Several years ago I was getting stopped up to 3 times a day for checking safety equipment.

But they were also boarding and looking through all my enclosures. I have dry clothes, first aid, life jackets, flares and tools in 4 compartments.

Have always kept all my stuff way up to par but they have been a pain in the butt.

Now they just ask if you need assistance.

good to know, wonder how that will work during lobster mini season.

I hope this applies to land as well as water.  I got so tired of getting stopped in Ocala that I stopped hunting.

problem is FWC officers are agents of every other 3 letter federal agency out there, and they can still stop you for the fun of it.  

MiamiJBT can explain it better

What part of FL are you guys getting stopped by FWC?

I got stopped sunday and he just checked fishing licenses and was on his way in less than a minute.

I was kinda wondering about these guys when I realized his work truck was a white ford raptor.I cant imagine we're footing the bill for them to have 50k dollar trucks? I was thinking maybe it was seized from some crime.

I remember seeing somewhere that border patrol was using raptors.

They used to drive ford rangers but they don't make them anymore.

Around here they drive silver/gray 4x4 F150s or F250s, depending on the size of their boat.

A quick google search tells me this law went into effect July 1 2016. I'm moving to Florida soon so this interests me.

Anyone?

Umm...everywhere.

Flamingo/ENP, Chokoloskee, Indian Key Fill in the Keys, Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River...

...fuck I got stopped by FWC on the way to the sand bar last July 4th weekend on an inland lake in Orlando (Butler Chain) for having 1 more person on the boat than my capacity rating.

Yup.

I was asking because its somewhat uncommon, IME, in S.E. FL (Palm Beach County specifically).

The only stop I've had recently was coming out of the Everglades from a day hike. I had a black Suburban pull up behind my SUV in the parking area as I was walking back to it. I was essentially being stopped for the suspicion of harvesting/collecting wildlife. Very "tactical" looking guys, not the typical khaki/green uniforms. 

I was wearing cargo shorts, a tshirt and had a small sling bag with me. Not a lot of room for smuggling wildlife...but I was respectful.

License was radioed in, came back clean. One officer played hardball, wanted to search my vehicle. He wasn't exactly friendly. The other was fine. I produced ID as asked, and declined the request to search my vehicle. When asked why I declined the vehicle search, I simply asked if I had violated any laws, to which he answered no. I told them I'd be happy to empty my pockets and have them look through my bag. One took a quick look in my bag while the other circled my vehicle, cupping his hands at each window looking inside.

There was no violation here. I asked if there was any need for further information from me or if I was being detained for some reason as I would like to go home. They said I was free to go, so I did.

Other than that, I can only remember being stopped on the water a few years ago for a reason I don't remember. No violation there either.
 

Black suburban is Federal wildlife officer.

They were definitely not Feds. 

ETA: Maybe they were, though I thought they were FWC. Could be wrong.

Destin.

Hell, we had one stop us, find nothing (), leave, stop someone else, then come back and stop us AGAIN in the same damn no wake zone.  He claimed he hadn't stopped us 4 freaking minutes earlier.  

Believe me, please. Been around.

Believe me, please. Been around.

Oh yeah, the tacticool part gives the feds away.  Had to play with those asshats several times during duck season.

If this is the same ruling that went in to effect last July for boaters, we had a fairly substantial debate about this in the HTF almost a year ago - but I can't find the thread for some reason (so I won't call dupe ).  In short (and I'm going off the top of my head here) - if you're boating, Florida law enforcement can no longer board your vessel purely for the purpose of conducting a safety compliance inspection IF you are displaying a USCG inspection compliance sticker.  This does not prevent Federal personnel from stopping you (such as the USCG) or the FWC or other Florida resources for stopping you for purposes beyond a safety compliance inspection.  For example, they can still board and search a vessel that is fishing and verify fishing licenses.  I've also never seen a USCG inspection compliance sticker on a vessel I don't own.  Is this the same thing you posted about?  

I suspect the biggest impact of this law is that the Florida legislature has sent a clear message to Florida law enforcement officers to stop harassing people.  I suspect the ROE for involuntarily stops was changed at state agencies as a result of this, which is the biggest impact.  The Feds will still be Feds and do whatever they want.

I'm in the 561 as well and get stopped at least every other trip.

The more bikinis on board the higher our chances.

I get it but still...

The Coasties around Peanut are even worse.

Been a while since I've dealt with FWC on a professional level or personal level. Sadly haven't hunted for fished in FL for a long while..... busy work life. Last time Inworked with them was during Scott's second inauguration.

Anyways, FWC has a shit ton of mutual aid agreements with the Fed Outdoor Agencies. They alsonhave dual authority and jurisdiction via task forces. Under law, they were given a greater scope of authority due to regulation. Basically much like having a FL DL is automatic consent to a DUI exam. Hunting, fishing, using Public Lands, etc did something similar. That plus the deals with the Feds and dual certs they carry, etc....

It is complicated as fuck and I'm the bureaucracy level nerd at work and FWC confuses me. Now that they took over DEP it is even more convoluted. 

But they're good guys for the most part. They're an agency that pays shit but everyone loves it since they play outdoors with all the cool toys.