What unit does everyone apply for? the 50 draw or 30?

you can have it. too many better places to hunt without waiting 10 years for a permit.

There isn't a better WMA in TN than the island for deer. Wish they would make Ensley a muzzleloader hunt.

There isn't a better WMA in TN than the island for deer. Wish they would make Ensley a muzzleloader hunt.

There isn't a better WMA in TN than the island for deer.

We always put in for Island excluding Ensley, if you put in for Ensley you will get it sooner I heard it wasn't as good hunting?

Spit,

I'd speculate "not necessarily".

Keep in mind the quota for Ensley unit is a lot less than for PI, so with a lot fewer hunters, the buck harvest SHOULD be a lot less, and less talked about than the island.

Also, I don't think the Ensley unit is "disturbed" by all the doe-hunting (prior to the buck hunt) as on the island. Could be the bucks on Ensley are even less "disturbed" than on the island, and Ensley is possibly better for some hunters and some hunters' bowhunting preferences. I'd bet (while hunting) you're less likely to see another hunter on Ensley.

I think Ensley is more like traditional river-bottom hardwoods (and probably more slash water/sloughs) whereas the island is more fields than woods?

LOL, this is actually backwards. I hunted the Ensley unit, and with only 900 acres and 30 hunters. . . . . The old bucks file out of the back of this place like an assembly line once the stomping starts on scout day. . . . . . . I would have to recommend the big Island, simply for the fact that there is an additional 3 or 4 thousand more acres for only 20 more people above the 30 on 900 acres at Ensley.

No doubt both hold the good bucks, its just the wrong way the hunts are handled that prevents so many people from having a real chance at being succesful. If no scout day existed, or it was a week or more before the actual hunt started, many more mature bucks would be killed IMO.

But keep in mind the goal on PI/Ensley is not necessarily to have hunters killing mature bucks. It may be more about just "seeing" those mature bucks (and the sign they leave) both on the scouting day and while hunting, while focusing the actual harvest on bucks with a certain antler characteristic of 9 or more points, even if they're only 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 yrs old rather than mature?

How in the world could you go to a place to bow hunt that you have never been to, set up in the dark and expect to kill anyting without a scouting day.

There seem to be a good number of deer killed last year with the scouting day.

I put in for it. It's really the only place I would like to hunt in TN besides my farms.

I hope I answered most of the questions.

Only 3 of the 82 bucks taken in 9 years have been 2.5 years old. The harvest composition has been 2.5 yr (5%), 3.5 yr (36%), 4.5 yr (25%), 5.5 yr and older (34%).

I can't say how the Ensley unit is, but the Island itself was a great experience.

Kinda shoots to heck that old line about mature bucks being near unkillable by hunters?

The regs are set to make this a trophy hunt and maintain that over time. A 9 point rule protects 90% or more of 1.5, and 2.5 year old bucks. Only 3 of the 82 bucks taken in 9 years have been 2.5 years old. The harvest composition has been 2.5 yr (5%), 3.5 yr (36%), 4.5 yr (25%), 5.5 yr and older (34%).

I guess this also proves antler restrictions do work as far as increasing buck age structure!