Students will learn about hunting laws, safe gun handling and hunter ethics/responsibility, among other topics, before taking the final test. The course also includes live-firing instruction on a shooting range.

Classes will be at the Dade County Extension Office, 18710 SW 288th Street, Homestead, FL  33030.

Participants can sign up at MyFWC.com/HunterSafety or by calling the FWC’s South Region Office at 561-625-5122. A statewide schedule of hunter safety classes is available at MyFWC.com/HunterSafety.

Anyone born on or after June 1, 1975, must pass an approved hunter safety course before purchasing a Florida hunting license. Parents or legal guardians must accompany children under 16 years of age to all classes. To participate in live-fire exercises, children under 18 years old must present a parental release form signed by a parent or legal guardian.                           

Participants must successfully complete the online portion of the course prior to attending and bring the final Web report to the FWC course on May 26. It does not have to be notarized.

Students will learn about hunting laws, safe gun handling and hunter ethics/responsibility, among other topics, before taking the final test. The course also includes live-firing instruction on a shooting range.

Classes will be at the Everglades Youth Conservation Camp in the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area, 12100 Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, West Palm Beach, FL 33412.

Participants can sign up at MyFWC.com/HunterSafety or by calling the FWC’s South Region Office at 561-625-5122. A link to the online part of the course and a statewide schedule of hunter safety classes are available at MyFWC.com/HunterSafety.

Anyone born on or after June 1, 1975, must pass an approved hunter safety course before purchasing a Florida hunting license. Parents or legal guardians must accompany children under 16 years of age to all classes. To participate in live-fire exercises, children under 18 years old must present a parental release form signed by a parent or legal guardian.

The course will be at the Beau Turner Youth Conservation Center, 9194 South Jefferson Hwy. in Monticello. Instruction is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 19 and 1 to 5 p.m. May 20.

Students who have taken the Internet course and wish to complete the classroom portion must bring the online-completion report and attend only the May 20 session from 1 to 5 p.m.

An adult must accompany children under the age of 16 at all times. Students are encouraged to bring a pencil and paper with them to take notes.

The hunter safety course is required for people born on or after June 1, 1975, to purchase a Florida hunting license. The FWC course satisfies hunter-safety training requirements for all other states and Canadian provinces.

People interested in attending this course can register online and obtain information about future hunter safety classes at MyFWC.com/HunterSafety or by calling the FWC’s regional office in Panama City at 850-265-3676.

During “hunt camp,” participants will learn about Florida’s great hunting heritage and be taught such skills as wildlife identification, survival, first aid and tree-stand safety. Campers also will learn conservation, land stewardship and about hunting laws and ethics.

Participants will spend extensive time on several gun ranges, shooting shotguns, rifles and muzzleloaders, and have the option of earning their hunter safety certification while they’re at camp, if they choose to do so.

There will be four weeks of camp, all during the month of June, and the sessions are June 4-8, June 11-15, June 18-22 and June 25-29. Hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Fridays.

The cost for each weekly session is $175, and parents may register their children at BTYCC.org. For more information, contact Kelly Langston at Kelly.Langston@MyFWC.com.

The FWC is lead manager of an area covering 2,923 acres represented by Lease No. 4245.

The purpose of this hearing is to receive public comment on a draft of a 10-year management plan the FWC is developing for the portion of the Okaloacoochee Slough WMA in Hendry County. Components of the draft management plan will be presented to the public, followed by a question-and-answer session and public testimony.

A management prospectus for the Okaloacoochee Slough Wildlife WMA is available upon request from the FWC’s Conservation Acquisition and Planning group. Call Rebecca Shelton at 850-487-9982, or Michael Hallock-Solomon at 850-487-9767, or email Rebecca.Shelton@MyFWC.com  for the prospectus. For more information, go to MyFWC.com/Conservation and select “Terrestrial Programs” then “Management Plans.”

These extraordinary hunts offer large tracts of land with an abundance of game and low hunting pressure. All deer hunts enable you to take only mature bucks with at least one antler having four or more points, one inch or longer. Hunters can take does during archery hunts and, if they draw an antlerless deer permit, also during general gun hunts. This practice of deer management offers hunters excellent chances of taking quality bucks and the opportunity to take a doe on public land. Wild hogs also are legal to take, and there is no size or bag limit on them.

These special-opportunity deer and wild hog hunts take place on Fort Drum (Indian River County), Lake Panasoffkee (Sumter County), Triple N Ranch (Osceola County) and Green Swamp West Unit (Pasco County) wildlife management areas.

Fort Drum has 20 permits available for its seven-day general-gun deer and hog hunt on 20,858 acres; they cost $50, should you get drawn. Lake Panasoffkee offers eight four-day archery hunts on the 8,676-acre tract, which cost $100 each. Triple N Ranch has two seven-day general-gun deer and hog hunts on its 15,391 acres, and each permit costs $175.

Green Swamp West Unit is where James Stovall took the state’s highest-scoring deer on record – a 25-point, nontypical that netted a 206 Boone-and-Crockett score. He took the trophy buck in 1999 after getting drawn for the special-opportunity archery hunt. The area offers archery and gun hunts on 34,335 acres, and permits cost $100 each.

The FWC also has week-long released-quail hunts on the Blackwater Carr Unit in Santa Rosa County. With these hunts, you must bring and release your own pen-raised quail. There’s just one $100 permit available for each of the 16 weeks, and if you’re lucky enough to draw one, you and up to three of your friends will have the entire 590 acres to yourselves.

If you’d like to apply for any of these great hunts, the first thing you’ll need to do is get a 2012-2013 Special-Opportunity Fall Hunt Worksheet – available at MyFWC.com/License.

Beginning at 10 a.m. (EDT) on May 1, you can submit your completed application at MyFWC.com/License or at any county tax collector’s office or license agent. The application period runs through June 5.

These coveted permits are issued by random drawing, and you may apply for as many hunts and dates as you like to increase your chances of being selected. You must include a $5 nonrefundable fee for each hunt you apply for, though hunters are limited to drawing only one permit per hunt.

If you’re selected in the random drawing, you have until the deadline specified to pay the cost of the selected hunt. You can do this online at MyFWC.com/License or at any license agent or tax collector’s office. If not, you forfeit it, and it’ll go to the next applicant selected in the random drawing.            

Whether still hunting by yourself or hunting with family and friends for deer, hogs or released quail, the FWC’s special-opportunity fall hunts are just what the doctor ordered for a premium hunting experience.

The will be held in the second-floor conference room of the Farris Bryant Building, 620 S. Meridian St., Tallahassee. Instruction is from 6 to 9 p.m. May 15, 18, 22 and 24. The range portion of the class is May 26.

An adult must accompany children under the age of 16 at all times. Students are encouraged to bring a pencil and paper with them to take notes.

The hunter safety course is required for people born on or after June 1, 1975, to purchase a Florida hunting license. The FWC course satisfies hunter-safety training requirements for all other states and Canadian provinces.

People interested in attending this course can register online and obtain information about future hunter safety classes at MyFWC.com/HunterSafety or by calling the FWC’s regional office in Panama City at 850-265-3676.

At its meeting in Crystal River, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) presented Lex Thompson of Tallahassee with the 2011 Landowner of the Year award for its Youth Hunting Program – a program aimed at providing quality hunting experiences for 12- to 17-year-olds to increase the number of youths involved in the tradition of hunting.

Thompson and members of the Gator Hammock Hunt Club in Wakulla County on the St. Marks River have provided the opportunity for FWC youth hunts for deer, wild hog and turkey on the property for the past four years, providing 10 hunts to 50 youth, and he already has three hunts scheduled for next season.

Thompson and members of his hunt club really enjoy giving opportunities to youth on their 3,000-acre Gator Hammock Hunt Club for the pure pleasure of seeing the kids’ smiling faces after their first hunt and harvest.

“Thank you for getting the next generation in the woods,” said Chairman Kathy Barco. “Landowners like you, who give time and resources to create these opportunities for our youth, are appreciated.”

“The property is really first-class and known for holding large populations of quality game, and it offers such amenities as lodging, a gun range, cleaning shed and comfortable shooting stands,” Youth Hunting Program Coordinator Kenny Barker said.

“Mr. Thompson and his hunt club members work extremely hard, acting as guides, cooks and, more importantly, mentors, to ensure the kids and their parents enjoy an experience they’ll not soon forget,” Barker said. “These guys are just really passionate about Florida’s great hunting heritage and do their very best to make sure that it’s passed down to the next generation.”

To find out how you can become a volunteer landowner or to learn more about Florida’s Youth Hunting Program, go to MyFWC.com/YHPF.

A portion of Martin Grade between the intersections of Mossy Hammock Road and Dead River Road in Taylor County will be closed from 5 a.m. May 15 through 8 p.m. May 17. A work crew will replace two damaged culverts that have partially collapsed.

During the construction, Martin Grade will not be passable, which will prevent access to Hickory Mound from County Road 14. However, Hickory Mound can still be entered via Cow Creek Grade, which is accessible off U.S. 98.

“If the work is completed sooner than expected, we’ll get the road open again as soon as we can,” said Sharon Hester, biologist at the Big Bend Field Office in Perry.

The Babcock-Webb shooting facility is the most popular of the FWC’s seven public ranges in the state, hosting more than 60,000 shooters last year. With its growing popularity, having a sufficient number of range safety officers on duty at peak-use times is central to the safety of shooters using the range, and it is the main reason for having to adjust its hours of operation.

As part of its process, the FWC is soliciting public comments on an adjustment proposal made by the Babcock-Webb Shooting Range Working Group. This group is composed of agency staff and local shooters who use the Babcock-Webb range. The FWC established the group several years ago to provide input on a variety of issues concerning management of the shooting range, one of which is public safety.

Presently, the range is open from sunup to sunset except for Mondays and Thursdays, when it opens at 10 a.m., after cleaning. It is also closed on Christmas, New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving and the Friday after Thanksgiving until noon.

The working group submitted for public comment and suggestions the following proposal for changes to the hours of operation.

• During Daylight Saving Time the range would be open on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. On Mondays and Thursdays the range would be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• During Eastern Standard Time, the proposal is to operate the range on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. On Mondays and Thursdays the range would be open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Closed days would include New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, the Friday after Thanksgiving until noon and Christmas.

“We don’t anticipate the new proposed operating hours will significantly affect those who use the range, but we’d like to have as much information about the public’s preferences before a final decision is made,” said John Weatherholt, FWC Hunter Safety Administrator for the Southwest Region.  

Please go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/webbrange to register your comments.