I think one of two things is happening, either we are still seeing the negative effects of the 2007 year where so many things were bad, EHD, Drought, late freeze, no mast crop, etc. Or maybe TN has topped out and is now leveling back off in terms of Total harvest, as this appears this will be the 3'rd year in a row of declining total harvest. We have had so many things change in the last 3 years its hard to compare them to the past. For example, all the negative affects I mentioned earlier, paired with increased opportunity for hunters, as well as increasing the buck limit, and in some parts of the season and state it was increased by a HUGE amount. It would appear the harvest should have increased, but yet its decreasing. Question is, are these changes due to hunters being more selective and using self restraint (which I think is happening) or is it due to the deer herd???

As for harvest totals, I think we are seeing the effects of two things: 1) the herd density is lower than it was in 2006, before the EHD outbreak; and 2) the warm weather we had during the MZ season reduced deer movement and potential harvests during the peak of the rut for Middle TN. These two factors combined probably account for most of the decline in harvest this year.

Maybe because there were less yearlings to kill. I saw fewer than I've ever seen. Fewer does to get bred during the 07 EHD outbreak, would equal fewer 1 1/2 year olds this year. Just a thought.

I had just the opposite experience. I didn't see any effect of drought or EHD, except it seemed that I saw fewer does and fewer 1.5 bucks. (In fact, in 06, 07, 08 I was very concerned that I saw almost no 1.5 bucks.) But there were several better bucks I saw in the woods or caught on camera.

This year, on the two farms we hunt (my brother hunts a couple of weekends, other than that it's just me) we only took one buck, only 3.5+ buck seen in the woods, and only caught one or two more on camera. But there were does, spikes and forks running everywhere. Significantly different experience.

I think we have to keep reminding ourselves that on our properties we only get the tiniest peak at what is going on statewide. If I accepted that my experience was representative of the whole, I'd be really concerned. I'm not. We had a great mast crop, hopefully we'll get good recruitment, and next year should be even better.

How someone who practices QDMA in West Tennessee has nothing to do with my brown and it's down goals in Loudon County. Seriously, everyone should hunt the way they feel is ethical, and by the law. I'm just as thrilled shooting a spike as I am a 120" class 8 point. To me Deer is Deer. I think the TWRA got it right this year by not cheating unit B Hunters out of that 3rd Buck tag that we've been paying the same price as Unit A hunters for years.

I agree, we definitely have some things at work here in the last few years, if not, with all the increased opportunity and buck limits, we should have saw increases not decreases. I think TN hunters are on the right track with the right frame of mind. I think we are slowly accomplishing a lot of good things without having to put restrictions in place to accomplish them.

don't get me wrong i would never go for closing the buck season but i think TN would come really close to those other states in terms of big bucks and the only reason i say that is because of the bucks that i know were killed when the seasons first opened in some areas examples are

oakridge
standing stone state park
jackson co.
overton co.
etc.

i list these areas because i know for a fact what was killed the first few years they were open, giants were killed

i'm good friends with a guy that is in his 70's and he killed a giant the first year jackson was open and said all the time that he wished he knowed then what he knows now he could have gotten a few more like that he just got lucky he said because they knew nothing about deer hunting