HAPPY HOLLOW WMA

[SKFOOTER]

If any of you Middle Tennessee guys and gals could share any info with me on Happy Hollow WMA I would appreciate a PM. I drew the 2nd Quota turkey hunt there in April and don't know a thing about the place. Thanks in advance!

 

[Andy S.]

Since I'll be in the area this weekend, I plan to drive through it and take a peek. My biggest concern is the 50 hunter quota on 2000 acres with just ONE main access road going through the middle of it. 25-30 trucks parked along a 2 mile road will be crowded for sure.

 

[Gravey]

The lease I was on the past 4 years borders it. If it's like it is you will have lots of thick stuff. I've never turkey hunted down there due to son's baseball schedule but have seen some birds while deer hunting.

 

[Andy S.]

The land to the east of it appears to have been cut pretty hard in the past, was that the club you were in?

 

[Gravey]

The land to the east of it appears to have been cut pretty hard in the past, was that the club you were in?

It was cut in sections but been a while as the pines are on up there. I'm guessing at least 10 years but not positive. It's 3100 acres situated between Old Richmond Road and the main hwy right after coming off the interstate at Bucksnort (exit 53). Can't ever remember the hwy #. The front side has some big hardwoods so if it's like that you'll see birds although I hunted the middle and backside mostly where its thick and saw birds there. The guys on the club kill several every year.

 

[nwsg76]

Beautiful hills and holler. Be ready to climb up and down them all. It wont take long for the turkeys to move onto private lands. But it could be a fun hunt. It will only take a hot bird for a great hunt.Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[Andy S.]

Beautiful hills and holler.

What I thought from the map study I have done.

It wont take long for the turkeys to move onto private lands.

Another concern of mine with the numbers of applicants drawn and the hunt being on a weekend, which will mean a lot of pressure the first two days. I suspect there will be a great turn out from the hunters drawn for a number of reasons, which could ultimately end with many not having a quality hunt/experience. If this be the case, I'll write in my recommendation to TWRA next spring to reduce quota for out year hunts. I hope I am wrong, but I am afraid I won't be.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Will do.

 

[TheLBLman]

My biggest concern is the 50 hunter quota on 2000 acres with just ONE main access road going through the middle of it. 25-30 trucks parked along a 2 mile road will be crowded for sure.

Is that even safe? How far is a #4 HTL pellet dangerous?
That's a turkey hunt with a hunter per every 40 acres.
Going to be many hunters heading towards any bird that gobbles?

All won't show up, but add in some private land hunters near the perimeter boundaries, seems like way too many hunters?

 

[Andy S.]

Is that even safe?

If 50-60% show up (25-30), I suspect I will hunt the first day then move on.

How far is a #4 HTL pellet dangerous?

I don't want to find out.

That's a turkey hunt with a hunter per every 40 acres.

Exactly!

Going to be many hunters heading towards any bird that gobbles?

Yes indeed.

...... seems like way too many hunters?

I agree 110%. I'd recommend 20 hunter quota and hope only 10-15 show up, especially with the restricted access conditions (one road) that I am seeing from my map study.

 

[TheLBLman]

A 10-20 hunter quota would seem more reasonable.

I think another real wild card may be how many private land hunters are present around the perimeter. If I had land bordering this, you can bet I'd be hunting near my property line. This could greatly increase the number of hunters in the same vicinity, as it would seem logical that most of those WMA hunters, all parking along a central road, they're mostly going to head in the direction of those perimeter boundaries.

This might create somewhat a vacuum of no hunters near the center, and a huge concentration around the perimeter, as most are going to walk away from where they park, and it seems to be only a mile or less from the perimeter boundaries?

Andy, suggest you leave your fan at home. :mrgreen:

 

[PickettSFHunter]

It's worse than every 40 acres because it's 1800 acres instead of 2000.


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[Andy S.]

It's worse than every 40 acres because it's 1800 acres instead of 2000.

So 35 acres per hunter. 35-40 acres per "turkey hunter" is undesirable on many levels.

 

[Andy S.]

Andy, suggest you leave your fan at home. :mrgreen:

I may leave Andy at home.... :tu:

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Yeah I brought this up awhile back but it didn't get much attention. I compared that acreage per hunter to the other quota hunts where it's 4-6 times higher. I guess the idea is to take a new place and shoot it out. You really have to wonder about the people that make these decisions.


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[TheLBLman]

It's worse than every 40 acres because it's 1800 acres instead of 2000.

After putting my calculator to it, less than that, if we assume no one hunts within 200 yards of their truck.

Just a rough calculation, but assume that central road is 2 miles long (and there is 1,760 yards in a mile).
Every 70 yards x 70 yards square is one acre.
So, if we exclude 210 yards on either side of that road, then in that 2 mile road stretch,
we are excluding 301 acres (assuming no one hunts within 210 yards of their truck)?

Assuming the entire area is "huntable", that puts the hunters on only about 1,500 acres.
But then, maybe some will hunt closer to where they park than 200 yards.

This is not considering the effect of how many bordering private-land hunters may be hunting around the perimeter, which could reduce that "huntable" acreage (per hunter) more than the road factor.

I'll assume there's some solid reasoning for why TWRA would have such a relatively high quota on this WMA,
but on the surface, seems more like they had in mind "herding cats".

 

[Andy S.]

Yeah I brought this up awhile back but it didn't get much attention. I compared that acreage per hunter to the other quota hunts where it's 4-6 times higher.

I remember that thread and your comment all too well, but I had not done any research then, thus why I held off on commenting. With that said, you are dead on, it is a very high quota for acreage at hand and the thought of very mobile turkey hunters all going toward the same thing, any and all turkeys gobbling, is not a good thing. Another thing to consider is I'd bet a fair amount amount of money that there is at most 10 turkeys gobbling on any 2000 acres any one day, which isn't that much when you consider 25-30 hunters launching an assault on them all at the same time. Just food for thought.

 

[SKFOOTER]

I also noticed that there is an 80 hunter quota for the two quota deer hunts that they are having on Happy Hollow this fall. What's up with that?? :bash:

 

[SKFOOTER]

Per suggestion of TNDeer member scn, I called TWRA's Central Office and left a message for Richard Kirk to call. I'm still waiting on his return call.

 

[PalsPal]

I believe I would take an orange hat/vest to wear while moving around on that hunt.

 

[Andy S.]

Update:

Based on my reconnaissance trip this weekend, my level of concerned with the 50 hunter quota is even more heightened than I had previously thought. It appears I was mistaken about the 2 mile road running through the middle of it, as it had a locked gate on it and it appears everything is foot traffic only, which I am fine with. In gist, there appears to ONLY be 3 parking spots on the southwest corner of the property, with all trails/ridges/hollows/gas lines running north/northeast from these parking spots. To make it simple to understand, imagine 60% turnout (30 hunters) parking at 3 spots, so 7-10 trucks a spot depending on who drove alone/rode with a buddy. Now, all 7-10 hunters have to start from the exact same location at the parking spots and walk north/northeast unless they want to walk east/west over top of the ridge lines, which I doubt many will do because of the amount of relief. If any of the hunters hear a bird out in front of them, most likely several other hunters will too as they will all be traveling north/northeast 300-500 yards apart, and a majority will likely converge on that location.

I was very excited about our party of 4 hunting their opening weekend, but now I am leaning toward only frequenting it on Monday/Tuesday, if at all. I am still undecided on everything based on what I saw this weekend as I am the lead of my party and I do not want to steer my hunting buds into a big mess and screw up their opening weekend. I understand SKFOOTER may be contacting TWRA, which I hope he will to confirm/negate only 3 parking spots on southwest corner and no access from the west, north and east sides. I tried to access from these locations but kept hitting locked gates and posted signs all the way around the property, which is to be expected if it is all private with no public roads.

Few pics I took:

Main Parking Area

Main parking area with close up of locked gate on 2 mile gravel road that I thought ran through the middle of WMA (based on map study) to allow for more parking spots. It appears I was mistaken.

Safety Zone, basically everything south of Hwy 50 (My estimate: 75 acres)