WILD BOAR HUNTING-South Florida Wild Boar Hunts
Welcome to EVERGLADES ADVENTURES Wild Boar hunting page. We have been in operation since 1989 offering hunts for wild game in Florida. We currently offer Alligator, Wild Boar, Osceola Turkey, Duck and Dove hunts.
We are a full time guide service dedicated to our clients. We were the third guide service to begin operations in Southern Florida. The owner, Captain Mark Clemons has been professionally guiding hunting charters (full time) since 1985. He is a native of South Florida and has hunted and fished in South Florida for over 30 years. We currently handle over a thousand hunter's a year for all of our hunts combined.
Our operations are conducted on several
private ranches and wetlands located in Hendry County, Florida. These properties
and wetlands consist of several thousand acres. These properties are cattle, citrus, sugar
cane and farming operations which consist of improved
pastures, oak hammocks, swamps, water retention areas and cypress strands. We maintain a large supplemental
feeding program with automatic solar powered feeders and have a large population
of wild boar.
The
full-day hunt (two persons or more) lasts approximately four hours in the morning, then a hearty lunch
and a break and then four more hours in the afternoon and includes drinks, ice
and also taking care of the game harvested.
The half-day hunt (one person) lasts approximately four hours in the morning and includes drinks, ice and also taking care of the game harvested.
Hunting licenses are not required
for wild boar in Florida on private lands for residents or non-residents.
We offer spot and stalk hunting from vehicles (four wheel drive trucks,
swamp
buggy’s or electric 4WD Bad Boy Buggy's) or walking.
We offer year round hunting for our wild boar. Our hunts are strictly FAIR CHASE on open lands. We have no fenced in areas stocked with wild boar for you to hunt. This is NOT A PRESERVE type hunt or a CANNED HUNT.
Our boars are totally wild animals. They
are NOT released from boxes,
cages, or traps, held in enclosures, tied up and released during the hunt,
stocked or purchased and released behind fences prior to the hunt, or any other
type of hunt which is NOT FAIR CHASE (yes, this commonly
occurs). Most of the operations that are set up for these types
of hunts offer a "GUARANTEED KILL" and are CANNED HUNTS.
We don't offer a "GUARANTEED
KILL". If you are looking for this type of a hunt there are numerous other
operations which offer them.
We
don't offer any "DOG HUNTING". We have found
that pursuing boars with dogs stresses out all other wildlife on the areas and
therefore, we do not utilize dogs on any of our wild boar hunts.
We
like to be on a very personal level with our clients. For this reason our hunts
are limited to no more than four (6) hunters at a time. Most of our hunts are
for only two or three persons. If your party is for two or more people you will most
likely be the only party hunting with us at that time. At the time of your
reservation we can inform you of how many persons will be hunting with us at
that time if you desire.
For this hunt you will need full
camouflage clothing in a dark green pattern such as Mossy Oak Full Foliage. You
might require waterproof hiking boots; preferably knee-high as it is very
possible we could get into some water. Your clothing should consist of long
sleeve shirts, pants and a hat. Also, you may require some form of camouflage
rain gear if you are hunting during the summer months. The mosquito’s can be
pretty bad during the summer months so during this time especially plan on the
long sleeve shirts and long pants.
We suggest the use of thirty caliber or larger rifles
and for the handgun hunters, nothing smaller than a 357 magnum. Shots
generally range from thirty yards with a maximum shooting range of one hundred yards. Hunters will need some form of soft case for your gun for
transporting it on our vehicles.
For our Bow hunters we suggest the use of a bow with a fifty-pound draw minimum. You should be proficient from ten to thirty yards.
We require a 50%
(fifty-percent) deposit to confirm your reservation. The deposit is
non-refundable, but is transferable as scheduling permits. Thirty-day advance
notice of cancellation is required. Payments
can be made by cash, personal or business check, traveler’s check, cashiers
check or money order. Checks should be made payable to: EVERGLADES ADVENTURES.
Our rates are $375.00, for a HALF-DAY for a single person. This price includes ONE meat hog up to 150 pounds. This includes the skinning and quartering of the animal. The client will receive two hams, two shoulders, two tenderloins, two back straps and two sets of ribs from each hog.
FULL-DAY ( $375.00 per-person) TWO person minimum, SIX person maximum. This price includes ONE meat hog per-hunter) up to 150 pounds. This includes the skinning and quartering of animals. The client will receive two hams, two shoulders, two tenderloins, two back straps and two sets of ribs from each hog. This also includes lunch or brunch depending on the client's choice.
Additional meat hogs are $150.00 each and are limited to ONE per-hunter, per day or half day.
Non-Hunters are allowed on a limited basis. The cost for non-hunters is 100.00 per-person.
Our hogs are basically eating sugar cane, whole corn or acorns as their main diet though out the year. Due to this they are very good eating. If you look though all of the photo's of our harvested hogs you won't see any poor hogs( thin and under nourished). The best size for eating is between 85-90 pounds and 115-120 pounds. This is the size slot we are looking for during our meat hog hunts. You will see numerous hogs both over and under this size. Larger hogs are good for grinding into sausage but don't otherwise fare well on the table.
Our prices are on the high end of the scale. We offer professional guide services to our clients. Our properties are very pristine and private. Our feeding program consists of dozens of feeders feeding TONS of whole corn per-month. The concentrations of hogs on our properties is HIGH. On an average day's hunt clients should witness over 100 hogs. Due to this our overhead is high. This is reflected in our prices.
There are NO guide or
other fees, just the following trophy fees if a trophy boar is desired and
harvested. (HARVESTED for trophy boars: If you take the shot and hit the animal
it belongs to you regardless of your shot placement.
Recovery of the boar is not a requirement of your guide due to a bad
shot.)
There is an additional $125.00 trophy fee for all boars harvested over 200 but less than 300 pounds. Total cost $500.00 for that individual hunter.
Trophy boars harvested between 300 pounds and 400 pounds the additional trophy fee is $375.00. Total cost $750.00 for that individual hunter.
Trophy boars harvested over 400 pounds the additional trophy fee is $625.00. Total cost $1000.00 for that individual hunter.
We
will discuss the trophy prior to the harvest. Most of these very large boars
are harvested over bait. These are very wild boars much like very large bucks
and must be hunted accordingly. These hunts are mostly done one on one with your
guide.
You will need a cooler for transporting
your meat home. You will need a large one if you are planning to use your
taxidermist. We have several
taxidermists that we recommend and can handle the complete process including
handling the mount and the paperwork. We also would suggest you bring a still or
video camera with extra film for the very excellent scenery.
If you are flying in, the Southwest Florida
International Airport located in Fort Myers or the Ft. Lauderdale Airport are
the most convenient. These airports are located approximately one and a half-hours from
where you will be hunting. If you are flying into this area for the hunt we
recommend that you acquire a rental car, which are available at the airport.
We have comfortable modern air-conditioned
lodging on site and available for our guests that would like to hunt for more
than one day or for our guests that would like some type of a combination hunt.
CURRENT CONDITIONS AND RECENT HUNTS.
We have an additional page for current information on Wild Boar set up for our clients to keep up with recent events, recent hunts with photographs, current conditions and basically what's been happening with our Wild Boar hunts. We try to update this page whenever we get a few spare minutes between hunts. Our site has now become very large and keeping it updated is quite a undertaking. There are several archived pages located here with hundreds of photo's of successful harvests by clients. The currents page for Wild Boar can be accessed by clicking on the following link:
Everglades Adventures-Current Wild Boar Hunting Conditions and News
SUMMER SPECIAL:
During the summer months of June, July and August we are offering the following special. Due to the summer months being so hot and humid and the mosquito's sometimes becoming quite thick, we are only offering half day hunts conducted early in the morning until noon.
Our rates for this special: $300.00 per-person, for a HALF-DAY, TWO person minimum, SIX person maximum.
This is a 20% discount off our normal season rates. These hunts will only be offered during the stated months.
WILD
BOAR
HUNTING IN FLORIDA
If you are considering coming to Florida
in pursuit of a Wild Boar, the following should be considered prior to arranging
a hunt.
HUNTING
OPERATORS. Please be careful in the selection of the hunting operation you
choose in Florida. There are numerous FALSE and MISLEADING statements made on
websites advertising wild boar hunts in Florida. The most common one is the use
of the statement "FAIR CHASE". There are several operations which
state "Fair Chase hunts" which I have first hand knowledge are
"Canned Hunts" in small enclosures. These operators are purchasing
hogs trapped or caught by dogs on other properties and releasing them in their
enclosures prior to the hunt.
These operators purchase them for as little as twenty dollars each (less than 40 pounds are usually free) in trailer loads by individuals who are trapping them with contracts with the state to remove them from state lands or from other landowners where they are creating a nuisance. They lease or own small acreage areas which are fenced in to conduct their hunts. This explains the reason some operators can provide their hunts at such a low cost to the customer.
"Canned hunts" are basically where the customer is guaranteed a kill by the operator pre-capturing the animal or purchasing it and releasing it into an enclosure where the hunter can take a shot at it.
Canned
hunting operations, also referred to as "shooting preserves" or
"game ranches" or "farms", are private hunting operations
that offer their customers the opportunity to kill exotic or native animals that
are trapped within enclosures for a price.
If the operation offers exotic animal hunting, they are a "hunting preserve" and the hunt is a "Canned Hunt". There is one website stating "Our animals are "free ranging" but also state "within the preserve". If animals are in an enclosure, they are not "FREE RANGING" and it is not "FAIR CHASE".
Prior to booking a hunt with an operation in Florida, customers seeking a "fair chase hunt" should require the operator to give a money back guarantee if the hunt they book turns out to be a "Canned Hunt" upon their arrival. We have customers who have arrived at one guide service to find the hogs in a very small enclosure. They explained to the operator that they booked a hunting adventure and didn't want to just shoot a hog in a pen. The operator just stated fine, I will just keep your deposit.
Another
common practice is to place a hog in a small box or cage and conceal it in heavy
cover out of sight of the customer or to just tie the feet of the hog and place
the hog in heavy cover. They then ride along with the customer on a vehicle
(generally using dogs), when the dog strikes the scent of the hog and begins
barking, the guide tells the customer to wait on the vehicle until he goes and
makes sure "it's safe to go in there" and gets off and releases the
hog without the customers knowledge. This is a common practice. We have numerous
clients which have caught the person or guide releasing the hog. This has
occurred with several different guide services.
Florida does not license or require permits for hunting guides nor do they have any minimum requirements for them. I urge you to be careful in selecting a guide for your outdoor recreational time in Florida. If you have a bad experience with an outfitter or guide in Florida, please contact the Florida Game and Fish Commission to file a complaint at the following link: http://myfwc.com. You can also file a complaint with the Florida Division of Consumer Services at the following link: http://www.800helpfla.com/index.html.
REFERENCES. Make
sure you ask for references. Any legitimate operator will gladly supply
references on request. Ask for references, which have hunted with the operation
more than once. Operations that have repeat customers are a good indication of a
quality operation.
HUNTER
OPPORTUNITY. We provide an excellent adventure for our customers. We provide
approximately a 98% opportunity for a client to get the shot of their
choice. Our shots are usually from shooting sticks (if gun hunting) at 40 yards
or less. Bow hunters and handgun hunters are usually less than 20 yards. With
this stated, customers should realize that the more difficult they attempt to
make the hunt (such as bow, long bow, handgun, black powder, etc.) you are
decreasing your chances on success. Rifle hunters with scopes are the most
successful (99-100%).
Also, If you are coming on a hunt, please practice, practice, practice with the weapon of your choice prior to the hunt. I know this is hard to believe but over 50% of our clients (rifle hunters) miss (or worse, wound the animal) at 40 yards, on shooting sticks, broadside shots. Our policy on shooting, if you miss completely, we will attempt (time permitting) to get you a second shot, if you miss the second shot your hunt is over. If you wound an animal, that is your animal. Your guide will make every attempt to trail or track the animal. You will not be permitted a second without an additional charge.
SUCCESS RATES. Success rates and how they are determined can be very tricky. You need to understand how each individual operator determines them. Anything above 90% is a good rate if they are truly hunting fair chase and are being truthful about the rate.
LODGING. Lodging
is up to the client. You should ask for a description of the lodge or camp. You
might even ask for pictures of the inside. These pictures are of both bedrooms
of our cabin. Just be sure you are satisfied with
what they offer for the money. Florida offers everything from large extravagant
lodges to tents in the bush.
TAXIDERMY. The operation you choose should have a taxidermist available that handles lots of wild boar. If at all possible ask for his name prior to the hunt and call and talk to him personally. We will gladly supply ours. If he is a legitimate taxidermist he should be able to answer any of your questions. This service should be included in the hunt. If not it should at least be available to you.
Remember to ask lots of questions, talk to the references they supply, get as much information as you can. Remember, research, research, research. There is a lot of false advertising from operations in Florida due to the demand for wild boar hunts. Websites which provide little or no information concerning their operation such as not providing the owners name or just a post office box or not providing any address at all, must make you ask yourself why? Don't trust what the operator tells you. Check operations out through other means. Contact the state game commission. Here is the link to there website: http://MYFWC.COM. Remember, don't believe everything you hear or read. Especially on websites.
CURRENT CONDITIONS AND RECENT HUNTS.
We have a NEW links page set up for our clients to keep up with recent events, recent hunts with photographs, current conditions and basically what's been happening with our Wild Boar hunts. We try to update this page whenever we get a few spare minutes between hunts. Our site has now become very large and keeping it updated is quite a undertaking. There are several archived pages located here with hundreds of photo's of successful harvests by clients. The currents page for Wild Boar can be accessed by clicking on the following link:
Everglades Adventures-Current Wild Boar Hunting Conditions and News
To view photo's of some of our successful clients, please click on the following link:
Everglades Adventures-Wild Boar Trophy Photo Scrapbook
Also, don't forget to check out our main page with links to our additional hunts. We currently offer Alligator, Wild Boar, Osceola Turkey, Duck and Dove hunts. To visit this page please click on the following link:
Everglades Adventures-South Florida Hunting Charters
We hope you will consider us in your great
adventure for a Florida Wild Boar.
Sincerely,
Captain Mark Clemons
Thank you for your interest in EVERGLADES ADVENTURES
Comments or Problems?
For
additional information concerning our hunts or Everglades Adventures,
Please
contact us at our office (863) 983-8999 or
E-mail
us at: huntsfla@aol.com
If you
have arrived here via a search engine and you are not viewing our main
page, find us at: http://www.huntsflorida.com
Our snail mail address is: 28965 Obern Road, Clewiston, Florida 33440
This site is built and
maintained by Captain Mark Clemons of EVERGLADES ADVENTURES.
This
page, and all contents, photos and text are Copyright © 1998-2009 by
Everglades Adventures, Clewiston, Florida USA
Last Modified: Friday, April 17, 2009