Well, I finally received my license(s), got my AR set up and sighted in, and started researching a few areas of public land to start scouting. After reading through various rules, regulations, requirements, etc. I wanted to get some insight from the experienced hunters out there which areas you use, have used, the do's and don't's of certain ones and so on. I'm new to the hunting game (not new to firearms), so I am willing to take some time to learn the terrain, scouting techniques, and everything. The areas I think I would be most interested in would be Perdido River, Blackwater, or Eglin. I'm located around the 9 mile rd area, and with a new little one coming soon, I'm on a short leash for the time being so I don't want to go too far out but still want to get the lay of the land for when deer season starts up.

With that in mind, what areas are you guys using and why? Pros, cons? No, I'm not asking you to divulge your "spot", but looking more for generalities to consider when getting out there to start. I'd love to take a few hogs in the meantime, so that is what I am primarily looking to scout with the hope of a deer as well - since I get the entire month of December to myself...er,uh to help with the baby:lol:.
Any advice or input is greatly appreciated.

i hunt escambia river wma. tons of deer and hogs. i havent seen many deer in perdido wma in a few years and never seen hogs there. yellow river wma has some good hogs too. never hunted blackwater. if you have a boat or one you can use youll do a whole lot better than going to one of the spots you can drive to. put in at becks lake and go north, stop when you see a spot that looks hoggy and walk around a little looking for sign. youll find a spot you like pretty easy. tall rubber boots help too cause its wet and nasty in the good spots.

Awesome, thanks for the insight! That is very helpful as I was initially leaning towards Perdido, but will probably switch routes and focus more on the areas listed.

For WMA's, are most of you using climbers, blinds, or just stalking?

The harder it is to get to the area, the better your chances of getting a shot at something. Most of the easy to get to locations are overhunted. My brother has found a spot up at the north end of Blackwater that is untouched for the last 2 years by anybody besides me, him, and his friend.

Perdido is a quota hunt (lottery), it's more than just a wma license you can buy. Yellow river is great, especially if you have a small boat and get to the less accessible places

zombieh8r said:

Perdido is a quota hunt (lottery), it's more than just a wma license you can buy. Yellow river is great, especially if you have a small boat and get to the less accessible places

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Really? It's listed under WMA brochures on the fwc website? Hmm, maybe I overlooked something, but thanks for that tid bit. Apparently, I need to do more reading...

i use a climber.

305RSlc said:

Really? It's listed under WMA brochures on the fwc website? Hmm, maybe I overlooked something, but thanks for that tid bit. Apparently, I need to do more reading...

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I did the same thing I got lucky me and someone on here were about to walk in and FWC pulled up And let us know he was cool about the hole thing but it could have went south real fast

From the deep woods

redneck said:

I did the same thing I got lucky me and someone on here were about to walk in and FWC pulled up And let us know he was cool about the hole thing but it could have went south real fast

From the deep woods

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I bet! Again, thanks for pointing that one out. Feels like I have spent as much time reading up on rules, regulations, requirements, and everything else for the various types of lands, game, seasons, weapons, etc. that I have on learning proper firearm safety and maintenance. But, gotta pay to play, right?