry hog hunts like I described above with Fort Drum. These are specialized hog hunts held throughout the year which require quota permits doled out annually in June through a lottery process. Unsuccessful applicants during the original round of drawings acquire preference points to use in future lotteries, and all WMAs, depending on popularity, require differing numbers of points to reliably draw a permit. Sometimes this is one or two points; others push a decade’s worth.

No matter where the hunt is, public-land hog hunting remains challenging. They’re smart critters and very responsive to human pressure. The average romp-and-stomp with hundreds of daily permits and easy access are frustrating endeavors, and while the sheer volume of hunters and length of a season might run up the body count, overall success rates remain low. Three Lakes and Green Swamp WMAs in central Florida are prime examples.

My primary strategies, when focusing solely on hog hunting and not just bagging a target during deer season, are to regularly utilize small game seasons that don’t require limited-entry permits when the intensity of deer season has concluded, and to stockpile preference points for those home-run chances on properties that have overall lower hunting pressure—the Fort Drum and Green Swamp West and Lake Panasoffkee WMAs of the world.

When researching where to hog hunt, FWC’s Lauren Claerbout suggests checking WMA harvest data on the agency’s website; however, she cautions that data is sometimes incomplete as not all WMAs maintain check stations. On the bright side, FWC has increased the public-land system by 130,000 acres over the last five years by establishing nine new WMAs and increasing the acreage of existing properties, most of which allows hog hunting, with plans to further expand in the future.

To begin your quest, visit FWC’s Wild Hog webpage at myfwc.com/hunting/wild-hog/ for a rundown of rules and regulations and lists of WMAs to investigate, including those open to summer and spring hunting. For any of these hunts, thoroughly review the regulations and season dates for individual WMAs, as they differ from place to place. Back to Fort Drum as an example, its small game season does not allow hog harvests this year.

Ample Florida wild hog hunting opportunities await those willing to research and devise a plan to hunt this season and beyond by taking advantage of these various possibilities.

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