The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission passed changes that divide the state’s Hunting Zone D (from Pensacola to Tallahassee) into two deer management units Thursday while meeting at the Florida Public Safety Institute near Tallahassee. Each DMU has a unique set of antler-point requirements and antlerless deer harvest days.
These changes take effect during the 2014-15 hunting season and are part of a larger, statewide project aimed at managing deer on a more local level and providing stakeholders with a greater say in deer management.
The FWC conducted a public outreach and input process in northwest Florida beginning in early 2013. Since then, the commission has received substantial input and comments from hunters, farmers and the general public regarding how they would like to see deer managed in the newly proposed DMUs.
As a result of this outreach process, the FWC passed rules for both public and private lands in both of the DMUs in Zone D, with Interstate 10 being the dividing line between the two DMUs. South of the interstate will be called DMU-D1, and north of the interstate is DMU-D2.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Deer hunting changes passed in northwest Florida