by Wayne Nichols
Well the hunting seasons are pretty much over for us here in South/Central Florida. About the only thing left for hunters to get after are some small game animals like quail and squirrel…or is it? For years now there have been ample big game species to hunt in Florida that a lot of hunters aren’t aware of and the best part is you don’t even need a license! I’m talking about exotics. No matter where you live in South/Central Florida, odds are you are only a couple hours away from an area you can hunt multiple big game species that are not native to Florida, some aren’t even native to the U.S.! To name a few are Waterbuck, Fallow Deer, Axis Deer, Water Buffalo, Elk, Red Stag, Pere David Deer, Watusi, and many others. There are also places, such as where I live in DeSoto County, that we frequently see escaped animals such as the Axis Deer and Blackbuck Antelope thriving in the wild, mostly thanks to hurricanes dropping trees on fences allowing them to escape…and they’re doing great with virtually no predators after them.
Do a âlil homework on outfitterâs costs before booking a hunt. Most are comparable based on your traveling time, but some places are REALLY proud of their game and charge a substantial amount more than others. I work with a few of these exotic game preserves and have visited several more and lemme tell you, higher cost does not mean a better hunt or even a better animal. In fact I’ve found it’s usually the opposite. Most places, for say an Axis Deer hunt and similar sized game, run about $2500 on trophy hunts and $600-$900 on meat hunts, but I’ve seen places go for $3500/$1500 on the same game. Water Buffalo hunts vary from meat hunts, cow hunts, bull hunts, and trophy bull hunts so bad, you can’t hardly compare anyoneâs rates rationally; I’m talking $800 on a meat hunt to as high as $10,000 on a trophy bull. At that point you might as well get a passport and plane ticket to their native country and hunt them there! There’s also the elk and red stag hunts; depending on the size of the bulls we regularly stay in the $2500-3500 ball park, but again I see places charging up to $20,000 for some of these hunts! Again, buy a plane ticket at this point if you wanna spend that kind of money. Value-wise, meat hunts are by far the best value, just about always under $1500 for a variety of game and you get plenty of meat to take home.
Exotic hunts are very appealing and affordable in most cases, again do some homework. You don’t need a hunting license as well for these animals and you can hunt them year-round. Something you definitely want to ask an outfitter about is a trophy fee. I don’t carry trophy fees on any game, but about half of the outfitters out there do. Also ask about observer fees, again we don’t charge for your buddy that wants to tag along and watch, but most places hit you with a $100 daily observer fee.
The Hunt. I get tickled by how many people think you just drive in and shoot an animal…that’s not the case 99% of the time, by any means. We utilize trucks and swamp buggies to locate game from a distance, then stalk them by foot. More times than not you get busted and have to start over, especially with archery equipment. These are fun and rewarding hunts and a great way to stay active in the outdoors while waiting on our next hunting season to start. If you’d like more information on hunting exotics give me a call anytime at 863-990-7650. Remember to take a kid hunting and fishing, y’all stay safe out there.