When and where can you hunt ducks in Florida? What to know about waterfowl hunting season
September is here, which means duck hunters across the state are starting to pull out their shotguns and dust off duck blinds.
Florida’s waterfowl hunting season opens this month. Here’s a roundup of everything Floridians need to know for hunting teal, wood duck, dove and more this fall.
When can you hunt ducks in Florida?
Florida’s early wood duck and teal hunting season runs from Sept. 16-20. On Sept. 21, three more days of early teal hunting pick back up, lasting through Sept. 24.
The regular duck hunting season starts with a week in November, from Nov. 18-26, followed by a longer stretch from Dec. 9 through Jan. 28.
Can I duck hunt on any lake in Florida?
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, waterfowl hunting is permitted on private property with landowner permission and on any water body that has public access.
Some public water bodies may be closed for specific reasons, like being in a park or in an area where the discharge of firearms is prohibited. In Leon County and on Lake Miccosukee, waterfowl hunting is permitted only on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays during the Regular Duck Season (Nov. 18-26 and Dec. 9-Jan. 28), according to FWC.
Wildlife management areas, water management district lands and national wildlife refuges that allow duck hunting might have special permit requirements and restrictions on when and where you can hunt.
You can find FWC’s waterfowl hunting map and a breakdown of regulations for different waterfowl hunting areas throughout the state on the FWC’s website.
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Do you need a hunting license to hunt doves and ducks in Florida?
According to the FWC, hunters need a hunting license, a Florida waterfowl permit, no-cost migratory bird permit and a federal duck stamp to hunt waterfowl or migratory birds. If you will be hunting in a wildlife management area, you’ll also need a management area permit.
You can apply for most recreational hunting, fishing licenses and permits, including reprints, at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com, tax collectors’ offices, license agents, or by calling 888-486-8356. You must have a valid Florida driver license or Florida ID Card to obtain resident licenses or permits online or by phone, according to the FWC’s hunting license requirements.
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How many ducks can you shoot in Florida?
The daily bag limit for each hunter during Florida’s waterfowl and migratory bird season is six birds. Of those six, only two can be wood ducks during the early season.
During the regular waterfowl and migratory bird hunting season, only four ducks can be mallards, of which only two can be females.
Here are the other requirements for the sic duck bag limit during Florida’s regular waterfowl season, according to the FWC: four sea ducks (of which no more than three may be scoters, long-tailed ducks, or eiders and no more than one may be a female eider), three wood ducks, two redheads, two black ducks, two canvasbacks, one pintail, one mottled duck (Florida duck) and one fulvous whistling-duck.
When is dove season in Florida?
The first stretch or mourning and white-winged dove season begins Sept. 26 and ends Oct. 15. The second stretch is from Nov. 11-Dec. 3 and the third begins Dec. 19 and lasts through the end of January.
The daily bag limit for dove is 15.
Lianna Norman covers trending news in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at lnorman@pbpost.com. You can follow her reporting on social media @LiannaNorman on X, formerly Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Is it legal to hunt ducks, doves in Florida? What permits do you need?
