Short answer: on private land, with the owner’s permission, the state charges you nothing.
No hunting license, any time of year, and no permit even to hunt at night with a gun and a light.
On public wildlife management areas (WMAs) you still don’t need a hunting license for hogs, but most of them want a $26.50 management area permit.
Kids under 16 and Florida residents 65 and older don’t need that permit, so on most WMAs their hog hunt is free (unless the area also wants a quota permit).
I rewrote this page in October 2026.
The old version sent you to the Apalachicola WMA “for free” (WMA hog hunts usually need a $26.50 permit) and then answered its own FAQ with “No! You need a license,” which isn’t true for hogs.
Everything below comes from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
Free option 1: private land
FWC’s wild hog page puts it plainly: wild hogs “may be trapped and hunted year-round with landowner permission. A hunting license is not required.”
You also don’t need a permit to take hogs at night with a gun and a light, as long as the landowner says yes.
So there’s no off-season, and no hunting license to buy.
The catch is the landowner.
But free from the state isn’t free from the owner, and I wouldn’t assume a ranch lets strangers in at no charge.
If you know someone with land and a hog problem, I’d start there.
Honestly, it’s my pick for the cheapest hunt in Florida.
Three rules if you bring dogs:
- Every dog wears a collar or tag with the owner’s name and address.
- Each hunter carries written permission from the landowner (or lessee) and shows it to any officer who asks.
- Dogs that aren’t physically restrained need devices that allow remote tracking and behavior correction.
Trapping works too, with live traps like box or corral traps.
You can’t release a trapped hog on public land, and you need a Florida Department of Agriculture permit before you move or hold a live one.
Free option 2: a WMA, if you’re under 16 or a resident 65+
Here’s the line between free and not free on public land.
The FWC says: “A hunting license is never required, but a management area permit is usually required, and a quota or daily quota permit may be required.”
That permit costs $26.50 a year, or $126.50 for five years, and the price is the same for residents and visitors.
Florida law (section 379.353) exempts some people from the management area permit, along with hunting licenses.
The two that matter most here:
- Youth under 16.
- Florida residents 65 or older, with proof of age or residency (a Florida driver’s license or ID card works). The optional Resident 65+ Hunt/Fish Certificate is free.
So a grandparent who lives in Florida and a 14-year-old can hunt hogs on most WMAs without paying the state a cent.
Everyone else pays $26.50 wherever the permit is required.
I’d call that cheap for a year of access, and I wouldn’t let it stop me.
A quota permit, where an area requires one, is a separate thing, so check before you count on it.
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Hogs aren’t open year-round on WMAs.
On most areas you can hunt them during most seasons except spring turkey season, and during small-game seasons.
Two exceptions: the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Area and its Rolling Meadows Unit, where hog hunting is allowed all year.
On top of that, the FWC runs late-spring and summer hog hunts on a list of WMAs.
Many don’t need a quota permit for those, but some do.
In the FWC’s Northwest Region that list includes Apalachicola’s Bradwell Unit, Apalachicola River, Aucilla, Blackwater, Box-R, Choctawhatchee River, Escambia River and Tate’s Hell.
In its South Region it’s Allapattah Flats and DuPuis, plus the Hungryland area.
Where do hunters actually take the most hogs?
The FWC names its best hog WMAs by region, and for two regions it ranks them by harvest:
- Northeast: Three Lakes is usually tops for numbers, then Tosohatchee, Triple N Ranch and Guana River, with a few more after them. Tosohatchee is the best area where you can hunt with dogs.
- Southwest: Green Swamp has the largest harvest every year, followed by Green Swamp West and Babcock/Webb, with two more after them.
For the rest it just lists names, with no ranking.
The Northwest list starts with Aucilla and Blackwater’s Hutton Unit, then portions of Blackwater, Apalachicola’s Bradwell Unit and Choctawhatchee River.
The South list starts with Dinner Island Ranch and J.W. Corbett, plus DuPuis and Fisheating Creek.
Most WMAs have no bag or size limits on hogs.
Some have daily bag limits, and a few even have a minimum size.
My rule: read the brochure for that WMA before you go.
And don’t hunt for a paper copy, since the FWC only publishes them online, at MyFWC.com/WMAbrochures.
Before you clean one
Wild hogs live in all 67 Florida counties and can top 150 pounds.
They also carry parasites and diseases, and some of those can pass to people as well as to pets and livestock.
The FWC asks hunters to take precautions when handling, field dressing and butchering them, so read its health advisory before you start cutting.
Using a rifle?
Our post on hunting hogs with an AR-15 in Florida covers that.
More on Florida’s animals is in our Florida wildlife hub.
