Recreational Use Permits (User Pay)

Office of Licensing and Permitting
Florida Quota Hunt
850-488-3641

Recreational Use permits are designed to provide more revenue to landowners in the Wildlife Management Area (WMA) system.  Money set aside by the FWC to compensate those landowners for hunting use on their lands was not sufficient enough to compete with private hunting leases.  Rather than have WMAs drop out of the system, the FWC offers Recreational Use permits.  Fees collected from these permits supplement the private landowners, keeping their lands open to public hunting. 

Except for hunting, permit holders and their spouses or dependent children may participate in other activities on designated WMAs.  Only permit holders and one dependent child (under age 16) may hunt.  If spouses or more than one dependent child (under age 16) wish to hunt, they must purchase a Recreational Use permit.  Recreational Use permits also include a management area permit when hunting public lands not in the recreational use program.

Recreational Use permits do not apply to other recreational use program areas.  Once permits are issued, they can be renewed annually for two additional years, essentially making them a three-year permit.  Permit renewals are mailed May 1.  Eligible applicants have until May 31 to renew their Recreational Use permits for the next season.  Permits not renewed by May 31 will be forfeited, and they will be made available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Permits are issued individually on a first-come, first-served basis beginning 10 a.m. (Eastern) on June 4, 2009.  Applications may be submitted online or take a completed worksheet to a tax collectors' offices or any license agent and they will submit the application for you.  Worksheets are available online, at FWC regional offices and tax collectors' offices in counties surrounding specific WMA.  Quota hunt permits are not required on WMAs within the recreational use program since only Recreational Use Permit holders may use the area. 

The following are the cost of the permit and total number of hunters allowed: Nassau, $385, 350; Twelve Mile Swamp, $525, 200; Flint Rock, $206, 450; Ft. McCoy $350, 150; Gulf Hammock $275, 450; Grove Park $475, 200; and Relay $425, 300.  The number of recreational use permits available for purchase will not be known until after the renewals have been completed.

A quota hunt permit is not required for those areas in the recreational use program.  Since only those individuals with a recreational use permit and a hunting license may hunt the area, a quota permit is not necessary.

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