Quota hunt question from me and my boys

[gobblesandgrunts]

To begin with, I started a party for me and my two young boys to get drawn for a hunt a few years ago. We only have a handful of tags. My boys are 7 and 10. My oldest shot his first buck, a small 7pt and his first doe this past year at our family farm. My youngest went but didn't see any deer, we don't really have a ton of deer in my area. We live in Warren County but we would travel for the right hunt. I guess my question is, what would be the best place to put in for to kill a quality deer. I figured by the time we get enough points to get drawn maybe PI would where we need to keep applying for? We never hunt public ground so we don't really know what we are doing in that department really lol. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Buzzard Breath]

I would put the kids in for the Yuchi youth hunts and let them have the next 6-10 years to themselves. While they enjoy those hunts, use the regular season and postseason to scout and learn some close public land to your home. There is some real food deer hunting in some counties close to you.

 

[EastTNHunter]

You're going to have to define "quality deer." I doubt that there will be a WMA in the state that will have better quality deer than what you already have on a family farm. Now some areas may have a little higher potential for body size or antlers based upon some environmental factors, but generally speaking the public land in those areas will be hit harder than the surrounding private land.

A few suggestions:
- Focus on experience, not some quantitative goals.

-Put your boys in for the youth hunts instead of the adult hunts, as they will have less restrictions.

-Expect to hunt the people more than the deer. People are strange, and will often be drawn to the most open, picturesque spots that look like something from a deer hunting video. If you are willing to get away from open and "pretty", and focus on cover and terrain features, then you will have a higher chance of success

- Expect company. People get up and move a LOT on quota hunts. They end up spooking deer off of you and onto you. It's a double edged sword, but if you get walked up on them stay put. Deer are being pushed around as long as people are walking

-Pack a lunch and stay all day. People going out for lunch and coming back in is GOOD for your deer sightings. If you leave then you are missing good times to hunt and may push deer off of your area