Camping in Florida

[Hox]

I am trying to find out some info on camping in Florida from those of you who actually do it. Sure the FWC website says stuff, but I’d rather hear it from you. I'm not really interested in Camp Grounds and would rather find some state land near a lake or river, find a patch of land and set up camp for a few days. I'm just not real sure if its allowed during Hunting season though. Any info or insight would be great. As I've said, I'm new to the area and am trying to get a feel for everything before I head out.

Example, Can I drive to Croom per say and set up camp then do a little hunting and fishing for a few days without having to go back to the FWC stations at the beginning and end of each day?

Thanks,
Hox

[Cr0ck1]

nope.. you cannot camp at croom.. 99 percent of wmas you cannot camp on. but some have a camp ground near or on the wma in a designated area. I just search for camps near the wmas i hunt.. like when i go to cedar key i got a camp 5 mins from the scrub.. when i go to chazz.. i got a camp 5 mins from the place.. and so on.

[Cr0ck1]

Example, Can I drive to Croom per say and set up camp then do a little hunting and fishing for a few days without having to go back to the FWC stations at the beginning and end of each day?

Thanks,
Hox

If they allowed that it would be a poachers dream.. and night hunting is not allowed on wmas. WIth hogs moving at night it would be a mess of night hunting and be dagerous.

[Hox]

Sounds good, well I guess I have some homework to do then. Thanks for the info.

[Cr0ck1]

if your having a hard time just post up what wma you want to hunt and maybee someone here will have a camp to recomend!

[Hox]

Roger that, as I stated I'd like to hunt Croom since it's semi close to where I live and may venture out further at a later date. So with that being said any respons will be much appreciated!

Hox

[Cr0ck1]

do this... find the town you want to hunt in.. then go to google and typ in "campgrounds in (whatever town)" and see what comes up.. thats what i allwahs do.

[flhuntfish]

You can certainly camp in croom! Ive camped their many of times. They have 5 camp grounds on the map. Im pretty sure most of them if not all of them are primitive. There are a lot of WMAs that you can camp at during hunting season too. Just look in the brochure for the WMA in the CAMPING section and it will tell you whats up. Some of them require a permit from SWFMD or other agencies.

Also you can look into state parks. You just CANNOT hunt in state parks but you can use it as a base camp if you wanted to i guess

[flhuntfish]

Heres a link to Crooms brochure. Read the camping section
http://www.myfwc.com/docs/Brochures/09-10_Croom.pdf

[Hox]

I appreciate the info man, guess I'll give them a call tomorrow. I'd much rather have the chance to wake up and go rather than wake up at 0330 in order to be to an area in time. Again, thanks for the info.

[flhuntfish]

Yea i hear that and no problem man. I know the majority of WMAs have camping at them. All the ones I hunt at down in Citrus and Sumter counties all have camping at them. Heres a link to the page with all the WMAs and their brochures.
http://www.myfwc.com/RECREATION/Hunt_WMABrochs.htm

[Cr0ck1]

like i said.. THERE ARE CAMPS ON WMA PROPERTY.. I thought he meant just driving around and setting up camp where he wanted to hunt..

[Hox]

I Should have been more specific Crock. My bad!

[flhuntfish]

All of the camping in Ocala NF is awesome! Also when hunting seasons are over, you can set up anywhere along the Florida Trail in there. Ive done that multiple times and its awesome. Just throwing that out there for any back packers.

[flhuntfish]

No its legal you just gotta stay within a certain distance of the trail. We used to do it all the time with my boy scout troop.