For years I would have picked KY side, not only because I knew it better but I saw more big bucks on that side all the time plus the two guys that used to farm most of LBL also told me several times that the KY side held more big bucks from what they saw everytime they was working the crops.

Don't know if you're talking about Mike & Kerry (the current guys who farm the most of LBL), but they'd probably tell you they're now seeing similarly on both sides of the state line.

For many years, the KY side of LBL had less gun hunting than the TN side, resulting in a little better age structure in KY, at least that's my take. Although what was there and what was killed were two different things. Both sides have a little better buck age structure today than either had a few years ago. But like most WMA's, relatively few bucks live past 3 1/2 years of age, and you can probably count on one hand the number of 5 1/2's that are usually killed on both the KY & TN sides combined.

Or put it this way:

A weekend archery hunt at relatively tiny President's Island WMA can produce more 5 1/2-yr-old bucks than all the annual gun hunting at the 173,000-acre LBL. Deer-hunting-wise, main thing LBL has going for me is it's "convenient" for when I want a change of scenery. In terms of hunting "opportunity" per hour afield, LBL may not hold a candle to several other WMA's where hunter success is much greater (per hour afield), such as Ft. Campbell WMA, Oak Ridge WMA, etc. As I'm often asked, "Why you want to go hunt LBL with a bow, when you can hunt Campbell with a gun?" More "convenient" for me to hunt LBL.

I don't mean to sound as though I don't appreciate the hunting opportunity at LBL, as I actually believe it's better at LBL than most WMA's in Tennessee, and "most" (LBL included) have in fact gotten a little better over the past few years. Compared to when I started deer hunting in TN, we are truly blessed to have so many decent public WMA's from which to choose, and nearly all are less crowded with deer hunters today than they were in the 1970's and 80's.

So my question is, have you seen lbl's harvest numbers or are you just guessing?

Which side is better for quality bucks TN or KY?

I enjoy studying the harvest numbers, but they are just a part, and progressively a less significant part, of my opinion. (Yes, I have and have seen the harvest numbers.)

Let's say the KY side of LBL had one weekend of hunting, while the TN side had two weekends of hunting (with same number of hunters per sq. mile both TN & KY per hunt). The harvest data may show more bucks of any particular class are "harvested" on the TN side, but as a hunter, on which side would YOU have the greater opportunity per hour of hunting?

As hunters have become and are becoming more "selective", harvest data is becoming less reliable in terms of its relationship to the actual deer numbers. This is even further complicated by my OPINION that the hunters on the TN side of LBL are generally more accomplished and experienced deer hunters than the hunters on the KY side of LBL.

By the way, I've often found a farmer's observations far more valuable than ANY "harvest data".
Harvest data tells what was killed, not what's still walking around.

Do you have any ages of those deer?

why does twra collect age data if its so worthless?