To answer this question you must look a the Florida Statutes and Florida Administrative code. While Florida Law does not specifically grant the right to use a suppressor while hunting in certain conditions, you must remember that laws do not grant rights they restrict them so by interpreting what rights you do not have, you can determine what is left.
In Florida there are four classifications of land:
- Wildlife Management Areas;
- Wildlife and Environmental Areas;
- Public land that are not classified as Wildlife Management Areas or Wildlife and Environmental Areas; and
- Private land.
You may not take GAME animals (mammals or birds) or Crows with a suppressor or a machine gun on any type of land. Per FAC 68A-12.002
You may not take wild hogs on Wildlife Management Areas and Wildlife Environmental Areas (per FAC 68A-15.004 and 68A-17.004), but can use a suppressor to take other non game animals such as furbearers unless prohibited to be hunted the area brochure or the area brochure prohibits the use of suppressors.
Game animals include Resident Game Birds, Resident Game mammals, Migratory Game Birds and Protected Mammals.
See http://myfwc.com/hunting/regulations/taking-game/
Neither Florida Law nor Florida Administrative Code restricts the use of suppressors (silencers), on private land, to take varmint, furbearers, non native game animals. In addition, suppressors can be used to take wild hogs on public land that is not classified as a Wildlife Management Area or Wildlife and Environmental Area.
Here are some definitions that will help make sense of these two statements.
- Game birds –Wild turkey, quail, rails, snipe, woodcock, ducks, geese, brant, dove, coot, common moorhen, and non-native species generally considered a game such as pheasant, chukar partridge, and coturnix quail.
- Resident game mammals –deer, gray squirrels and rabbits
- Furbearers –bobcats, otters, raccoons, opossums, coyotes, beavers, skunks and nutrias
- Migratory game birds –ducks, geese, common moorhens, coots, snipe, rails, woodcocks, mourning doves and white-winged doves
- Protected mammals –Florida black bears, fox squirrels and Florida panthers cannot be taken or pursued.
Suppressors can be used on private land in Florida to take some animals as indicated above. Suppressors (silencers) should not be used to take any Game animal (mammal or bird) crow, or wild pig in a Wildlife Management Area or Wildlife and Environmental Area and non game animals (wild pigs or furbearers), may be taken on other public land that is not classified as a Wildlife Management Area or Wildlife and Environmental Area.