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Quota Hunts

I heard Milan was canceled do to TWRA trying to run the show and inability to get along with the National Guard. So basically TWRA doing what they've been doing lately turning everything they touch to crap.
 
The options just aren't what they need to be. I built points for the hunt I wanted, then it went to earn a buck so forget that. I'll just apply to other states or other systems and just build points in TN in case something interesting does come along.
 
killingtime 41 said:
Seems like Tn as a whole has very few places to even apply to. If they don't start adding and having more options and or places to hunt. Most people are gonna just say forget it. Be nice to have some new places to roam. Quota hunts have always had a special place in my heart. As that's how I first started hunting 30 years ago. Something about everyone getting up early and the camp hunt. Go by the check station check out the bucks. Talk a few minutes get a little intel on of the buck was chasing any doe's. Get a little story on it.
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Personally I prefer same as statewide where I can hunt at my leisure and dodge crowds versus piling into a hunt where the deer are completely knocked off their patterns
 
Flintlocksforme said:
What really happened to the Milan training area hunts?
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Several have mentioned what I "heard" about why the hunt dissolved, but I'll add myself and others hunted it last year at peak time (middle of November) with solid weather and I was VERY underwhelmed. To the point I hate I wasted my preference points on it. The Arsenal & TWRA staff at the orientation and the entrance/exit gate were awesome and very helpful, as was dwallace33 on TnDeer, but the deer sign and deer sightings left a lot to be desired. With that said, I was in one small unit of the arsenal that may not have been the best area to deer hunt. No way for me to know with no prior knowledge of the area.
 
Andy S. said:
Several have mentioned what I "heard" about why the hunt dissolved, but I'll add myself and others hunted it last year at peak time (middle of November) with solid weather and I was VERY underwhelmed. To the point I hate I wasted my preference points on it. The Arsenal & TWRA staff at the orientation and the entrance/exit gate were awesome and very helpful, as was dwallace33 on TnDeer, but the deer sign and deer sightings left a lot to be desired. With that said, I was in one small unit of the arsenal that may not have been the best area to deer hunt. No way for me to know with no prior knowledge of the area.
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I know you and several others didn't have the same experience. Something was off for sure. It was supposed to have not been hunted for several years, but I will still wonder if it still wasn't being hunted during that time.

I saw plenty of deer, but my god the coyotes were every where.
 
DeerCamp said:
..................but my god the coyotes were every where.
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I saw a few myself and was able to get on one of them.
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Antler Daddy said:
At one time there were tons of quota hunts....then they opened many WMA's to coincide with regular seasons. Natchez Trace is one that stands out in my mind.
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Natchez Trace was managed at one time. I am glad the out of state turkey hunting free -for-all went to quota hunts. Remember when the South side of 40 was a quality buck area. We just weren't ready for that in Tennessee at that time. It all comes down to money. WMA permits aren't much but it's still cash. I guess between what TWRA gets from WMA permits and the governor gets from timber sales it's just a piggy bank now. Seems like the 15 choices is a bit overkill on the application. There was some talk about changing the free ride on quota hunts for Sportsman's License holders at the meetings earlier. Money must be running short.
 
Talk about TWRA getting timber sales. Just my opinion but if everyone that didn't want the logging to go on got their way. The land would be sold off or turn into a side by side or ATV park to get the money. I don't personally like all the timber cuts. But I'd bet the bank the timber cuts is one of the major reasons we still I've a place to hunt. Be careful what you wish for.
 
killingtime 41 said:
Talk about TWRA getting timber sales. Just my opinion but if everyone that didn't want the logging to go on got their way. The land would be sold off or turn into a side by side or ATV park to get the money. I don't personally like all the timber cuts. But I'd bet the bank the timber cuts is one of the major reasons we still I've a place to hunt. Be careful what you wish for.
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Never mind that extensive tracts over mature woods are about the least productive habitat for wildlife
 
MickThompson said:
Never mind that extensive tracts over mature woods are about the least productive habitat for wildlife
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Habitat? Wildlife? I agree that clear cuts help deer and predators. There's more to wildlife than just deer and coyotes and bobcats to me. Come on over this winter to Natchez Trace I will take the mtn curs and we can walk around in 1000s of acres of stumps and treetops where my dad and I have squirrel hunted and raccoon hunted for years. We can sit on a stump and he can tell you tales that will just about make you want to cry trying to picture how it used to be. Now we may find some squirrels but there will be some trees around when we do. He started hunting up there in the 60s he hates seeing the thin sandy soil wash into the creeks ultimately filling in KY Lake and he obviously misses the trees. I will repeat I know clear cuts are beneficial for deer and predators. I prefer to hunt deer around them intentionally. I am not convinced it's prime turkey habitat beyond a hen nesting. I know I miss a bunch of pine trees that was a prime turkey roost for as long as I can remember that's now long gone and the turkeys don't walk up and down the ridge gobbling sine it's a tangled mess of briars and sweet gum saplings.
To me wildlife is not just deer, it's woodpeckers, owls, flying squirrels, opossums, songbirds, etc. Sure there will be trees there again and mast crops but I am 55 and Dad is 82. I know he won't be there to see a decent hardwood stand in some of his favorite places again. How much trouble is it to at least leave an occasional dead den tree. Forestry guys say wildlife just moves and finds a new home when you ask about where the wildlife that lived in a mature hardwood forest. Most likely if they can find one there is something already living there.
 
Flintlocksforme said:
Habitat? Wildlife? I agree that clear cuts help deer and predators. There's more to wildlife than just deer and coyotes and bobcats to me. Come on over this winter to Natchez Trace I will take the mtn curs and we can walk around in 1000s of acres of stumps and treetops where my dad and I have squirrel hunted and raccoon hunted for years. We can sit on a stump and he can tell you tales that will just about make you want to cry trying to picture how it used to be. Now we may find some squirrels but there will be some trees around when we do. He started hunting up there in the 60s he hates seeing the thin sandy soil wash into the creeks ultimately filling in KY Lake and he obviously misses the trees. I will repeat I know clear cuts are beneficial for deer and predators. I prefer to hunt deer around them intentionally. I am not convinced it's prime turkey habitat beyond a hen nesting. I know I miss a bunch of pine trees that was a prime turkey roost for as long as I can remember that's now long gone and the turkeys don't walk up and down the ridge gobbling sine it's a tangled mess of briars and sweet gum saplings.
To me wildlife is not just deer, it's woodpeckers, owls, flying squirrels, opossums, songbirds, etc. Sure there will be trees there again and mast crops but I am 55 and Dad is 82. I know he won't be there to see a decent hardwood stand in some of his favorite places again. How much trouble is it to at least leave an occasional dead den tree. Forestry guys say wildlife just moves and finds a new home when you ask about where the wildlife that lived in a mature hardwood forest. Most likely if they can find one there is something already living there.
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So basically you only care about 2 species that by all measures are in fantastic shape and can be hunted right across the road from the cuts that upset you?

It sound like you aren't concerned about habitat as much as sentimental about places that you used to hunt.

What about rabbits, bobwhites, and grouse? What about prairie warblers, yellow breasted chats, white-eyed vireos, indigo buntings, and whippoorwills? Fox squirrels? Raccoons may not den in it, but they're using young forest and early successional cover as well. If they weren't using the same habitat that quail and turkeys nest in they wouldn't be vilified as nest raiders. Even the turkey research says we have a brood and nesting habitat shortage, not a winter roost shortage. The wildlife in the worst shape right now are the ones that don't need big, old trees but native prairie plants.

I'm not saying cut it all down but we damage a forest irreversibly by not managing it. And filling in Kentucky Lake? In my best Joe Biden impersonation- come on, man! That's just tree hugger hyperbole.

To try to pull it back to the original topic, diversity is important in habitat and hunting opportunity.
 
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Flintlocksforme said:
Habitat? Wildlife? I agree that clear cuts help deer and predators. There's more to wildlife than just deer and coyotes and bobcats to me. Come on over this winter to Natchez Trace I will take the mtn curs and we can walk around in 1000s of acres of stumps and treetops where my dad and I have squirrel hunted and raccoon hunted for years. We can sit on a stump and he can tell you tales that will just about make you want to cry trying to picture how it used to be. Now we may find some squirrels but there will be some trees around when we do. He started hunting up there in the 60s he hates seeing the thin sandy soil wash into the creeks ultimately filling in KY Lake and he obviously misses the trees. I will repeat I know clear cuts are beneficial for deer and predators. I prefer to hunt deer around them intentionally. I am not convinced it's prime turkey habitat beyond a hen nesting. I know I miss a bunch of pine trees that was a prime turkey roost for as long as I can remember that's now long gone and the turkeys don't walk up and down the ridge gobbling sine it's a tangled mess of briars and sweet gum saplings.
To me wildlife is not just deer, it's woodpeckers, owls, flying squirrels, opossums, songbirds, etc. Sure there will be trees there again and mast crops but I am 55 and Dad is 82. I know he won't be there to see a decent hardwood stand in some of his favorite places again. How much trouble is it to at least leave an occasional dead den tree. Forestry guys say wildlife just moves and finds a new home when you ask about where the wildlife that lived in a mature hardwood forest. Most likely if they can find one there is something already living there.
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Natchez Trace is a State Forest. Timber is why it exists.
 

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