drdoug, I hear ya. I've been trying to get into the sport of hunting since I was 18 years old. I'm 41 now and have only hunted several times...mostly hogs or exotics with outfitters. You and I have talked about the Brady Ranch on here before. I just didn't know anyone who hunted growing up nor through, or after, college. Sometimes you just have to take what you can get. I applied for permits to public land here in FL for the first time in my life. Not sure I'll know what I'm doing if I go, but I just had to say "the hell with it...I'm gonna try". If I pull a permit and go, hopefully I won't piss off an experienced hunter who has been hunting public land all his life. You gotta start somewhere. I'm trying to get some experience so I can teach my sons the outdoors and hunting one day...something I never had.
As for hogs here in FL. I've been to the Brady Ranch, Ross Hammock ranch and Dixie Sportsman's. I took hogs on each trip. I didn't go for a trophy, nor wanted one. I went for the experience, to have fun and to bring home some good meat. I got that. People were nice, lodging was good, food was good and hogs were found in decent numbers at all places.
Also, I shoot at a public range here in Southwest FL at Babcock Ranch WMA (might be called Cecil Webb now). I see hogs either while at the range or driving into the WMA on my way to the range probably 30 - 40% of the time I go. That leads me to believe that there is a good hog population in that area, even for public land. If your close enough, you might want to try for the second draw for a deer permit. You can hunt hogs during deer season. But, I don't go to that range during deer season as it's pretty crowded on weekends then.
