[ft-l] Backpacking season in Florida (was: Hiking boot's for FLtrails)

[dblick at cfl.rr.com (Deb Blick)]

Due to a lot of grunt work on the part of Brent Moore, the former intern in the FNST office, almost all of the WMA's (hunting areas) in the state of Florida now contain the following language in their hunting regulations : "A marked footpath called the Florida Trail traverses the area.  This trail is open to hikers throughout the year."  Also, on most of the maps included in the hunting regs the centerline of the trail is indicated.

We still have a ways to go to make sure that camping is allowed along the trail during general gun season, but at least now we are able to legally hike the trail and we are much closer to our goal of having Florida Trail System trails open to hiking 365 days a year.

Before hiking during hunting seasons it is always a good idea to contact the local land manager or check out the hunting regulations at http://wildflorida.org/hunting/  

Hikers should, of course, wear blaze orange during hunt seasons, particularly general gun.  You can pick up blaze orange mesh vests at any local sporting goods store in the fall and I usually also use a blaze orange pack cover.  If you take your dog hiking with you it's a good idea to get them a vest too.

Deb

  > Only problem may be arranging your hikes around hunting seasons.
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