WMAs around Bell Buckle, TN

[JonKy]

Reposting this since I accidentally typed this in the Introductions page.

Hello Friends,

I'm relatively new to hunting, with this being my third season (haven't gotten anything yet). Given my schedule and resources as a student I don't have access to private land and I also don't have much time to scope out public land, but I still end up trying to hunt on WMAs in Middle Tennessee and hike the wilderness with a rifle. Last year I hunted Yanahali for a couple weekends but couldn't get anything. It seemed really crowded a week from the start of gun season. My parents have a place near Bell Buckle TN and I was thinking about maybe hunting around in Normandy, Bedford Lake, and Owl Hollow WMAs since it saves me driving from Nashville to Columbia for Yanahali. I was wondering if any of y'all have any insight into how crowded the WMAs are and if there's enough deer density there to justify hunting there. I looked at kill counts in those WMAs and it seems like Owl Hollow is just as popular as Yanahali, but Normandy and Bedford Lake seem to be much less popular.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Reposting this since I accidentally typed this in the Introductions page.

Hello Friends,

I'm relatively new to hunting, with this being my third season (haven't gotten anything yet). Given my schedule and resources as a student I don't have access to private land and I also don't have much time to scope out public land, but I still end up trying to hunt on WMAs in Middle Tennessee and hike the wilderness with a rifle. Last year I hunted Yanahali for a couple weekends but couldn't get anything. It seemed really crowded a week from the start of gun season. My parents have a place near Bell Buckle TN and I was thinking about maybe hunting around in Normandy, Bedford Lake, and Owl Hollow WMAs since it saves me driving from Nashville to Columbia for Yanahali. I was wondering if any of y'all have any insight into how crowded the WMAs are and if there's enough deer density there to justify hunting there. I looked at kill counts in those WMAs and it seems like Owl Hollow is just as popular as Yanahali, but Normandy and Bedford Lake seem to be much less popular.

Not familiar with the areas your looking at but hopefully someone will comment that has more experience. But no matter where your hunting, if you have limited days to hunt, set aside some days in November and focus on the rut period, for the area in middle TN where Im at the two weeks in muzzleloader and first week of rifle is where I put my effort and energy...find some travel corridors and pack a lunch, hunt all day. On public most people will walk back to the truck at lunch...sit tight, hunt hard, enjoy the process and post pics when you connect...good luck hunting.

 

[JonKy]

Not familiar with the areas your looking at but hopefully someone will comment that has more experience. But no matter where your hunting, if you have limited days to hunt, set aside some days in November and focus on the rut period, for the area in middle TN where Im at the two weeks in muzzleloader and first week of rifle is where I put my effort and energy...find some travel corridors and pack a lunch, hunt all day. On public most people will walk back to the truck at lunch...sit tight, hunt hard, enjoy the process and post pics when you connect...good luck hunting.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Ski]

Normandy is a nice WMA, not terribly busy for archery but gets a lil traffic once the boom sticks come out. A little different direction you've got AEDC, Maple Springs, Bark Camp Barrens, Hickory Flats, & probably a couple more that I'm not thinking of right off the top of my head. Bark Camp is decent size so you can get away from folks. Maple Springs is pretty small but I've killed deer there with archery.

To answer your question, yes the deer density is high enough to be worth the effort. But it's hunting so who knows. You might see a hundred or you might not see any.

 

[JonKy]

Normandy is a nice WMA, not terribly busy for archery but gets a lil traffic once the boom sticks come out. A little different direction you've got AEDC, Maple Springs, Bark Camp Barrens, Hickory Flats, & probably a couple more that I'm not thinking of right off the top of my head. Bark Camp is decent size so you can get away from folks. Maple Springs is pretty small but I've killed deer there with archery.

To answer your question, yes the deer density is high enough to be worth the effort. But it's hunting so who knows. You might see a hundred or you might not see any.

Thanks you very much! This is just what I was looking for.