Can I move a live feral hog in Florida?

Only as a Feral Swine Dealer registered with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and only to a USDA-inspected slaughter establishment or an FDACS-licensed holding facility. Trapped hogs may be released only on private property with the landowner's permission, never on public land. (Sources: FDACS; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.)

Guides · Checked October 6, 2026

Feral hog laws in Florida

In Florida, wild hogs may be hunted and trapped year-round on private land with the landowner's permission. No hunting license, no bag limit, and no permit to hunt them at night with a gun and light.

Moving a live hog is another matter. It takes a Feral Swine Dealer card from the state agriculture department, and the hog may go only to an approved destination.

The rules at a glance

Legal status: A wild hog is a free-roaming hog that no one can legally claim as a domestic hog. Under FWC rules it counts as legal game, unless the regulation of a wildlife management area says otherwise. source
Season, private land: Open year-round, with the landowner's permission. Hogs may be taken with any legal rifle, shotgun, handgun, muzzleloader, air gun, crossbow or bow, and with dogs. source
Season, public land: On most wildlife management areas, during most hunting seasons, never during spring turkey season. Year-round hog hunting on a WMA exists only on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Area and its Rolling Meadows Unit. The FWC also lists late spring and summer hog hunts on named WMAs; read the brochure of the area you want to hunt. source
License: No hunting license, on private land or on a WMA. On a WMA you usually need a management area permit, and some hunts need a quota or daily quota permit. source
Bag limit: None on private land: no size limit, either sex. Some WMAs set a daily bag limit, and a few set a minimum size. source
Trapping: Allowed year-round with the landowner's permission, with live traps such as box, cage or corral traps. A trapped hog may be released only on private property with the landowner's permission, never on public land. source Poisoning wild hogs is prohibited. source
Moving live hogs: Regulated by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, not by the FWC. Anyone trapping feral swine must register with FDACS as a Feral Swine Dealer and carry the card when moving them. Captured hogs may go to two places only: a USDA-inspected slaughter establishment, or a holding facility licensed by FDACS. Holding them on your own land means registering the premises as an approved holding facility and meeting its requirements. Swine moved within Florida for other reasons travel with an owner-shipper statement; the State Veterinarian's Office, 850-410-0900, says which papers a trapped hog needs. Feral swine may not be imported into Florida. source
Night hunting: Allowed on private land with the landowner's permission, with a gun and a light. No permit is needed. source
Eradication or bounty: Not stated by the FWC. Its pages point to private nuisance wildlife trappers for removal; no state bounty appears on them. source

What makes Florida different

Two agencies share the hog. The FWC sets what you may hunt and trap; FDACS regulates every live hog that is transported or held. The Feral Swine Dealer card comes from an online application on the FDACS site.

Hunting hogs with dogs has its own rules. Each dog wears a collar or tag with the owner's name and address. Each hunter carries the landowner's written permission, ready to show an officer.

Dogs that run loose after a hog must also carry devices for remote tracking and behavior correction, and someone must be monitoring them.

On a WMA the weapon follows the season. Archery season means a bow only; muzzleloading season means a muzzleloader only. During small-game season many WMAs prohibit centerfire rifles, and area rules can also restrict dogs, so read the area brochure first.

The FWC asks hunters and trappers to take precautions when handling, field dressing and butchering hogs. Its wildlife health page names pseudorabies and swine brucellosis.

Where to report hogs

None of the FWC's wild hog pages asks you to report a sighting: wild hogs live in all 67 Florida counties. Who to call depends on what you need.

Hogs on your own land: you may shoot or trap them yourself, year-round, without a license. If you would rather hire it out, the FWC lists private nuisance wildlife trappers who remove and dispose of hogs.

Damage or a conflict you want advice on: submit the FWC's Wildlife Interactions Reporting Form, or call your regional office. Northwest 850-265-3676, North Central 386-758-0525, Northeast 352-732-1225, Southwest 863-648-3200, South 561-625-5122.

A hog you want to move alive or hold: FDACS State Veterinarian's Office, 850-410-0900, Monday to Friday, 8 to 5. A wildlife crime or an injured animal: the Wildlife Alert hotline, 888-404-3922.

Every state also has a USDA Wildlife Services office. The federal feral swine program (Squeal on Pigs!) links to yours.

Knowing the rules is half of it

Whether you hunt, trap or call it in, it helps to know what is actually on your land.

HogSight reads the trail-camera photos you already have and maps the sounder: group size, timing, and which individuals keep coming back. See how HogSight reads your camera roll →

Sources

Checked against these official pages on October 6, 2026. Due for a re-check by October 6, 2027.

The FWC pages were read in the Internet Archive's copies of October 4, 2026 (species profile: March 16, 2026; health page: May 16, 2026), because myfwc.com refused our direct requests that day. The WMA brochures were not read; the FWC publishes them at MyFWC.com/WMAbrochures.

This guide is informational. Wildlife and animal-health rules change and can vary by county and by management area. Always confirm current rules with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission before acting.