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FWC EXTENDS HUNTING DAYS WITH ADOPTION OF CROSSBOW SEASON

February 1, 2006
Contact: Tony Young (850) 488-7867
 

A crossbow hunting season for private lands is in the works for 2006-07. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) adopted new rules to establish the new hunting season during its meeting Wednesday in Gainesville.

The new season will provide additional hunting opportunities for crossbow hunters. It will also lengthen the overall hunting season and extend the number of days conventional bowhunters can use bows to take game, since bows will be legal during crossbow season.

The added season is limited to private lands and restricts harvest to bucks only. These changes will not affect the wildlife management area system.

Rule changes also provide that bows and crossbows will be legal during muzzleloading gun season and during the Northwest Hunting Zone’s special archery/muzzleloading season, beginning next year.

“We wanted to create more opportunities for hunters who use crossbows but strived to balance that with the interests of avid bowhunters,” said Nick Wiley, director of FWC’s Division of Hunting and Game Management. “The change gives private landowners more options for managing game on their property and provides additional early-season hunting opportunities.”

Beginning in October, there will be a five-day crossbow season between the existing archery season and muzzleloading gun season in the Central and South hunting zones. In the Northwest Zone, the crossbow season will be seven days long and will open the Monday following Thanksgiving.

During the new crossbow season, legal game will include deer, hog, bearded turkey, gray squirrel, quail, rabbit, raccoon, opossum, coyote, nutria, skunk and beaver. However, turkeys will not be legal game in Holmes County during any fall or winter hunting season.

As during the muzzleloading gun season, only bucks with at least one antler five inches or more in length may be taken during the crossbow season. The daily bag limit for antlered deer is two during the crossbow and muzzleloading gun seasons.

During both periods, antlerless deer may be taken only by hunters who hold antlerless deer permits. Regardless of the season or number of permits, the bag limit will be two deer per day.

For more information about the new crossbow season, interested hunters can call Tony Young at (850) 488-7867 or visit MyFWC.com/commission.

 

 

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