by Tony YoungThere’s finally a chill and certain festiveness in the air as most of us try to take time off from work to enjoy spending quality time with family and friends and reflect on the passing year. Children will be out of school on winter break soon, and while the holiday season is upon us, so are several traditional hunting opportunities.
The second phase of waterfowl and coot season comes in statewide Dec. 7 and runs through Jan. 26. In addition to the usual hunting license and permit requirements, duck hunters also must have a Florida waterfowl permit ($5) and a federal duck stamp ($15).
The daily bag limit on ducks is six, but you need to know your ducks before you pull the trigger, because there are different daily limits for each species. For instance, within the six-bird limit there may be only one black duck, one mottled duck and one fulvous whistling-duck.
Only two of your six-bird limit may be canvasbacks, pintails, redheads or scaup, and three may be wood ducks. And you may have no more than four scoters or four mallards (of which only two may be female) in your bag. All other species of ducks can be taken up to the six-bird limit, except harlequin ducks.
The daily limit on coots is 15, and there’s a five-bird limit on mergansers, only two of which may be hooded.
When hunting waterfowl, hunters may use only nontoxic shotgun shells. Only iron (steel), bismuth-tin and various tungsten-alloys are permissible.
For something different, try woodcock hunting. Woodcock season again runs Dec. 18 – Jan. 31. Woodcocks are excellent game birds because they hold well for pointing bird dogs and provide a challenging shot when flushed. The daily bag limit is three.
The third phase of mourning and white-winged dove season opens Dec. 14 and runs through Jan. 12. The daily bag limit is 15 birds.
From November on, the shooting hours for all migratory birds are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. However, you must get a no-cost migratory bird permit where you purchase your hunting license before you hunt any of these birds.
The only firearm you can use to hunt migratory game birds is a shotgun, no larger than 10-gauge. Shotguns must be plugged to a three-shell capacity (magazine and chamber combined). Bows also are legal.
Retrievers and bird dogs can be useful in hunting migratory game birds. Artificial decoys and manual or mouth-operated bird calls also are legal and essential gear for duck hunters.
You may hunt migratory game birds over an agricultural field if the crop was planted by regular agricultural methods. However, don’t even think about “sweetening” the field by scattering agricultural products over it – or anywhere near it – or you could wind up in serious trouble. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t the one who scattered the bait. If you knew or should have known that such bait was present, you’re accountable under federal law.
Some other things you can’t do while hunting migratory game birds include using rifles, pistols, crossbows, traps, snares, nets, sinkboxes, swivel guns, punt guns, battery guns, machine guns, fish hooks, poisons, drugs, explosive substances, live decoys and recorded bird calls, sounds or electrically amplified bird-call imitations. It is also against the law to shoot from a moving automobile or boat and herd or drive birds with vehicles or vessels.
Bobcat and otter hunting season always runs Dec. 1 – March 1, and there’s no daily bag or season limit on either species.
Like foxes, bobcats may be chased year-round with dogs, but possessing firearms during the closed season, between March 2 and Nov. 30, is prohibited. On a few wildlife management areas, bobcats and otters may not be taken, so please consult the specific area brochure before you hunt.
December has the hunting opportunities you’re looking for, whether you are upland-bird hunting with friends and family, shooting ducks on the pond with your favorite lab or taking that big cat as he slips up behind an unsuspecting fawn.
Here’s wishing you happy holidays and a successful hunting season. If you can, remember to introduce someone new to our great sport. As always, have fun, hunt safely and ethically, and we’ll see you in the woods!
Tony Young is the media relations coordinator for the FWC’s Division of Hunting and Game Management. You can reach him with questions about hunting at Tony.Young@MyFWC.com.
