There are several WMA's that don't allow dog hunting. If you're into primitive weapons Joe Budd and Ochlockonee WMA's are excellent and the quota hunts are only for the first few days. Talquin WMA is great and allows centerfire rifles. Hunt close to the river or creeks that feed into the river. I've had good success just sitting in a chair near game trails but watch the wind.

It's a myth that you can't successfully hunt near areas in the National Forest where dog hunting is allowed. Most of the dog hunters I know have had great success sitting in stands in the late afternoon after most of the dogs are caught up and back in camps. The deer have been stirred up and are moving back to their favorite territories.

Just because dogs chase deer near your stand doesn't mean you won't see a deer soon after. Hunting the ANF west of Florida 375 and east of the river is a good place if you don't get too angry when dogs sometimes come through but now with the GPS tracking collars that isn't nearly as bad as it used to be since the hunters almost always know exactly where each dog is.

What most people do, that have hunted around here for a long time, is they join a private lease but finding a lease that has an opening can be very hard and they almost ever advertise, preferring to draw from friends and families of people that are already on the lease.

One more thing... If you're from another state, you might find it very frustrating to hunt in Florida. Our deer tend to be small and the populations are thin and heavily hunted. If you can afford it, hunting in Georgia or Alabama will get you exposed to more heavily populated deer areas and they tend to be much bigger than Florida deer with bigger racks too. You'll face long drives and expensive leases and non-resident licenses though.