Hog Hunt
Saturday, February 20, 2027
Four things get a man into a stand on February 20: he is 18 or older, he holds a Florida hunting license, he has qualified with a Fireside captain, and he has signed the waiver. The rest of this page walks through each one, then how the day runs.
1. Who Can Hunt
Men 18 and older only. The first Hog Hunt has no minors (board decision, November 5, 2026). A father and son hunt is planned as its own event.
Register yourself and up to four other men in one checkout. Every man on the registration has to meet every requirement on this page. The hunt is capped at 30 men; when it fills, the card on the events page offers a waitlist.
2. Florida Hunting License
The rule. Every man on the hunt holds a valid Florida hunting license and carries it on the day. This is Fireside's rule, not the state's: Florida does not require a license to take wild hogs on private land with the landowner's permission. We require it for safety and accountability, and it unlocks public land and other states for you.
The deadline. Send Fireside your license number by Saturday, February 13, 2027, one week before the hunt: add it when you register, reply to any Fireside text with it, or email fireside610@gmail.com. No license on the day means no stand and no refund.
How To Get It
- Check your birth date. Buy the Resident Annual Hunting License ($17 as of November 2026) at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com, in the Fish|Hunt FL app, or at any county tax collector or license agent. Born on or after June 1, 1975? Florida requires a hunter safety certification before you can buy the license. Born before June 1, 1975? No course, just buy the license. Hunter safety cards from other states count.
- Hunter safety, if you need it. Hunter safety is an online or classroom portion plus a hands-on skills day. FWC's classroom courses are free; online options run through FWC's approved providers. Fireside captains can help you book the skills day at Palm Beach Shooting Sports: text Brandon Poe at (561) 905-0546.
- Buy the license. Online at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com, in the Fish|Hunt FL app, or at a county tax collector. Keep a photo of it on your phone and carry it on the hunt.
- Send Fireside the number. Add it when you register, reply to any Fireside text with it, or email fireside610@gmail.com.
Florida also sells a license under a hunter safety mentoring exemption (hunt under a licensed adult's supervision without the course). Fireside leadership decides whether that license qualifies for the hunt. If that is your plan, talk to your captain before you register.
Official requirements: FWC hunter safety requirement and FWC hunting license fees.
3. Qualify With A Captain
The standard. Four shots at 100 yards on a 6-inch target, three hits, with a Fireside captain watching.
To attend and take part in the Hog Hunt, every man qualifies with a Fireside captain before the hunt. The standard is four shots at 100 yards on a 6-inch target, three hits. Qualify on the December qualifier day at Okeechobee Shooting Sports (date to be announced), at Winter Fireside on Friday, January 22, 2027, or at a possible early-February session. Closer to home, Brandon Poe or Guy Blocker can qualify you any day at Palm Beach Shooting Sports: text or call Brandon at (561) 905-0546. Qualification happens before February 20, not on the day.
Where And When
- A Saturday in December (date coming): Okeechobee Shooting Sports. Hog Hunt Qualifier day with the captains
- Friday, January 22, 2027: Okeechobee Shooting Sports. Winter Fireside, qualify on the range
- Early February (only if needed, date coming): Okeechobee Shooting Sports. Second qualifier
- Any day, by appointment: Palm Beach Shooting Sports. With Brandon Poe or Guy Blocker. Text Brandon at (561) 905-0546.
Zero First
Zero your rifle before you qualify, at Okeechobee Shooting Sports or Palm Beach Shooting Sports, and qualify with the rifle you will hunt with. Ask your captain about covered range time at Palm Beach Shooting Sports.
4. Rifle Rules And Safety
Rifle. Bring the rifle you qualified with. .223 Remington or .308 Winchester recommended. Shot placement matters more than caliber. Other calibers: ask your captain first.
Optics. No thermal optics. Daylight and low light glass only.
Cutoff. Guns down 30 minutes after sundown. The horn sounds, every rifle is unloaded with the action open, and the buggies bring the men in. Nobody shoots after the horn and nobody walks out alone.
Stands. Ten double stands and ten single stands. Your captain assigns your stand and your lane. You shoot only from your stand, only into your lane, only at a hog you have identified, only with a backstop you can see.
Fireside Hunt Safety Rules
- Men 18 and older only. No minors on this hunt.
- A valid Florida hunting license for every man, on his person during the hunt. Fireside's rule, stricter than Florida law.
- Every man qualifies with a Fireside captain before the hunt. No qualification, no stand.
- Bring the rifle you qualified with. .223 Remington or .308 Winchester recommended. Shot placement matters more than caliber.
- No thermal optics. Daylight and low light glass only.
- Rifles unloaded, actions open, muzzles in a safe direction except when seated in your assigned stand with the range of fire your captain gave you.
- Shoot only from your assigned stand, only into your assigned lane, only at a hog you have positively identified, and only with a backstop you can see. Never shoot toward a road, a vehicle, a structure, a buggy, another stand or the skyline.
- Guns down 30 minutes after sundown. When the horn sounds, unload, open the action and wait for your captain or buggy. Nobody walks out alone in the dark.
- Stay in your stand until a captain or buggy collects you. Do not track a hog out of your lane. Wounded hogs are reported to your captain, who decides the follow up.
- Elevated stands: three points of contact on the ladder, firearm handed up or lifted by rope unloaded, a harness is strongly recommended.
- Buggies and trucks: seated, holding on, firearms unloaded and cased or muzzle up, no riding on racks or tailgates.
- Zero alcohol and zero impairing substances from the time you arrive until you leave. Disclose any medication that could impair you to your captain.
- Stay inside the ranch boundaries your captain shows you. The land beyond is private property and other hunters may be on it.
- Field dressing is done with the captains. Gloves on. Wild hogs carry brucellosis and other diseases.
- Follow every instruction from a Fireside captain, the ranch owner and his staff immediately. A man who will not follow instructions is driven off the ranch and forfeits his registration.
WARNING. Under Florida law, an agritourism operator is not liable for injury or death of, or damage or loss to, a participant in an agritourism activity conducted at this agritourism location if such injury, death, damage, or loss results from the inherent risks of the agritourism activity. Inherent risks of agritourism activities include, among others, risks of injury inherent to land, equipment, and animals, as well as the potential for you to act in a negligent manner that may contribute to your injury, death, damage, or loss. You are assuming the risk of participating in this agritourism activity.
Fla. Stat. 570.89(2). The ranch is a working agricultural operation and its owners are agritourism operators under Florida law.
5. The Waiver
Every man signs the Fireside Participant Agreement, Release and Waiver of Liability before the hunt. The man who pays signs it inside checkout. Every other man on the registration signs his own at fireside610.com/waiver from the link in his confirmation. One signature covers Fireside 610, Okeechobee Shooting Sports and the ranch for the whole season. No signed waiver, no stand.
6. How The Day Runs
Arrive between noon and 1 PM. Lunch and a word at the barn, then captains run the men out to the stands at 3 PM. Shooting stops 30 minutes after sundown when the horn sounds, the buggies bring the men in, and the day closes with parting words back at the barn.
Private Ranch Off Hwy 70, St. Lucie and Okeechobee County Line
7. What To Bring
The full gear list comes by email before the hunt. Count on the rifle you qualified with, eye and ear protection, boots, water and bug spray.
8. Questions
Email fireside610@gmail.com, reply to any Fireside text, or ask your captain. For local qualifying and the hunter safety skills day, text Brandon Poe at (561) 905-0546.