Size isn't everything: Florida's deer hunting is superb, so forget the naysayers | Nance

I’ve heard it a million times: “Florida’s deer are the size of dogs!”

And at least a thousand times: “I didn’t know Florida even had deer.”

Yes, the otherwise venerated Odocoileus virginianus resides throughout the Sunshine State, and in large numbers in certain locales. While even within the state there is a wide variance in the size of the deer and their antlers, true enough, they don’t grow as large in either category, on average, than your Midwestern or Canadian whitetails.

But darn it, they’re still fun to hunt.

Frankly, there are other subspecies of whitetail – of which taxonomists believe there are up to 40 different subspecies – that are similar in stature to our so-called Osceola and Florida deer, but which receive ample accolades from the hunting community at-large for which I've never fully understood.

(There are actually three noted subspecies in Florida. The endangered Key Deer is even smaller than our standard whitetail but off-limits to hunting.)

The Coues Deer is one famed example. The Coues lives in the southwestern desert mountains of the U.S. and Mexico. With bucks barely tipping 120-pounds full-grown, they are nonetheless treasured by a growing sect of hunters.

According to the Boone and Crockett Club, the world record Coues Deer antlers scored 144 1/8^th inches; it was taken in 1955. In 2023, eight bucks were entered into Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Florida Buck Registry that scored between 148 and 200 inches. Lord knows how many others were harvested but not submitted. And for a reference, the record typical whitetail buck measured 213 5/8^th inches, the Milo Hansen Buck from Saskatchewan.

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Still, the Coues Deer is a marketing success. I saw my first ones while in Mexico in April. They are short, stocky whitetails. My turkey guide insisted the hunts are tremendous trips, and I don’t doubt that. The deer are notorious for disappearing in plain sight while glassing against the mountainsides.

Hunts have become tough to book in recent years, though, as their popularity has skyrocketed, thanks to YouTube and other hunting shows, I'm told. Outfitted trips are costing upwards of $7,000. Kansas and Ohio whitetail hunts, which produce legitimate monsters, don’t cost that much, however.

Sure, Florida doesn’t have mountains to glass and the overall logistics aren’t as daunting as hunting Mexico, but I submit that our deer are as challenging as any whitetails continent-wide. According to the University of Florida, the state boasts 80 distinct ecosystems. Native deer live in most of them, and from 90% of those, a real adventure awaits, whether stalking the dry prairies, the scrub or river swamps.

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Furthermore, Florida has one of the longest deer seasons in the country, beginning in late summer in the southern portion of the state and running through February in the Panhandle and the Green Swamp area. Many other places are confined to a few weeks or a couple of months, at best.

Listen, I’m not trying to entice more hunters to compete on our public lands, drive the costs of private leases any higher, or serve as inspiration to entrepreneurial guides seeking to offer expensive outings for under-sized bucks.

I’m simply stating it's time to put some more respect on the Florida’s whitetail's name.