Nothing really impressive but got TN deer

[JCDEERMAN]

I wish Hickman county grew deer like a lot of the bucks posted on here. Here are after 2 weeks




I passed this buck up mid-Nov last year...walked right under my stand. Passed on 3 eight points that afternoon. Very heavy rack but wanted to wait to see what he tuned into in another year or two

 

[easy45]

Some good deer

 

[barkscaler]

Nothing wrong with those deer.

 

[catman529]

Those are some real nice bucks anyway. And yes Hickman county does grow some monsters. They just aren't behind every tree...

 

[BSK]

All depends on what part of the county you are in. Hickman County has some great rich-soiled river bottomlands in heavy agriculture. Some real whopper bucks are grown in those areas. However, more than a mile away from those bottomlands and you'll see primarily "big hardwoods" bucks--not much antler size no matter their age.

All of the surrounding counties are the same. Near river bottom ag, some great bucks. Away from riverbottom ag, far less potential.

 

[TheLBLman]

All of the surrounding counties are the same. Near river bottom ag, some great bucks. Away from riverbottom ag, far less potential.

While that is generally true, there are some anomalies.
Compare most of Henry County to most of Stewart County. Based on most of the ideal "factors", Henry should be topping Stewart when it comes to higher scoring antlers. But just the reverse seems to be the reality.

No where is this anomaly more evident than within 5 miles either side of the Tennessee River where it separates Henry from Stewart. Rich, river-bottom corn & soybean areas on the Henry side vs. just ridge & hollow hardwoods with no ag on the Stewart Co. side.

But regarding Hickman County, there's a lot of hunters in East TN wishing their county had as much potential as Hickman. Actually, I believe Hickman has trumped Henry when it comes to high scoring bucks.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Those are some real nice bucks anyway. And yes Hickman county does grow some monsters. They just aren't behind every tree...

They sure do. Just not in my area. I have seen bucks less than 5 miles from us that I swore came from the Midwest. This is, as BSK mentioned, ag land around the Duck river. Though, ours is nothing but big hardwoods that simply don't grow huge racks. I'm ok with that, as I am more of a age guy, rather than a "trophy" hunter. The best parts of Hickman that I have seen are the northern and northeastern ends, and anywhere along the Duck river, Swan Creek, etc....basically anywhere around a river or good size creek, as that seems to be the rule no matter where you are. The ground is just more fertile

 

[BSK]

All of the surrounding counties are the same. Near river bottom ag, some great bucks. Away from riverbottom ag, far less potential.

While that is generally true, there are some anomalies.
Compare most of Henry County to most of Stewart County. Based on most of the ideal "factors", Henry should be topping Stewart when it comes to higher scoring antlers. But just the reverse seems to be the reality.

No where is this anomaly more evident than within 5 miles either side of the Tennessee River where it separates Henry from Stewart. Rich, river-bottom corn & soybean areas on the Henry side vs. just ridge & hollow hardwoods with no ag on the Stewart Co. side.

But regarding Hickman County, there's a lot of hunters in East TN wishing their county had as much potential as Hickman. Actually, I believe Hickman has trumped Henry when it comes to high scoring bucks.

Wes, I don't consider Henry County to be a part of what I mentioned. Once you get on the west side of the TN River, you have crossed into a different physiographic region with different soils (Coastal Plain instead of the western Highland Rim). I was more referring to similar counties to Hickman in the Highland Rim region.

 

[BSK]

Those are some real nice bucks anyway. And yes Hickman county does grow some monsters. They just aren't behind every tree...

They sure do. Just not in my area. I have seen bucks less than 5 miles from us that I swore came from the Midwest. This is, as BSK mentioned, ag land around the Duck river. Though, ours is nothing but big hardwoods that simply don't grow huge racks. I'm ok with that, as I am more of a age guy, rather than a "trophy" hunter. The best parts of Hickman that I have seen are the northern and northeastern ends, and anywhere along the Duck river, Swan Creek, etc....basically anywhere around a river or good size creek, as that seems to be the rule no matter where you are. The ground is just more fertile

I've seen some real whopper bucks along the Duck River bottoms in Hickman County, as well as along several of the Duck's tributaries, such as Lick Creek near Primm Springs.

 

[Bayou Buck]

Might not be monsters but still some nice deer.

 

[MattR]

I like the duck river. I was able to hunt my friend's farm last year and he had some very nice deer come out of there. I have to say that was the first time I passed on a deer with a split g2, he was young so he was on the no kill list

And, some nice deer JC.

 

[TheLBLman]

Wes, I don't consider Henry County to be a part of what I mentioned. Once you get on the west side of the TN River, you have crossed into a different physiographic region with different soils (Coastal Plain instead of the western Highland Rim). I was more referring to similar counties to Hickman in the Highland Rim region.

Understood.
But the case of Henry vs. Stewart is still somewhat an anomaly which contradicts similar expectations.

As with Hickman, Stewart has some good agricultural areas (mostly nearer the eastern border with Montgomery Co.) which generally produce higher scoring same-age bucks than the Western Highland Rim portion of Stewart. As in your case of comparing Hickman to other Highland Rim counties, Western Stewart Co. has essentially no agriculture (mostly steep rocky bluffs along the Tennessee River). Not sure just exactly how the soil differences come into play (Henry vs. Stewart), but comparing about a 5-mile band either side of the TN River between Henry & Stewart, we're mostly talking about rock vs. soil.

 

[landman]

Wes, I think we see part of those Stewart and some Montgomery Co deer that do so well are coming down the line of deer that came off FT C many years ago. But at the same time when you hit Calloway
Co KY just above Henry Co, the better bucks are along the River, but its not that much crop ground country, more like Stewart Co.

And when you get more southwest Stewart Co the deer aren't quite the same, you hit that one right

 

[landman]

JCDEERMAN, what county are we looking at?

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Hickman....far away from the AG areas and in the big hardwoods portions

 

[tnbucs1]

Nice bucks! That one has some real mass. I can't wait to get out and check our cams. We are right up against the Duck River and it is mainly bluffs to the river and then hardwoods. Only our 3rd year on it but I believe we will have some top end bucks based on what we have seen and passed on over the last few years.

 

[Football Hunter]

Perry Co is much the same,luckily im surrounded by ag fields,probably several hundred acres within a mile or so,cant hurt.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Nice bucks! That one has some real mass. I can't wait to get out and check our cams. We are right up against the Duck River and it is mainly bluffs to the river and then hardwoods. Only our 3rd year on it but I believe we will have some top end bucks based on what we have seen and passed on over the last few years.

That area right there produces some giants. I so wish we had deer like that. I think they planted corn there this year, if I remember correctly.

The tall one with mass, I never paid attention to all summer or fall last year. When I first saw him in person, I didn't think it was the same deer at first. Walked in between 2 trees where I was standing while putting my climber on the tree. Thats when I started looking forward to seeing what he turned into

 

[BSK]

But the case of Henry vs. Stewart is still somewhat an anomaly which contradicts similar expectations.

Not when you consider the change in soil type from Henry to Stewart.

 

[BSK]

Perry Co is much the same,luckily im surrounded by ag fields,probably several hundred acres within a mile or so,cant hurt.

Yup. I consider those conditions to hold true for most of the western Highland Rim counties. Near bottomland ag and you're going to grow some whoppers. Several miles from the closest bottomland ag and you're not going to grow big antlers very often.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Several miles from the closest bottomland ag and you're not going to grow big antlers very often.

Not very often is right. Every once In a while, we will get one touching 130, but not often. You will get one of those high scoring bloomers on a rare occasion. This is not a place to kill a whopper, but i can also say to this day, I have seen the biggest buck while hunting in my entire life there. I shot and missed him back around 2000. There is no doubt in my mind that he was touching 160".

 

[RUGER]

Nothing wrong with those deer.

That's what I thought.

 

[vonhogslayer]

I hunt round primm springs ,some nice bucks for sure!

 

[7wsm]

dont forget about lewis/ perry and wayne county all three of those county's produce some really good deer every year

 

[BSK]

dont forget about lewis/ perry and wayne county all three of those county's produce some really good deer every year

If around agriculture in those counties yes. Away from ag, not so much.

 

[GreyGoose]

love to see big racks and big body deer but thats not what its all about.the hunt is what i remember year after year

 

[JCS]

It seems the farther north you go the soil seems to get darker and richer. The farther south the exact opposite...red soils of Alabama. What land region would you consider Lincoln and Giles county. We are south down here but we get some pretty good size scoring deer. Especially around the elk river. Just wanted your thoughts on Lincoln CO compared to the rest of TN. Thanks again and good luck to all.

 

[hunter0925]

They all look good to me! But then again I am from east tn.