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WMA
FLORIDA HUNTING
Wildlife Management Areas
Florida’s WMAs offer diverse and exciting public
hunting opportunities. With more than 5.5 million acres
of public lands stretching from Pensacola to the
Everglades, Florida boasts one of the largest wildlife
management area systems in the nation. Whether you hunt
with family and friends, or prefer the solitude of the
backcountry, you can find the hunting experience you are
looking for on one of Florida’s many WMAs. Deer, turkeys
(including the Osceola subspecies, found nowhere else in
the world), wild hogs and smallgame species, such as
rabbits, gray squirrels, quail, waterfowl and doves
may be hunted.
What is Florida's Wildlife Management Area System?
Florida's Wildlife Management Area (WMA) system is
managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWC) to sustain the widest possible range of
native wildlife in their natural habitats. These lands
are more rugged than parks, with fewer developed
amenities.
This system includes more than five million acres of
land established as WMAs or Wildlife and Environmental
Areas (WEAs), which include Mitigation Parks.
Cooperative Areas - On the majority of
these lands (about 4.3 million acres), FWC is a
cooperating manager working with other governmental
or private landowners to conserve wildlife and
provide public use opportunities.
Lead Areas - On the remaining lands (about
1.3 million acres), FWC is the landowner or "lead"
managing agency responsible for land stewardship and
providing quality wildlife conservation and
recreation opportunities including hunting, fishing,
wildlife viewing, hiking, biking, horseback riding,
paddling, scenic driving, and camping.
Mitigation Parks - The Mitigation Park
Program consolidates mitigation throughout a
geographical region and directs these efforts
towards the acquisition of a large and manageable
Mitigation Park. Each park is publicly owned and
ranges in size between 350 and 2,000 acres.
Management activities are tailored to emphasize the
protection and enhancement of habitat important to
upland listed wildlife.
Management area permit is required, in addition to
hunting license, when taking or attempting to take
wildlife on wildlife management areas or wildlife and
environmental areas, except on Eglin, Avon
Park and Tyndall military bases, Apalachicola River
Wildlife and Environmental Area and Kissimmee River
Public Use Area. A management area permit is included
with lifetime sportsman’s, lifetime hunting, sportsman’s
64 or older, gold sportsman’s, military gold sportsman’s
and sportsman’s licenses; recreational use permits; and
special-opportunity permits (when hunting during
special-opportunity hunts). Some wildlife management
areas may require a no-cost quota permit for some
seasons.
Recreational use permit: Recreational use
permit is required, in addition to hunting license, when
accessing those wildlife management areas enrolled in
the Recreational Use Program. The permit enables the
permit holder and one dependent child (under age 17) to
hunt on a specific wildlife management area. Permit
holders and their spouses or dependent children may also
engage in recreational activities, except hunting, on
the designated wildlife management area. These permits
may be used as management area permits when hunting
public lands not under the Recreational Use Program.
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