11 Buck Limit

[Hunter 257W]

I keep hearing how the TN buck limit was 11 back in the 1990's. I quit hunting deer through that time period and didn't start back until 2002, so I don't recall that. Sounds like something is not what it's portrayed to be, to me. Was this really the true statewide limit? Could an individual hunter legally kill 11 bucks on his farm? Or did this include 7 or 8 "bonus" bucks from assorted WMA hunts or require a hunter to kill deer from all over the state or something like that?

 

[Lost Lake]

Lets see...4 during archery, 4 during gun, 1 during the early muzzleloader and I can't remember if there was a separate bag for the December muzzleloader. But yes, a person could kill a bunch without bonus bucks.

 

[TheLBLman]

The 11-buck limit applied provided you killed as many or more during archery season as with a gun. Some people would kill many more than 11 by then hunting for "bonus" bucks on WMA's.

Of particular interest, the early November muzzleloader season segment had a 1-buck limit, even though the total annual buck limit was 11 (provide you hunted archery, muzzleloader, and rifle).

I strongly disagree with those who claim going from an 11-buck to a 2-buck annual limit didn't make much difference in our buck harvest.

How I was personally effected by this change was very similar to how many other hunters were also effected.
I had already become somewhat "selective" and usually wouldn't shoot any bucks with less than 8 points by 1997. In fact, in 1997 (all in TN) I took four 8-pt bucks, one of which was a 2 1/2 that made Pope & Young. I normally took 2 to 4 bucks annually.

But in 1998, the annual limit went from 11 to only 2. That changed cause me and most other avid hunters to raise their standards on what would constitute a "shooter" buck. For the first time, most of us actually needed to be concerned about running out of buck tags before we ran out of season. In 1998, I only took one buck, and I have zero doubts I would have killed more than one had the buck limit been more than two. I passed up several bucks simply because killing any of them would have ended my buck hunting for that year. And many other TN deer hunters did likewise.

The very next year, 1999, the annual buck limit went to a "2-3" deal whereby no more than 2 could be taken during any weapon season segment. So if a hunter took 2 bucks during archery, then 1 during the November muzzleloader season segment, in many cases that meant he couldn't deer hunt at all on the opening day of gun season (since most gun hunting was under "buck-only" regs in 1999). That reduction in buck limits from 11 to 2 in 1998 was the icing on the cake for more biologically sound deer management across Tennessee. I will agree with BSK that the cake was already being baked by the hunters beginning to become more selective and the deer herd growing, but that lower buck limit was very significant.

 

[Hunter 257W]

OK, so I personally couldn't have killed 11 back then since I didn't and never will bow hunt and at that time didn't have a ML. I don't recall what the limit was when I started deer hunting in 1977 or 78 but I think it was either 2 or 3?? Being that deer numbers had just begun to take off, it's hard to comprehend the thinking that set the statewide limit to 11 bucks as early as 1990??

 

[mike243]

Its never been over 3 here and was 1 & done for a long time.talking east tn. Back then they were still stocking to the mid 80s or so

 

[Mike Belt]

In the years of the 11 buck limit a few times I took as many as 4 bucks. Prior to the change in our limits I had already shifted into another gear to where I was passing up almost every buck that walked by and I went a couple of seasons without killing a buck. The change from 11 to 2 didn't hurt me at all. I was happy to see it. I was very happy to see it. Where I hunted several of the guys were killing their limits of all the young bucks we had. There was less than a 10% recruitment yearly into the 2.5-3.5 year old age bracket. Holding out for the better bucks wasn't like holding out for a needle in the hay stack. It was more like holding out for a needle in the needle stack; almost pointless. I don't agree with BSK's thoughts that the change in our limits made little to no difference. It made a huge difference in my neighborhood and any like it. Just on the land I hunted that allowed a minimum of 24 bucks to advance another year. Granted they may never have grown huge antlers any time in the future but it put more numbers out there upping the odds. I was shocked that after only 1 year the limit was raised from 2 to 3.

 

[chris1976]

I remember several years where myself and friends and family would all kill multiple bucks per season. 8 bucks a year a person was pretty normal then. But we didn't kill nearly the number of does then. Mature bucks were not as plentiful but spikes and fork horns were plentiful ;)

 

[Matador]

Very few hunters killed more than one buck then and remember many many others didn't kill any bucks. It would be interesting to see what the hunter success percentage for all licensed hunters during those years was for each year.

 

[megalomaniac]

Aah, the good ole days! :)

My most successful year was 10 bucks in a single year ('92-'93 season, IIRC) I got 4 with archery, 4 with gun, 1 with ML, and another during the 'bonus hunt' in January. Every single one of them was 1.5 years old. Back then, if it had bone (3" to be legal) you shot it. Literally almost no bucks made it to see their second birthday where I hunted. An absolute monster buck was a 2.5 y/o that would score 80-85". It took about 6 or 7 years of hunting to finally kill one of those beasts. I used to read stories of bucks fighting, using rattling to call in bucks, seeing estrous chases, etc in magazines, and I knew those authors were just full of crap. Deer just don't do that (or at least they didn't back in the 80's and 90's :) ).

Inn '97 when the limit dropped from 11 to 2, I had already killed more than a lifetime's worth of bucks, so I was honestly feeling guilty about constantly racking and stacking. Instead of judging my success for the season and basing bragging rights on the number of bucks killed, my philosophy changed to trying to shoot deer that were a bit older. We gave all 1.5 y/o's a pass and started hunting 2.5 y/o's... the very next year, tagging out on 2.5 y/o's became mundane and ridiculously simple. Moved to 3.5 y/o's for a challenge, and again, it was much easier than I would have imagined. Literally most of my 3.5 y/o bucks were shot AFTER I had already passed up a younger deer on that same hunt.

If we took 10 steps forward in TN deer hunting in '97, we took 2 steps back in '99. Raising the limits coincided with the majority of hunters lowering their standards, and we seemed to have hit a plateau in recruiting bucks into maturity. I still prefer to hunt fully mature bucks, but I'm willing now to go buckless in a season (which happens with regularity).

 

[AT Hiker]

Its cool to here these stories. I remember when my granddad first started taking me hunting, if you saw a buck let alone killed it you were the talk of the town. I couldnt imagine shooting 11 bucks back then, not sure I even saw that many in one year. Heck, I still dont see that many in one year on our family farm I grew up hunting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

Very few hunters killed more than one buck then and remember many many others didn't kill any bucks. It would be interesting to see what the hunter success percentage for all licensed hunters during those years was for each year.

not in my part of the state.alot of people I know killed multiple bucks and I personally seen alot better quality bucks back then.if you was to ask people around here about the biggest buck they ever seen,most would refer back to the 80s and 90s

 

[Planking]

When deer season first opened here in Unit A in 1982 im pretty sure it was one. I was just a tiny fry then but i remember all the protected huge bucks and large groups of does. It was very similar to what you might see at Cades Cove today. It was not uncommon to see 40-60 deer in late winter during this time (that's about 5x's as many as you will see on the same farm today). My dad's first three deer that he ever killed were all hosses. I don't remember when it went to 11 but if it had a bone it went down by the time i was old enough to hunt. I killed 3-6 bucks about every year from grade school on through high school. They were all yearlings of course and my neighbor killed at least that many and sometimes many more. I finally started wondering why all the bucks were always small. I finally figured it out. I killed a 4.5 this past season here, but its usually tag soup these days. For this immediate area, the 80's was the peak.

 

[BSK]

Yes, in the mid to late 90s, in the highest deer density areas of the state, the buck bag limit was 11 by combination of bow, MZ and gun (each weapon season had its own buck bag limit, and the two segments of MZ season had separate bag limits). I was one of those who fought very hard to get the 2 buck bag limit implemented in 1998. I thought it would help dramatically. And it did help in changing hunter attitudes, which eventually contributed to what we have now. But there's a big difference between "what is in the population" and "what is on the meat-pole;" i.e. what hunters kill. And let's be honest, everyone is looking at what is on the meat-pole (what hunters are killing). Without question the 2 buck limit instantly improved what was in the woods. The first year of the 2 buck limit, 20,000 to 25,000 less yearling bucks were killed than the previous few years. Undoubtedly this led to a lot more 2 1/2 year-old bucks in the woods the following year, and every year after, as yearling bucks kills remained much lower than pre-1998 numbers every year following the limit change. But guess what, all those extra 2 1/2 year-old bucks didn't show up in the harvest the following year the limit change. Nor did they show up in the harvest as 3 1/2 year-olds the year after that.

What DID happen is that the number of 2 1/2+ year-old bucks in the harvest began improving in the early 90s, long before the limit change. And that slow annual improvement continued right through the limit change without even a blip of extra progress. The improvements after the limit change occurred at exactly the same annual increase as they had been occurring before the limit change. Again, I have no doubt the limit change improved what was in the woods. But that did not result in a sudden improvement in what hunters were killing.

 

[AT Hiker]

Killing a older buck is not priority, knowing he is in the woods and I have a chance at killing one is my priority and what drives me to hunt them. I cannot kill whats not there and up until recently do I feel The majority of TN hunters have a realistic chance of killing a nice deer just about anywhere. Nice is relative of course but that standard has increased over the years for most of us.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BSK]

Killing a older buck is not priority, knowing he is in the woods and I have a chance at killing one is my priority and what drives me to hunt them.

No offense to you AT Hiker, but I'm going to have question that statement. If all you ever have is a "chance," are you really going to be happy? I don't know a single hunter who is going to be happy if all they ever have is a "chance" at deer. Ultimately, everybody wants to kill a deer. In the long run, EVERYTHING about hunting is eventually judged by what ends up on the meat pole.

 

[WRbowhunter]

Killing a older buck is not priority, knowing he is in the woods and I have a chance at killing one is my priority and what drives me to hunt them.

No offense to you AT Hiker, but I'm going to have question that statement. If all you ever have is a "chance," are you really going to be happy? I don't know a single hunter who is going to be happy if all they ever have is a "chance" at deer. Ultimately, everybody wants to kill a deer. In the long run, EVERYTHING about hunting is eventually judged by what ends up on the meat pole.

I agree with AT Hiker's comment. IF all I cared about was killing a Big Mature buck I would hunt a lot different than I do now. I like having the opportunity to kill a nice buck and hopefully get a chance at him but its not my end all on if I had a good season or not. But yes everyone wants to kill a deer. If that's one BIG buck or 6 deer. That's another great thing about TN hunting it gives almost everyone an opportunity to hunt the way they want to hunt . Its the "opportunity" that gets me in the woods on those cold mornings.

 

[Mike Belt]

100% truthful....If I knew I didn't have an opportunity at what I deem a decent buck, I wouldn't hunt. I can hunt all season and never get that opportunity and still consider myself having had a good season.

 

[landman]

Killing a older buck is not priority, knowing he is in the woods and I have a chance at killing one is my priority and what drives me to hunt them. I cannot kill whats not there and up until recently do I feel The majority of TN hunters have a realistic chance of killing a nice deer just about anywhere. Nice is relative of course but that standard has increased over the years for most of us.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Knowing you hunt out of state would your feelings change if you only hunting in TN as most the hunters only hunt deer here,
I know coming back from NM those years with a bull elk made it easier on passing up more bucks

 

[BSK]

Killing a older buck is not priority, knowing he is in the woods and I have a chance at killing one is my priority and what drives me to hunt them.

No offense to you AT Hiker, but I'm going to have question that statement. If all you ever have is a "chance," are you really going to be happy? I don't know a single hunter who is going to be happy if all they ever have is a "chance" at deer. Ultimately, everybody wants to kill a deer. In the long run, EVERYTHING about hunting is eventually judged by what ends up on the meat pole.

I agree with AT Hiker's comment. IF all I cared about was killing a Big Mature buck I would hunt a lot different than I do now. I like having the opportunity to kill a nice buck and hopefully get a chance at him but its not my end all on if I had a good season or not.

But if you NEVER kill another buck, are you really going to be happy? I bet not. Ultimately, it all comes down to what is killed. Hunting is the attempt to reduce an animal to possession by killing it. If you don't ever kill, it's just animal watching, not hunting.

 

[AT Hiker]

Killing a older buck is not priority, knowing he is in the woods and I have a chance at killing one is my priority and what drives me to hunt them. I cannot kill whats not there and up until recently do I feel The majority of TN hunters have a realistic chance of killing a nice deer just about anywhere. Nice is relative of course but that standard has increased over the years for most of us.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Knowing you hunt out of state would your feelings change if you only hunting in TN as most the hunters only hunt deer here,
I know coming back from NM those years with a bull elk made it easier on passing up more bucks

Great point! Actually my mind set on whitetails changed drastically after I started hunting out of state. Killing a 180" mule deer made passing up decent whitetails a breeze but my whole philosophy to hunting changed. Albeit some of that change started before I began hunting out of state, which is one reason I expanded my hunting horizon.

I actually hunt more public land in TN now than I ever did. Main reasons being; 1.) I know there are absolute giant bucks roaming those woods (LBL is one place) 2.) I like the increased challenge 3.) its not all about killing, I love the adventure

Reason 3 is my main purpose to hunting out of state a close second is the quality of the animal, though that often depends where I go and sometimes it is not even a factor but I nice bonus if I do get one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WRbowhunter]

BSK your right. If I never killed another buck no I would not be happy and would not be hunting. Just like if it was a one buck limit. What if the buck of my dreams walks out and I shoot it the first day of Bow season. Would I just be happy hunting does the rest of the year. NOPE. Not everyone can be happy killing the buck of their dreams in TN, then pack up and shoot one in Ohio, then head to KY to kill another dream buck. I believe we all hunt for different reasons and all limit ourselves voluntarily to some extent. Some do it by only hunting mature bucks, some by only killing an x inch deer, some by bow hunting only. Some try to make their chances better. They purchase prime land, some purchase weapons that shoot a long ways, some plant food plots to attract deer, other put countless game cameras out to try to track the movement of deer to gain an advantage. Its all good. But again not everyone hunts for the sole purpose of killing a 150 inch or so deer

 

[TheLBLman]

BSK your right. If I never killed another buck no I would not be happy and would not be hunting. Just like if it was a one buck limit. What if the buck of my dreams walks out and I shoot it the first day of Bow season. Would I just be happy hunting does the rest of the year. NOPE. Not everyone can be happy killing the buck of their dreams . . . . .

All I can say is that if killing the "buck of your dreams" wouldn't make you happy, nothing else would either. :tu:

I would love to kill the "buck of my dreams" on the opening day of archery season. It would make me very happy, even if I didn't go deer hunting the rest of the year.

But I wouldn't stop hunting, just might hunt something else, like waterfowl, and/or go back to my hunting roots in keeping up with a pack of beagles running rabbits, or just see how many days I could limit out on squirrels. :)

As they say, different strokes for different folks.

 

[AT Hiker]

Killing a older buck is not priority, knowing he is in the woods and I have a chance at killing one is my priority and what drives me to hunt them.

No offense to you AT Hiker, but I'm going to have question that statement. If all you ever have is a "chance," are you really going to be happy? I don't know a single hunter who is going to be happy if all they ever have is a "chance" at deer. Ultimately, everybody wants to kill a deer. In the long run, EVERYTHING about hunting is eventually judged by what ends up on the meat pole.

I think maybe you looked to deeply into my comment or maybe even from another dimension.

No offense taken though but let me define chance from my perspective. Its simply part of my equation for a attainable goal. I can do everything possible to attain that goal but if one ingredient is missing the equation is incomplete.


I hunted KY for the past five years in two of its top producing B&C counties, one of the counties pulled two 200" deer out of it last year. This year my patience was rewarded with a nice mature non typical that I actually saw once during bow season and was lucky to have a 2nd chance on him during the rifle opener. Why did I spend so much money and time in KY? For that chance, why did I miss the TN mzl opener for the first time ever? For that chance at the deer I knew was there.

Columbus took a chance against all odds and amongst great scrutiny but it paid off. He knew something was bigger and better out there not because he dreamed it up one night but because he used his logic. Im not Columbus and Im not going to sail off the end of the world unless i know what Im chasing is a reality.

So put as many older, bigger, more hunter savy mature bucks out there that rarely move in the daylight because I know I stand a chance if they are there. The more out there the more chances I got, even if the odds are against me.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Deer Assassin]

It is still possible today with all the bonus hunts

2 years ago my bud had 10 buck tags he could of filled and I had 7

 

[landman]

It is still possible today with all the bonus hunts

2 years ago my bud had 10 buck tags he could of filled and I had 7

Your right DA, I think 3 hunters this year killed 10 bucks each

 

[knightrider]

It is still possible today with all the bonus hunts

2 years ago my bud had 10 buck tags he could of filled and I had 7

Your right DA, I think 3 hunters this year killed 10 bucks each

o good heavens, shut her down boys and quick we aint gonna have a buck left :stir: :rotf:

 

[gator-n-buck]

Killing 11 bucks would be putting some work in E. TN.... :tu:

 

[Roost 1]

Killing a older buck is not priority, knowing he is in the woods and I have a chance at killing one is my priority and what drives me to hunt them.

No offense to you AT Hiker, but I'm going to have question that statement. If all you ever have is a "chance," are you really going to be happy? I don't know a single hunter who is going to be happy if all they ever have is a "chance" at deer. Ultimately, everybody wants to kill a deer. In the long run, EVERYTHING about hunting is eventually judged by what ends up on the meat pole.

I think maybe you looked to deeply into my comment or maybe even from another dimension.

No offense taken though but let me define chance from my perspective. Its simply part of my equation for a attainable goal. I can do everything possible to attain that goal but if one ingredient is missing the equation is incomplete.


I hunted KY for the past five years in two of its top producing B&C counties, one of the counties pulled two 200" deer out of it last year. This year my patience was rewarded with a nice mature non typical that I actually saw once during bow season and was lucky to have a 2nd chance on him during the rifle opener. Why did I spend so much money and time in KY? For that chance, why did I miss the TN mzl opener for the first time ever? For that chance at the deer I knew was there.

Columbus took a chance against all odds and amongst great scrutiny but it paid off. He knew something was bigger and better out there not because he dreamed it up one night but because he used his logic. Im not Columbus and Im not going to sail off the end of the world unless i know what Im chasing is a reality.

So put as many older, bigger, more hunter savy mature bucks out there that rarely move in the daylight because I know I stand a chance if they are there. The more out there the more chances I got, even if the odds are against me.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We have a winner whether some choose to believe or not.... :smash:
Preach it, bro!!!!!!!

 

[stik]

Its never been over 3 here and was 1 & done for a long time.talking east tn. Back then they were still stocking to the mid 80s or so

if you hunted all 3 seasons, you could kill 7 bucks in '97-'98.

if you hunted both unit A and B, you could kill 18 bucks.

 

[MUP]

Of course, using trophy hunter logic. :super: :poke: