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CAMP BLANDING ARCHERY HUNTS
“EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS”
October 10, 2006
CONTACT: Karen Parker, (386) 758-0525
The first two archery hunts on the southern
portion of Camp Blanding Wildlife Management Area since the 2001
terrorist attacks were an “extraordinary success,” according to
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)
biologists.
The hunts took place Sept. 26-28 and Oct. 3-5 in
the area south of State Road 16, which the National Guard had
closed to hunter access for security reasons.
“During these six days of hunting, more than 125
deer were harvested,” said Scott Johns, district biologist in
the FWC’s Olustee Field Office. “The hunting was so good, many
hunters were selecting the bucks and letting the does walk.”
During archery season, hunters on Camp Blanding
can take a buck with three or more points on a side, any buck
with antlers shorter than 5 inches, and does. It is not legal to
take spotted fawns.
“There were 17 deer brought through the check
station the first morning of the hunt,” Johns said. “Of those
17, 15 were bucks. Most were six points or better, and that’s
impressive.”
The area being closed for five years could
explain the hunting success.
“The deer are much less wary of people, because
they’ve not been hunted. The normal life span of a deer in a
hunted area is six or seven years. So we have a whole generation
of deer on Camp Blanding’s South Post that have never been
hunted by the public,” Johns said.
Many bucks were also in rut, which is unusual
according to the biologist. Normally the rut peaks the last two
weeks in October in North Florida.
“We don’t know why the rut is this strong this
early. It’s unusual. And it’s not just at Camp Blanding. We’ve
also seen deer coming out of Big Shoals (in Hamilton County) in
rut also,” Johns said.
The first day of archery season, there were 205
vehicles and 254 people who came in through the check station by
noon.
“We anticipated heavy use of the area, and the
hunters showed up in droves,” Johns said. “There were no major
problems on the area during the hunts. We did have some people
attempt to drive down some closed roads. We just want to make
sure folks stay on the roads that are open to public access.”
Another tip is to stay out of the impact area,
which contains unexploded ordnance, and the surrounding buffer
zone.
“When hunting pressure gets this high, deer may
move into the impact area, where no hunting is allowed. We don’t
want the hunters chasing the deer into this area. People could
get seriously injured and when caught, they would be expelled
from the WMA,” Johns said.
More hunts are scheduled for Camp Blanding:
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Muzzleloading season dates are Oct. 10-12
and Oct. 17-19.
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There are two youth hunts: Oct. 7-8 and Oct.
21-22.
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General gun still hunts (held in still hunt
areas 1 and 2) will begin Nov. 18 and go through Jan. 14.
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The general gun dog hunts, held on the north
post of Camp Blanding, are Nov. 18-26 and Dec. 23-31.
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Spring turkey hunts will be March 19-25 in
the dog hunt area and March 26-30 in the archery and still
hunt areas.
For more information about Camp Blanding’s
hunting dates and regulations, go to:
MyFWC.com/hunting/wma/2006-07/NorthCentral/CampBlandingletter.pdf
or call the FWC’s North Central Regional office in Lake City at
(386) 758-0525.
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