How bad is it really?

[MidTennFisher]

Morning, everyone. First time posting here in about 7 years. In 2016 we moved to Minnesota, career move for me, then in 2019 got tired of it and wanted to head back South. Wound up in the upstate of South Carolina. I enjoyed the upper Midwest and have some great hunting/fishing memories from up there but ultimately the South is home.

After 4 years in SC, we just miss Tennessee and my family, plain and simple, and we want to move back. I'd like to know what yall think about how badly WMA pressure has gotten since we left in 2016. I know public land pressure is generally rough everywhere but Tennessee has, unfortunately, had a lot of attention drawn to it recently thanks to the YouTube and Instagram folks.

None of those guys come to hunt public land and record it in SC because everyone knows it's terrible here

And, thank God, because our public land game populations are quite low. The last thing we need is an influx of pressure.

I have had some success here but I can positively say I've seen less game animals on our WMAs than any other state's public land I've hunted. Most of the deer killed here are on private land over a pile of corn because that's legal here.

My opinion is that there are two types of public land hunters these days. Those who sit around and complain that increased pressure is why they can't have success, and those that just work harder and kill stuff. I try to be the latter of the two. Like most working men, I'm mostly limited to weekends. And sometimes I even miss a weekend when travel is required.

So, how bad is it really? I don't expect to shoot a big buck every season. If I could fill my freezer to the seams with doe meat and feed my family I'd be the happiest hunter in TN. Most likely we'll be in SE Middle TN.

 

[Specializedjon]

MTF, first of all welcome back to Tennessee and the fire.

I can't speak for public land pressure like a lot of guys/gals on here. Where I live, S. Middle TN, the deer population seems to be "ok". I didn't grow up here so I can't speak to the pressure and population decline over the years.

I'm from SC so I understand your move back to TN.

Keep us posted on where ya land.

 

[batten_down]

Morning, everyone. First time posting here in about 7 years. In 2016 we moved to Minnesota, career move for me, then in 2019 got tired of it and wanted to head back South. Wound up in the upstate of South Carolina. I enjoyed the upper Midwest and have some great hunting/fishing memories from up there but ultimately the South is home.

After 4 years in SC, we just miss Tennessee and my family, plain and simple, and we want to move back. I'd like to know what yall think about how badly WMA pressure has gotten since we left in 2016. I know public land pressure is generally rough everywhere but Tennessee has, unfortunately, had a lot of attention drawn to it recently thanks to the YouTube and Instagram folks.

None of those guys come to hunt public land and record it in SC because everyone knows it's terrible here

And, thank God, because our public land game populations are quite low. The last thing we need is an influx of pressure.

I have had some success here but I can positively say I've seen less game animals on our WMAs than any other state's public land I've hunted. Most of the deer killed here are on private land over a pile of corn because that's legal here.

My opinion is that there are two types of public land hunters these days. Those who sit around and complain that increased pressure is why they can't have success, and those that just work harder and kill stuff. I try to be the latter of the two. Like most working men, I'm mostly limited to weekends. And sometimes I even miss a weekend when travel is required.

So, how bad is it really? I don't expect to shoot a big buck every season. If I could fill my freezer to the seams with doe meat and feed my family I'd be the happiest hunter in TN. Most likely we'll be in SE Middle TN.

I hunt public exclusively. It's not terrible. To do well consistently, you have to be willing to put in the work. If you find something you like, tell no one. I mean nobody. Good luck. Have fun.

 

[recurve60#]

I hunt public exclusively. It's not terrible. To do well consistently, you have to be willing to put in the work. If you find something you like, tell no one. I mean nobody. Good luck. Have fun.

This. You'll do well with extra effort and definitely do it covertly. I even shun friends far as where I hunt. Learned that the hard way. If they see success they'll come a runnin.

 

[CHRIS WILSON]

Personal opinion, it's not really as bad as some want to make it out to be. I pretty much exclusively hunt public land in middle TN and have had good success, over all, with very few issues involving other hunters. In the last few years, I've had more than my share of opportunities to put meat in the freezer during deer and turkey season. Of course, some WMAs get hunted harder than others, so pressure can vary from WMA to WMA and even within a WMA if it's large enough. I tend to try and get a little more off the beaten path at times though.

 

[Harold Money jr]

Chris Wilson gets the Win!!
It's nowhere as bad as folks want to make it out to be. Don't park at the main parking areas and access areas that don't look magazine pretty and you'll have good success.

 

[cbhunter]

Did I read it right that Catoosa just added close to 2000 acres to it? I either read they "did" or plan to.

I'm not a public land hunter but that's great news regardless. Welcome back man

 

[TheLBLman]

As they say in Real Estate, "Location" is everything.

Those WMAs located closer to larger cities tend to get more pressure.
Those profiled on social media by YouTubers and videographers can get even more pressure, even if they're far from any city.

However, I'm sure this is also the case in every other state, not just Tennessee.

Back to that "location" thing, that also means WITHIN a particular WMA.

Hate to pop a few bubbles, but sometimes the most heavily hunted spots can be those that appear the most remote, and may in fact be the longest walk from a parking spot.

If you want to avoid more of the type hunters most likely to "mess up" your day, focus on going places they don't go, regardless the reasons they don't go there. Many of these hunters are willing to walk a long distance, especially on a good trail.

But for the same reasons you might not prefer to hunt near a road, they may go more "off-road", they may go more towards those beautiful fields (and the buffer areas around those fields). Even in some heavily hunted WMAs, there are usually areas most find "less attractive" spots to hunt, and mainly due to aesthetics. Who wants to hunt so close to the road they're continuously hearing & seeing cars go by. Yet, the deer often gravitate to just such places, quickly acclimating to whatever.

 

[TheLBLman]

So you have to decide what you want most from your hunting.
(And I am referring to deer more than turkey hunting or any other kind of hunting.)

If it's to kill more deer, that might mean just hunting where the crowds overlook. If it's more for a wilderness experience, it may mean focusing on those WMAs with a lower deer population, and known to be less attractive to most hunters.

Otherwise hard to get both on most public lands in TN. You either hunt where most wouldn't, or you go to WMAs most don't find attractive for deer hunting. For me, this often means putting on chest waders or hunting near a busy highway. Or it might mean hiking a couple miles into nothing but non-descript low-deer-density hardwoods in a national forest, i.e. no obvious remote destination like a field or anything someone studying a map would find as an attractive looking "spot" to go check out deep in those hardwoods.

One thing I have found, whether public or private lands, older deer tend to gravitate to those areas they are least bothered by hunters (at least during daylight). They may leave a lot of sign (like rubs, scrapes, tracks) in beautiful fields, but they do this mainly in the middle of the night, then bed a mile or two away from that field, in a place no one is likely to disturb them during the day. This is often a spot 50 yds from I-40 or I-75, etc.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

I've been hunting Mid TN WMA's since about the time you left. Pressure has drastically increased in areas, but has fallen off in others. Places with easy access and easy to moderate terrain are getting pounded more than ever. There are certain WMA's I'll only bowhunt. Big woods with more severe terrain are what I tend to gravitate to during rifle season and have no issues with finding a spot with little pressure. I don't hunt out of a boat, so some of the above posters know more about the pressure in those situations.

It sounds like you'll do fine.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

The nice thing is, there appears to be a lot of options in SE Middle TN.

 

[Ski]

I can't speak for all of TN, but here in southern middle the pressure isn't bad at all, IMO. I encounter other hunters sometimes but it's never negative or annoying, nor has it ever hindered my hunt. I'm primarily a bow hunter and it's pretty often I have opportunities to take a deer if filling the freezer was my goal. With a gun I'd guess I'd have opportunity most hunts. Killing does for meat shouldn't be any problem at all. Getting on a big rack buck on the other hand is a challenge, but it's not because of hunting pressure.

For reference, I grew up bow hunting public in southern Ohio. Pick any day in November up there and you're likely to see more hunters than deer, even in the remote areas. I've not encountered anything like that here in TN.

 

[Urban_Hunter]

Some encouraging people above. This turkey season really turned me sour. I feel like over the last 4+/- years, pressure has steadily increased… but this turkey season was INSANE. 4 boats all on a 100 yard stretch of bank, people crossing private, people walking right through your set 1 hour after light. Every access point, a boat or more. Flagging tape EVERYWHERE!!!! You can't walk in far enough, that's where they go… after day break.

If the goal is to see and kill a deer, with some woodsmanship it is possible. If you want to get away from people… in middle tn… it's impossible.

 

[Urban_Hunter]

And… "tell nobody" is about pointless. Everyone sees you… they see where you park. They com me scout right on top of you while you're hunting to find where you are and why.

I'm not trying to scare you away from the wma's to have more for myself, I'm just informing you of what you're up against. Maybe the east and west tn wmas are different,

 

[Buzzard Breath]

Some encouraging people above. This turkey season really turned me sour. I feel like over the last 4+/- years, pressure has steadily increased… but this turkey season was INSANE. 4 boats all on a 100 yard stretch of bank, people crossing private, people walking right through your set 1 hour after light. Every access point, a boat or more. Flagging tape EVERYWHERE!!!! You can't walk in far enough, that's where they go… after day break.

If the goal is to see and kill a deer, with some woodsmanship it is possible. If you want to get away from people… in middle tn… it's impossible.

I guess I should have stated my posts above were about my deer hunting experiences. I had too many bad experiences with rude turkey hunters in 2021 and 2022 to turkey hunt public land in Southern Middle TN anymore. I turkey hunt private land or travel to hunt now.

 

[TheLBLman]

4 boats all on a 100 yard stretch of bank . . . . .

You can no longer count on an advantage via coming in by boat.
Too many YouTubers have talked up that tactic, and in some places,
there may be more coming in by boat than by walking from their trucks.

The "elbow room" on TN public lands may be the worst it's ever been for waterfowl and turkey. I suspect it could be marginally better in 2024 turkey season just because most non-residents will no longer be able to come to TN before their state's turkey season opens.

There were no non-resident turkey hunters this year in TN the 1st two weeks of April. Of course, we residents weren't out turkey hunting either.

I know many will find it hard to believe, but deer hunting on TN public lands between 1985 and 2005 were even more crowded then than now. Some exceptions, but this is generally true regardless what part of the state, no matter what WMA you're talking about. On the other hand, wasn't so many turkey hunters, and most didn't kill anything.

Only constant you're going to see is change.
Things are always changing, some for better, some for worse.

 

[Urban_Hunter]

I know many will find it hard to believe, but deer hunting on TN public lands between 1985 and 2005 were even more crowded then than now.

I won't argue with a valid statistic, but that is definitely hard for me to believe. My start to hunting began on public land in 95 and I mostly exclusively hunted public through about 02. The only place in my mind I could see this being possible is Cheatham, due to it being a Mecca back then and basically a desert now. The other surrounding wma's seem absolutely dominated by people compared to back then. Especially the "off" days. Used to go on a tuesday-Thursday and have it to yourself. Now it seems like no one works and everyone hunts.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

I won't argue with a valid statistic, but that is definitely hard for me to believe. My start to hunting began on public land in 95 and I mostly exclusively hunted public through about 02. The only place in my mind I could see this being possible is Cheatham, due to it being a Mecca back then and basically a desert now. The other surrounding wma's seem absolutely dominated by people compared to back then. Especially the "off" days. Used to go on a tuesday-Thursday and have it to yourself. Now it seems like no one works and everyone hunts.

I do a lot of squirrel hunting on the WMA's starting in December and it used to be easy to hit Yanahli any weekday and have my choice of spots to go, where I wouldn't interfere with the deer hunters. Now, there are hunters all days of the week. I'm lucky that there are several WMA's that are quota hunts but open to small game hunters between hunts in the vicinity.

 

[Blockhouse]

I'm new to the wma thing as well. Been working Cumberland and big south fork for a couple of years and found both to be so large that finding a quiet spot is not hard - especially during the week. Put your walking and climbing boots on. Cumberland deer are somewhere between non existent and remote. Hike way back. All this compared to the west end of the state.

 

[kaizen leader]

Some encouraging people above. This turkey season really turned me sour. I feel like over the last 4+/- years, pressure has steadily increased… but this turkey season was INSANE. 4 boats all on a 100 yard stretch of bank, people crossing private, people walking right through your set 1 hour after light. Every access point, a boat or more. Flagging tape EVERYWHERE!!!! You can't walk in far enough, that's where they go… after day break.

If the goal is to see and kill a deer, with some woodsmanship it is possible. If you want to get away from people… in middle tn… it's impossible.

It's especially bad on WMA around Percy Priest. Good luck.