Mountain Deer

Chickencoop96

Chickencoop96

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TNDeer Supporter
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Englewood, TN
Ok so I have been scratching my head at this one, Why are deer numbers so low in the SE TN mountains?. even around some of the prime timber cuts the sign and sightings are scarce vs. other parts of the state. is it herd genetics? or habitat? idk it's confusing to me.
 
Not SE TN but just N of the GSMNP, wife's Grandparents homestead. mostly mountain terrain with a few old tobacco fields I turkey hunted it for a few years and saw some deer sign but when hunted it not much action until I planted approx 2acres in clover in a 2 different plots. that was 6 years ago and now I will get pics of 5-10 deer each afternoon in the plot I run a camera over but mature bucks are still hard to come by but they are their if you have the time to devote to hunting them, unfortunately it is a 45 minute drive from my house and have 2 leases 10 minutes form home. Buck from a couple years ago.

not the best pic but couldn't get a video to upload.
 
deerdills said:
In addition to less desirable habitat and fewer crops, I've always thought hunter density to be greater in the eastern third of TN. More hunters per sq mile may be a factor as well.
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That would be a big negative in the Cherokee national forest. I can hunt all day and never see another hunter.
 
Makes sense in the CNF, as most probably do not care for the difficult terrain. Hats off to those who do. Those harvests are well earned.
Aside from the true mountain areas of the far eastern portion, the hills and valleys seem to have a high hunter density. More residents, fewer large farms from Chattanooga to Knoxville, compared to middle and west regions.
 
When I first started deer hunting in 1973 my dad was caretaker at camp ocoee so I did most of my hunting on the old Ocoee wma and the deer were pressured, there would be a truck parked at every pull off, twra had two metal buildings on skids they used as checking stations, now you can hunt all season and not see another hunter, back in those days Doc Evans ran a big lumber yard and did a lot of clear cutting in the mountains and the hunting would be amazing for about 4 years.Theres a ridge off the big frog loop rd where my hunting group got started hunting a 2 year old clear cut and 6 of us killed an 8pt, 12pt, 10pt, 2 boar and a bobcat in one year. Every good deer Ive see up there was on the edge of a clear cut, now its seldom to even see a deer.
 
It takes about 7 years after a total reset disturbance (clear cut or tornado) for the canopy to completely close back in and sunlight getting through the canopy to drop below 10%. Once that happens the growth points are in a race to the sun for the next 80 years or so. Ideally you'd have rolling cuts within a relatively close area so wildlife will have stands of varying ages in immediate proximity.

Deer can easily reach what's basically below your armpits. Visualize that next time you stroll through the woods.
 
MickThompson said:
It takes about 7 years after a total reset disturbance (clear cut or tornado) for the canopy to completely close back in and sunlight getting through the canopy to drop below 10%. Once that happens the growth points are in a race to the sun for the next 80 years or so. Ideally you'd have rolling cuts within a relatively close area so wildlife will have stands of varying ages in immediate proximity.
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Exactly Mick. That's why in hardwood environments where I do most of my work, we would divide up a property into patches and then cut patches on a rotating schedule so that an equal percentage of the property would be in all the stages of growth, including maturity. In most locations, peak food production for a cut is during the 2nd and 3rd summer of regrowth and then fall off fairly quickly as canopy closure occurs. Peak cover habitat is usually in years 6-7 of regrowth. That can be extended longer for sections of the cut that are planted in pines. But most hardwood cuts (that are allowed to regenerate naturally) have lost their value to deer by about year 12-15 of regrowth (pole timber stage).
 
I can also add this. Hunting North Cherokee You will have thousands upon thousands of acres of acorns. Ground so little red with acorns it like walking on gravel for miles. While I believe it's good to have mast. They need to open the canopy's. There is deer in there but they could stay 2 miles off the rd and have so much mast to eat they could literally eat laying down. And there is zero open areas very little browse. No management of wildlife over here. Only thing they care about is damn bears. And they are way overpopulated around here anymore.
 
timberjack86 said:
That would be a big negative in the Cherokee national forest. I can hunt all day and never see another hunter.
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New to the area, but I still see very little deer sign with all the miles I've put in… hardly a track or trail…mostly around Citicorp creek wilderness area….????
 
rdonald69 said:
New to the area, but I still see very little deer sign with all the miles I've put in… hardly a track or trail…mostly around Citicorp creek wilderness area….????
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Not to sound like a smart a$$ but nobody said it was easy. Keep studying maps and putting in the miles. You'll find them. 10 percent of the national Forest holds 90 percent of the deer imo
 

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