Hunting in Florida

A Florida resident needs an annual hunting license at $17.00, plus a permit for each species or season hunted, while a non-resident pays $151.50 for the annual Florida hunting license (FWC licenses and permits).

The hunting license is required when taking or attempting to take game or furbearing animals by methods other than trapping, and FWC requires permits on top of it: a deer permit for deer, a turkey permit for turkeys, and an archery, crossbow or muzzleloading gun permit to hunt during those special seasons, at $5.00 each per year for the deer and season permits and $10.00 a year for the resident turkey permit (FWC). Hunting on a wildlife management area adds the management area permit, $26.50 a year or $126.50 for five years for residents.

Florida residents can also buy bundled licenses. The annual resident Sportsman's License, $80.50, includes the hunting and freshwater fishing licenses plus the WMA, archery, muzzleloading gun, crossbow, deer, turkey and Florida waterfowl permits; the Gold Sportsman's License, $100.00 a year, adds saltwater fishing with snook and lobster permits (FWC licenses and permits).

Two groups skip the license entirely. FWC exempts youth under 16 years of age and resident seniors age 65 or older with proof of age or residency, such as a Florida driver license, from hunting license and permit requirements (FWC, Do I need a license). The optional Resident 65+ Hunt/Fish Certificate is available at no cost online at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com or at county tax collectors' offices, and the youth exemption also covers the federal duck stamp while the senior exemption does not.

Anyone born on or after June 1, 1975 must complete a hunter safety course before Florida will sell a license to hunt with a firearm, gun, bow or crossbow (FWC hunter safety requirement).

The buyer shows a valid hunter safety certification card at the counter, and a card earned in another state is accepted in Florida. License holders born after the 1975 cutoff whose license does not show the course must carry the card while hunting (FWC). People exempt from the hunting license born after the cutoff are also exempt from the course, except anyone hunting on military bases, where the federal government requires it.

A new Florida hunter can try the sport before finishing the class through the Hunter Safety Mentoring Deferral. Anyone 16 or older born on or after June 1, 1975 may hunt under the supervision of an adult, 21 years of age or older, who holds a valid hunting license and has met the hunter safety requirement; the license is printed with the supervision condition (FWC hunter safety requirement). A hunter who passes the course while that license is still active may hunt without supervision by carrying the hunting license and certification card.

Florida's 2026-27 deer seasons depend on the hunting zone: archery opened Aug. 1 in Zone A, opens Sept. 19 in Zone C, Oct. 17 in Zone B and Oct. 24 in Zone D (FWC 2026-2027 season dates).

Statewide deer bag limits are the same in every zone. The daily bag limit is 2 deer, the possession limit 4 deer and the annual bag limit 5 deer, of which only 2 can be antlerless, except in DMU D2, where 3 of the 5 may be antlerless (FWC). Antler rules differ by deer management unit, so FWC links a zone map and DMU rules from the same page.

Florida runs a youth deer hunt weekend in each zone, Sept. 12 and 13 in Zone A, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 in Zone C, Nov. 28 and 29 in Zone B and Dec. 5 and 6 in Zone D. Youth 15 years old and younger can take any deer except a spotted fawn, supervised by an adult 18 or older, with a limit of 1 deer for the weekend; the weekend does not apply on WMAs (FWC).

Spring gobbler season splits at State Road 70: north of it, spring turkey season is March 20 to April 25, 2027 with a youth hunt March 12 to 15, and south of it the season is March 6 to April 11 with a youth hunt Feb. 26 to March 1 (FWC season dates). The Florida turkey bag is 2 birds for all spring seasons combined.

Florida's 2026-27 dove season runs in three phases, Sept. 26 to Oct. 18, Nov. 14 to Dec. 6 and Dec. 19 to Jan. 31, with a daily bag of 15 mourning and white-winged doves (FWC migratory bird seasons).

Duck hunting in Florida opens with a teal and wood duck only season Sept. 19 to 23, when the daily bag is 6 ducks of which only 2 can be wood ducks, then the general duck season runs Nov. 21 to 29 and Dec. 12 to Jan. 31 (FWC). Snipe season is Nov. 1 to Feb. 15 with a daily bag of 8, and king and clapper rail season is Sept. 1 to Nov. 9.

Florida migratory bird hunters need the no-cost migratory bird permit, valid Sept. 1 to March 31, on top of the hunting license (FWC licenses and permits), though FWC's season table says the permit is not required for hunters under 16 and over 65 or for crows. Waterfowl hunters also need the $5 Florida waterfowl permit and the $28.50 federal duck stamp, and the stamp applies to waterfowl hunters 16 years of age or older (FWC migratory bird seasons). Statewide quail season, by comparison, is Nov. 14 to March 7 with a daily bag of 12 birds (FWC).

Florida's wildlife management areas are the public land FWC manages for wildlife-based recreation, including hunting: FWC oversees more than 6.1 million acres of public land established as WMAs (FWC, What are WMAs).

FWC is the landowner or main managing agency on 56 lead WMAs that run from Florida Keys WEA to Escribano Point WMA in Santa Rosa County, and it works with other government or private landowners on over 100 co-op WMAs (FWC). Wildlife and Environmental Areas are part of the same Florida system. WMAs are more rugged than parks and have fewer developed amenities. FWC's hunting page gives a rounder figure, saying it cooperatively manages public hunting on 6 million acres in its WMA system (FWC Hunting in Florida).

Statewide dates are not WMA dates. FWC states that its statewide seasons, dates and bag limits do not apply to wildlife management areas, which set their own in area brochures (FWC season dates). Some WMA hunts also require a limited entry or quota permit, drawn by application; each application period begins at 10 a.m. Eastern time on the first day and runs through midnight on the last day, and applications go through GoOutdoorsFlorida.com or a license agent or tax collector office (FWC limited entry and quota hunts).

Off the WMA system, FWC says it cannot give permission to hunt on other lands, and Florida land that is not posted or fenced, including some waterbodies, may not be open to hunting (FWC Hunting in Florida).

As of October 15, 2026, Florida's 2026-27 seasons are underway in Zones A and C, Zone B archery opens Oct. 17 and Zone D archery opens Oct. 24, so the zone of the hunt decides what is legal this week (FWC season dates).

The first dove phase in Florida closes Oct. 18 and the second opens Nov. 14, so dove hunting is closed for almost four weeks between them (FWC migratory bird seasons). FWC is also collecting public input on the next cycle: its hunting page invites comments through a 2027-2028 Proposed Rule Change Hunting Survey on a package of proposed hunting rule changes (FWC Hunting in Florida), so the dates on this page apply to 2026-27 only.

FWC posts the open or closed status of the Florida areas, offices and facilities it manages at MyFWC.com/Notices, worth a check before driving to a WMA after a storm. Fish and wildlife law violations are reported to the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (888-404-3922) (FWC).

Last verified: October 15, 2026, against the FWC license, hunter safety, season dates, migratory bird, WMA and limited entry pages.