Outta’ the Woods
Outta’ the Woods
By TONY YOUNG
To me, the best part about hunting is not harvesting game – but spending quality time in the outdoors with good friends and family.
One of the best ways to do just that is through dove hunting. And, with that in mind, it’s easy to see why great dove hunts are in such high demand but often difficult to find.
That’s why the FWC created its Special-Opportunity Dove Club Program – to offer hunters the chance of experiencing exceptional dove hunting on the state’s best public dove fields.
Dove Club permits allow one adult and one youth (under age 16) to hunt all scheduled dates for the dove field of their choice.
Permits cost only $150 and enable both hunters to each take a daily bag limit of birds. There are a total of eight hunts on all but one (Caravelle Ranch) of the selected dove fields, and all hunts are half-day and take place on Saturdays, starting Oct. 4 and ending Jan. 10.
There are seven special opportunity dove fields scattered throughout the state, from as far west as Holmes County in the Panhandle to as far south as Miami.
One of the fields is on Fussell Farm Public Small-Game Hunting Area PSGHA) in Polk County.
There are 13 Dove Club permits available for the 40-acre field. Another field is on Allapattah Flats PSGHA in Martin County.There are 25 Dove Club permits for sale to hunt on the 100 acres.
Caravelle Ranch in Putnam County (40 Dove Club permits for sale) will also be back this coming season, and so will Frog Pond in Miami-Dade County (38 Dove Club permits for sale).
The three remaining fields are new, and they are: Brown Farm PSGHA in Holmes County (13 Dove Club permits for sale), Combs Farm PSGHA in Baker County (10 Dove Club permits for sale) and North Newberry PSGHA in Alachua County (18 Dove Club permits for sale).
Last year, 1,077 hunters participated in special opportunity dove hunts, and a total of 2,206 birds were harvested for an average harvest of a little more than two birds per hunter.
Frog Pond Dove Field, on the southern-most end of the Florida peninsula, really produced last season. Nearly 600 doves were taken from there last year. On Allapattah Flats Dove Field, east of Lake Okeechobee, participants experienced an average take of 2.6 birds per hunter per day. In the central part of the state, hunters at Fussell Farm enjoyed a nearly 2-birds-per-hunter average on each hunt.
Dove Club permits go on sale 10 a.m. (EDT) July 1, and hunters can purchase these season passes at any county tax collector’s office, license agent, online at MyFWC.com/dove or by calling toll-free 1-888- HUNT-FLORIDA. They’re sold first-come, first-served, and the best fields go quickly, so you better get a move on.
The last day to buy season permits, if they’re still available, is Sept. 9.
Brochures on each of these areas are available at regional FWC offices and online at MyFWCcom/dove. Also at that Web address, beginning in late September, hunters will be able to find the most up-to-date information on these seven special- opportunity dove fields, as well as Florida’s other public dove fields. The Web site is updated every Thursday throughout the dove season, and information includes dove densities, previous weeks’ harvests and field conditions.
So if you’d like to join the FWC’s Dove Club, you need to do it in July. Here’s wishing you all luck in drawing the field of your dreams. Remember to introduce someone new to hunting when you can. As always, have fun, hunt safely and ethically, and we’ll see you in the woods!
