Hunting in West Tn.

[Nsghunter]

I had a catastrophic failure during my most recent camping/hunting trip to Cherokee national forest. We durn near froze to death and didn't seen a deer or pig. I had someone recommend that I go to West Tn or LBL for a late season trip that might increase my chance because of the dense populations or even LBL.

Does anyone recommend any large public hunting areas or places to tent camp or use a cabin. That has a dense deer population.

I would like to have an area to go near after Christmas.

Does big south fork have a heavy deer population?

I would consider going out of state but finances are low and I thought I would stay in state.

 

[little highriser]

Natchez Trace State Park near Lexington, TN would be some good public land hunting for you and Chickasaw State Park near Henderson, TN.

 

[TX300mag]

Just make sure you go into it with realistic expectations. Although the deer population is higher in general, these areas are generally highly pressured and late season hunting experiences will normally reflect that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[easy45]

Natchez Trace State Park near Lexington, TN would be some good public land hunting for you and Chickasaw State Park near Henderson, TN.

If you want to try Chickasaw I work there, I would help you as much as I could.

 

[catman529]

Just make sure you go into it with realistic expectations. Although the deer population is higher in general, these areas are generally highly pressured and late season hunting experiences will normally reflect that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

yes, this. I've had more late season success hunting thickets where I can't see very far.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Crosshairy]

Just make sure you go into it with realistic expectations. Although the deer population is higher in general, these areas are generally highly pressured and late season hunting experiences will normally reflect that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

yes, this. I've had more late season success hunting thickets where I can't see very far.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree with both of these guys. There are more deer, yes. Are your odds of seeing something higher? Yes, I think so. But it doesn't change the fact that you are talking about hunting public land after the season is underway.

If you are serious about just wanting to see / shoot something, then go ahead and start making plans for next year. If you don't have a muzzleloader, you can get into that side of the hunting season for pretty cheap (look up the CVA Wolf as an inexpensive option). I've had good success on public land in West TN by hunting the first few days of muzzleloader season - it's either sex, most WMAs allow MZs, and the deer are fairly unpressured early on.

As for going this year...you need to be loading up the truck right now. SW TN's rut is generally the first 2 weeks of gun season, so you are in the middle of it. For some areas, it has already passed. Hunting post-rut public land can be pretty tough, and often involves long hikes to get to the back of areas that don't see much pressure.

 

[Hunt 365]

Natchez Trace. Good numbers

 

[Nsghunter]

Thanks for all the input. I tried Chickasaw one year and Natchez another. I prefer Natchez but I really enjoyed Chickasaw. I have loose plans to return this year.

 

[backyardtndeer]

You may want to see how cwd is factoring in in areas in West side of the state. If deer are dieing off and densities are dropping, that might influence your decision on where you would have your best opportunities.

 

[buckbstr_1]

Pick out several spots to hunt. I usually have people to beat me to my spot. So I have several spots picked out and works out pretty well. There is a lot of pressure on these public lands.

 

[Shed Hunter]

I would take Natchez Trace over LBL late season. I see later rut activity at Natchez Trace than LBL which has an almost unbelievably dead late season considering the amount of deer there. With that said all of the public land I've been to in middle and west TN or even KY all have opportunities for a chance at a deer or even a good sized deer, but finding out what exact time of year and where that opportunity lies within said land will likely take time. A hunter at Peabody WMA in KY once told me there's a lot of deer here, but there's also not a lot of deer here. It's all about finding the 20% of land that has deer on it in the daylight.

 

[Nsghunter]

"... but finding out what exact time of year and where that opportunity lies within said land will likely take time. A hunter at Peabody WMA in KY once told me there's a lot of deer here, but there's also not a lot of deer here. It's all about finding the 20% of land that has deer on it in the daylight."

One of my favorite ways to scout is to find where the deer are not... I call it turbo scouting. PIck a piece of a large area and then move through each section quickly, if you don't see substantial activity, then move along, if you don't see substantial activity in a reasonably huntable area, move on still.