WMA Camping

[LousyResident]

First off, I appreciate any help y'all are willing to give. I'm new to East TN and still trying to get things figured out before the upcoming hunting seasons.

It appears that the descriptions of the various WMA's do not always include information specific to overnight camping. Is there is a general rule for the WMA's that dispersed, overnight camping is generally allowed or not allowed if not detailed in the WMA specific regulations?

For example, based on the USDA site it appears that I could backpack into South Cherokee NF for a weekend hunt and just camp where I end up each night. The TN WMA regs don't address it specifically as far as I have seen.

What about something like Foothills WMA which also doesn't mention it at all? It's probably a little small for something like that, but it's one of the few real close to me to reference, lol.

 

[younggun308]

I *suspect* that if there is no "closed to all ___ except ____" in the regs, it's fair game. Usually that's the mechanism to limit use on WMAs that have quota hunts or also serve as refuges.
You could always try calling the area manager and ask.

 

[mike243]

Royal Blue has camping on the entire area but the 4 wheelers and SxS have run of the property 24/7 and its hard to get away from them there, I would send a email to twra or call them and ask about any you might want to try. Welcome to the site also more folks will be along and may have better info, write down the name of person and time of call in case any questions arise lol

 

[CATCHDAWG]

South Cherokee is also National Forest land. Yes, you can camp there. Not sure about Foothills.

 

[east_tn_gk]

I would send an email to the TWRA information address with any specific areas you're looking at. They're usually pretty helpful and could probably tell you where good options on that WMA are located.

 

[jlanecr500]

To my knowledge, North Cumberland wma is the only one in East TN that is open year round with camping allowed the whole time.