LBL TN Bow Season 16 days shorter

[BobinTN]

Hey guys;

If you do not track LBL hunting requlations. they have changed to coincide with the TN state reqular season (which cuts out about 14 days off of January hunting). The LBL season used to run to the weekend of Martin Luther King Day. Now the Forest Service wants to end it on the State closing day (first weekend of January).

My friend has been in correspondance with the 'Wildlife Program Manager for LBL. A quote for the reason for doing this is:

"One reason cited for declining hunter participation nationally is complicated regulations, and several bowhunters show up at LBL assuming we are on statewide archery seasons. So this was two-fold, reduce late season hunting pressure (especially since LBL was only place in TN open that last week) and help to make our archery dates easier to remember."

My friend is a biologist/forester type. He states that the Forest Service has not done any of the proper procedures to change the LBL hunting season.

Let's look at their reasoning.

The reasons:

1. hunters assume statewide season - the LBL season is open for the statewide season plus the extra days, so how does that inconvience anybody?

2. reduce late season hunting pressure - Really, you guys who hunt bow at LBL late season see that many other hunters?

The LBL Forest Service contact is:

Steve Bloemer
Land Between The Lakes
100 Van Morgan Drive
Golden Pond, KY 42211
(270) 924-2069
[email protected]

 

[Super8]

That sucks!

 

[TheLBLman]

If you do not track LBL hunting requlations. they have changed to coincide with the TN state reqular season (which cuts out about 14 days off of January hunting).

In the meantime the good news is that the TN portion of LBL is open for archery-only deer hunting continuously from late September until early January, with interruptions only for those three quota gun hunts. But I do feel your pain if you've normally been bowhunting the TN portion of LBL after the TN deer season had closed everywhere else. At least the option still exists if you're willing to hunt on the KY portion which entails over half of LBL's acreage.

I know some small-game hunters who are happy about this change since they don't like to be hunting small game during ANY open deer season. But I do understand that if you're a bowhunter who normally takes advantage of this post-season opportunity, you don't like it. On the other hand, as a bowhunter who has occasionally hunted there in January, I'm not particularly upset about it either, and understand the reality of other "user" groups effecting hunting opportunities on public lands.

Part of that reality: MOST LBL users don't bowhunt, and "they" collectively are carrying more and more "user" input over the recreation activities allowed at LBL.

Not sure just how much other "user" groups played into this particular decision, since the KY portion of LBL remains open for archery deer hunting into late January. But you can bet all "user" groups are part of the equation, and many of them would like to see less hunting going on at LBL.

I can speculate (regardless of what they say "officially") this decision being somewhat a way to address two very different user groups that don't want to be there at the same time. (Never mind that bowhunters are more tolerant of the other users than they are of bowhunters.) LBL can now say if you want to bowhunt in late January, do it on the North side. If you want to hike or ride your horse where no one is deer hunting, do it on the South side.