2011 Tag Season - Florida's Limited Entry Hunts

The NFL Draft was last weekend. Presumptively, the Bucs chose well, addressing their glaring needs on defense. Hopefully their picks will lead to a successful season – if there’s no lockout, of course.

What fun it must be to take part in an NFL Draft war room! Sadly, my pro football aspirations died soon after I discovered beer and the realization I ran like Pfc. Santiago. Plus, to play organized football requires giving up Friday nights, then Saturday nights, not to mention Sundays, and darn if that doesn’t interfere with Deer Season.

So while I can’t draft bruising linebackers and swift wide receivers, I still create my own little war room each year when the time comes to apply for Florida’s Limited Entry Hunts. The charts of players are replaced with sheets of printer paper with WMA names and numbers and dates scribbled across them. Instead of an assembly of crack experts likes scouts and general managers, I have Louise the Black Lab to aid with my picks.

Louise, my wife’s dog, despite having an IQ that hovers just above the Common Dust Bunny’s, is wise counsel. I toss an idea by her and she thumps her tail against the hardwood floor, obviously pleased with my reasoning and general wisdom.

I may be taking liberties with Louise’s vocabulary – not to mention sentence structure and prose – but judging by her level of excitement, this is the sense of how our conversations unfold:

Me: “I’m thinking about applying for a late season archery hunt timed with the rut in Polk County so it won’t be so hot. What do you think?”

Louise (tail thumping): “Brilliant! You, sir, have no peer.”

Me: “How about sambar deer in the panhandle. I know the success rates are low, but…”

Louise (tail thumping): “Say no more! You will become a sambar slayer, and the myth of your deeds will spread throughout the pages of hunting literature for generations.”

Me: “I’m not sure this lake is going to have many big gators. Before I apply, would you mind swimming a few laps across it so we can find out for sure?”

Louise (tail thumping excitedly): “Bloody fine idea, Old Boy!”

She is a pal.

Anyhow, below is a list from myfwc.com of dates for the upcoming Tag Season in Florida. Special Opportunity Hunts applications are accepted starting today, and gator apps become available tomorrow.

Please visit myfwc.com for a full list of hunts in the coming months, including chances to hunt deer, hog, and sambar on National Wildlife Refuges throughout the state.

Good luck and hope you get the tags I didn’t apply for.

Statewide Alligator

Phase I: 5/4/11 – 5/17/11
Permit Pickup: 5/26/11 – 6/6/11

Archery, General Gun, Muzzleloader Quota

Phase I: 6/1/11 – 6/30/11
Permit Pickup: 7/12/11 – end of hunt

Special Opportunity Hunts

Phase I: 5/3/11 – 6/9/11
Permit Pickup: 6/20/11 – 8/2/11