Unexplored Hunting

Hunting News & Reviews

Florida

Deer Calls in Florida Sportsman Magazine

Deer Calls in Florida Sportsman Magazine
Deer aren’t terribly boisterous critters. In fact, they go well out of their way to avoid making much noise most of the time. Unless they catch the scent of a smelly hunter, that is. Then, they’ll blow and stomp and raise ruckus to alert all of God’s woodland creatures that Man is in the woods. During the rut, though, they have a tendency to pump up their volume. Bucks grunt and wheeze and clash antlers. Hunters can take advantage of… Read More »

Ian Nance
Good Hunt

Let ‘Em Fly: Florida Hunting Power Rankings – September 2020

Let ‘Em Fly: Florida Hunting Power Rankings – September 2020
Florida’s hunting seasons begin in earnest this month. A couple of these – bowhunting and early waterfowling – are viewed by some as mere preseason trivialities more than the real deal of November and December. True enough, the heat doesn’t suggest the glamour of Fall. Bowhunting is a maddening sport as is the early teal and wood duck seasons. Florida dove hunting is hit-or-miss – literally and figuratively. But, the tough get going in September. As such, gonna be an… Read More »

Ian Nance
Good Hunt

The Summer’s Last Stand: Florida Hunting Power Rankings – August 2020

The Summer’s Last Stand: Florida Hunting Power Rankings – August 2020
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” – Charles R. Swindoll Hallelujah!!! Hunting seasons have returned. The long, cruel summer has nearly killed me – as I’ll explain below – but the calendar is welcoming friendlier weeks. Yes, the 2020-21 Hunting League/Fiscal Year begins in August. Who’s excited? This guy! 1. August Deer Hunting – God shined down on me during the second round of re-issued quota permits with a blessing of… Read More »

Ian Nance
Good Hunt

Bring your Trophy Buck to Be Scored at the Outdoor Life / Field & Stream Florida Expo

Bring your Trophy Buck to Be Scored at the Outdoor Life / Field & Stream Florida Expo
Deer mounts are the hunter’s equivalent to an emotional support animal. There’s comfort in those glassy eyes staring across the den, knowing that, for a brief moment, you were competent – or lucky – enough in the woods to tag a trophy, by whatever standard one wishes to measure trophy-ness. Perhaps the quickest way of dulling that shine of success is to compare your trophy to someone else’s buck, but in the event you must know what that whitetail scored… Read More »

Ian Nance
Good Hunt

Attracting Attention: Florida Hunting Power Rankings – July 2020

Attracting Attention: Florida Hunting Power Rankings – July 2020
To begin, multiple apologies to folks who’ve experienced difficulty accessing this website over the last month. For a bit, I thought Good Hunt had become self-aware and taken up Banker’s Hours, reliably working from around 9 a.m. to 4 p.m EST. The page has been super slow to load outside of that time-frame, mostly when summoned through smartphones or social media links. You know, those avenues through which 99% of modern people access websites. PCs have, mostly, been unaffected. Then,… Read More »

Ian Nance
Good Hunt

The Findings of the South Florida Deer Research Project

The Findings of the South Florida Deer Research Project
With 20+ years having passed since the last study of whitetails in the area, the South Florida Deer Research Project was a multi-year venture that examined the population of deer in one of the nation’s most unique ecosystems. Canvassing Bear Island and the Addition Unit in Big Cypress and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, scientists captured and collared deer, operated remote trail cameras, and conducted aerial observations to get a bead on how various factors affect these animals. Much… Read More »

Ian Nance
Good Hunt

Hog Medicine in Florida Sportsman Magazine

Hog Medicine in Florida Sportsman Magazine
As a teenager, I fancied myself as quite the handgun hunter. A pistolero. Even when hunting with a rifle, I regularly toted either a Dan Wesson .357 or Ruger Redhawk .44 Mag from age 14 to about 21 when I grew tired of carrying the extra weight…at which point I was carrying college-induced extra weight that I’m still trying to lose. I dunno, I probably shot 5 or 6 hogs with a revolver between those ages – shot AT a… Read More »

Ian Nance
Good Hunt

Hunting Season is Dead. Long Live Hunting Season: Florida Hunting Power Rankings – May 2020

Hunting Season is Dead. Long Live Hunting Season: Florida Hunting Power Rankings – May 2020
As Floridians gradually emerge from their COVID cocoons in the coming weeks, rub their eyes in the fresh daylight and withering humidity, they might realize, to their horror, there are few hunting opportunities between now and August. Arrrgggghhhh!!! Author Fennel Hudson once wrote, “May, more than any other month of the year, wants us to feel most alive.” Not me, man. If there was ever a season to shelter-in-place, that would begin May 1st and end July 31st. While others… Read More »

Ian Nance
Good Hunt

Some Semi-Scattered Thoughts about Applying for Hunts while Mining the Florida Statewide Alligator Harvest Data

Some Semi-Scattered Thoughts about Applying for Hunts while Mining the Florida Statewide Alligator Harvest Data
At the surface level, Lake Parker’s stats in 2019 appear pretty darned good. The average gator length was 11′ 9″ with a success rate of 75%. However, only 2 permits are assigned to the lake. And remember, as we go through the math, each permit is matched with two CITES tags. So, a mere four gators could be tagged. One of these measured 12′ 7″ – someone went home happy and probably sore. One un-punched tag was sent back to… Read More »

Ian Nance
Good Hunt

The 2020-21 Florida Limited-Entry Hunt Application Dates

The 2020-21 Florida Limited-Entry Hunt Application Dates
With an Executive Order, Gov. DeSantis deemed hunting and fishing as essential activities. Granted, his intentions with the recent stay-at-home decree were to minimize human contact during the coronavirus pandemic, not necessarily to validate what we’ve been arguing to spouses for years. Still, this was an exciting discovery by outdoorspeople. After all, what better avenue is out there for avoiding others and relieving mental stress than by strolling to the woods and water, provided, of course, people abide by a… Read More »

Ian Nance
Good Hunt