Out of State hunter, hunting with Dad for birthday present.

[anboylan17]

Hello All,

I am from Pennsylvania and as a birthday and father's day gift to my dad I took a week vacation and bought a Tennessee license to hunt archery with him. He lives in Bulls Gap and he typically gets a deer in rifle but hasn't bow hunted here much. We are currently hunting a very small piece of private but have discussed hunting some public. Ill glady take any suggestions!

 

[TheLBLman]

The closest large public area may be the North Cherokee National Forest.
Unfortunately, it appears to be at least temporarily closed due to storm damage.
That is still something to be checking on, as there may be some opportunities there coming up.
Just trying to think of something significant close to Bulls Gap that's open "same as statewide".
Pretty slim pickings in upper East TN without the Cherokee National Forest.

 

[anboylan17]

I appreciate your input, here's to hoping that opens up later this week! I am currently on the Buffalo Springs WMA and there is some deer sign but nothing super promising.

 

[killingtime 41]

Without the forest being open to hunt or even go in. Any small areas are gonna be hard to hunt due to not enough area to keep pushing on. Hopefully they open it back up. But it says won't open till April 2025. At least what I read.

 

[Lt.Dan]

Check for TVA huntable lands. It's a GIS service that shows small tracks of land that are for public use. They usually run on or near the Tennessee River. That's the public land I usually hunt. There are tracks from a few acres to several hundred acres.

 

[anboylan17]

Thank you! I appreciate it, we will be looking into it!

 

[Headhunter]

Wish I could help. I have not hunted in East Tennessee other than Catoosa. I think AEDC is open with statewide for archery and there is a good number of deer there.

 

[anboylan17]

I appreciate your input, I will definitely check it out!

 

[BPhunter]

Hello All,

I am from Pennsylvania and as a birthday and father's day gift to my dad I took a week vacation and bought a Tennessee license to hunt archery with him. He lives in Bulls Gap and he typically gets a deer in rifle but hasn't bow hunted here much. We are currently hunting a very small piece of private but have discussed hunting some public. Ill glady take any suggestions!

Good luck to you and your dad and have fun.