Went out there last week to look around in preparation for the quota hunt Oct. 30. There are some nice big food plots just off the main road, I expect they'll be crowded around the edges when we get there though. Anyone hunted those?
Food plots on Cheatham WMA
- Thread starter basset
- Start date
philsanchez76
Well-Known Member
Yup once. The deer don't show up on those till a good hour after sunset. Find the bedding areas close to those and you may be in business. And yes they'll probably be crowded.
catman529
Well-Known Member
That's the last place I would hunt on any draw hunt anywhere
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
philsanchez76
Well-Known Member
You're probably right, but the early muzzleloader hunt was an interesting option this year. There will be 2 weeks before with extremely low (youth hunt) or no pressure. Also it serves as our deer camp cuz none of us had many points to draw something better.catman529":1dms7qoo said:
catman529
Well-Known Member
if you can get on a food plot on the first day without someone walking in on you, might be some great hunting. The problem is finding one where people won't walk in on you. People gravitate toward fields and food plotsphilsanchez76":1volunil said:
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
TLRanger
Well-Known Member
Killed my first Management buck there many years ago. Quit hunting there when Sam retired. They changed the regs so much it was a worthless place to hunt. Still have no confidence in it. I live less than 10 miles from the area.
CheathamIceman
Well-Known Member
basset":1e85xs95 said:
You cant go anywhere in a motorized vehicle now. Its foot traffic everywhere and its a long walk carrying a stand to get to anywhere decent to hunt..The new guy logged the piss out of it too.
You also cant take but 1 doe during bow season the way I read the rules but I could be wrong about that and its buck only during gun/ML season.
CheathamIceman
Well-Known Member
basset":1ej646sf said:
Get a map and check it out or use google earth. Youll see other food plots not by the main road tucked away in the thick stuff.
Ive been all over that place over the years and you can get a deer from the fields but you also may see someone walk right on through your field going to a spot deeper in the woods.
TNWhit3tail
Well-Known Member
CheathamIceman":1q1urp4n said:
Randy Cromer was the manager up there for 20 something years and retired 5 years ago I think. I talked to him one time up there and he said blue tongue hit them in 2007. He took me in the office and showed me some nice buck skulls they had found during that. I've heard also that hunters from east TN would come to cheatham and take out a ton of does every year. But anyhow, that's the reason for the buck only in muzzle and rifle. When I talked to him he said they were hoping to go back to state rules the next year but the population just wasn't recovering how they wanted. Herd still hasn't quite recovered.
The walking where u used to be able to drive does suck but that and the logging I think will help in the long run. My dad and uncles hunted there back in the 70s and it used to be really good. When I first started going there I didn't see squat! It has gotten a little better and they have a slideshow at the check station of the deer that are killed....there are some studs up there. But it is difficult hunting
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
CheathamIceman
Well-Known Member
TNWhit3tail":2ntxcfq3 said:
Ive seen deer there just not many and did see a HUGE bruiser buck and I know where he lives. Its not in an area that the typical hunter would even consider in my opinion. I plan to target him during muzzle loader season.
The main issue I see there is the lack of hunter consideration. They restricted access then logged it all to death and didnt create anywhere a hunter can really get to. No one wants to hike up and down those hollers with a heavy stand in their back. Maybe they should just shut it down for a few years to let it recover. I dunno.
TNWhit3tail
Well-Known Member
I barely want to hike those hollers with nothing on my back! Lol. I just curious why they don't do food plots other than corn and clover. Maybe they do? Is it a soil thing? I like going there just to get away and u really don't have any competition other than opening muzzle and rifle but if u don't spend a ton of time up there u probably aren't going to be successful.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
CheathamIceman
Well-Known Member
They have chickory fields there too.
philsanchez76
Well-Known Member
I saw deer both mornings before legal shooting light and had a nice 8 point who didn't give me a shot opportunity. Never saw a thing on any afternoon/evening sits. I also decided not to hunt today due the insane amount of orange.
Seen a decent buck 20 minutes ago
If it was a bonus buck it would of had bad morning
If it was a bonus buck it would of had bad morning
philsanchez76
Well-Known Member
That's a good point. A bonus buck would definitely get folks more excited for hunting this place.
catman529
Well-Known Member
There's always a lot less people on the last day of a draw hunt. I think you're missing out on the best day
I see a lot of folks from west of eTn posting multi doe and buck kills and giving them to HFH , not so many around this area, reckon more of them get ate by this end , coarse we like to watchem flop to just not as often as other places lol .
>> There's always a lot less people on the last day of a draw hunt. I think you're missing out on the best day
Maybe so, just got to the point where I realized I wasn't enjoying it and needed to stop. Spent the rest of the day going to my usual spot some distance from there and setting out blinds.
Maybe so, just got to the point where I realized I wasn't enjoying it and needed to stop. Spent the rest of the day going to my usual spot some distance from there and setting out blinds.
Buccaneer
Well-Known Member
Forget the fields and plots and hunt ridge saddles and creek junctions. Be prepared for the hardest deer drag you have ever had to deal with. Every deer I shot in Cheatham ran downhill to the creek bottom.
CheathamIceman
Well-Known Member
WHere? Asking for a friend who will be there next week :)
That's the truth
