Trigg County KY hunting

[Rackseeker]

Anyone on here hunt in Trigg County, KY ? Going to go look at some property about halfway between Ft Campbell northern boundary and Cadiz. Just wondering about deer numbers in the area. Haven't hunted KY in several years, the last time was near Central City. The road hunters were terrible in that area of KY. Thanks for any info.

 

[Tn Joe]

Saltman should be able to help you

 

[Roost 1]

Should be good as far as numbers of deer. Trigg Co is not known for trophy bucks.

 

[ttf909]

Hunted dawson spring near pennyrile mgt area a few times . Numbers are not like middle tn but there are some great bucks . Going back again this year. Been 3 different weeks and haven't killed anything yet. My buddy, u know the type gold horse shoe in his back pack killed a 155 10 point an hour into his first afternoon. He hasn't been back since . He's going back with me this coming fall and I swear if he kills another one and I don't he is walking home .

 

[Headhunter]

Hunted dawson spring near pennyrile mgt area a few times . Numbers are not like middle tn but there are some great bucks . Going back again this year. Been 3 different weeks and haven't killed anything yet. My buddy, u know the type gold horse shoe in his back pack killed a 155 10 point an hour into his first afternoon. He hasn't been back since . He's going back with me this coming fall and I swear if he kills another one and I don't he is walking home .

Not sure about "exactly" where you hunted, but I am not far from Dawson Springs, and middle Tennessee has never had as many deer as there are where I hunt. Place is polluted with deer and good deer.

 

[ttf909]

Did u hunt Giles in the 90's ?
Where u see 30 or 40 deer in a sit ?
Mostly see 5 or 6 in a sit and maybe 12 on an all day hunt. Maybe the area isn't the greatest, idk .

 

[Roost 1]

Not sure about "exactly" where you hunted, but I am not far from Dawson Springs, and middle Tennessee has never had as many deer as there are where I hunt. Place is polluted with deer and good deer.

There is alot of difference In the area you hunt and the area mentioned. Although not that far apart, the habitat is very different.

 

[Snake]

Did u hunt Giles in the 90's ?
Where u see 30 or 40 deer in a sit ?
Mostly see 5 or 6 in a sit and maybe 12 on an all day hunt. Maybe the area isn't the greatest, idk .

I agree . Talked to an elderly gentleman one morning at the Bluebird Cafe in town and just to say what he said that they had did a survey once and they determined that Giles Co. had more head of deer than cattle. This was in the mid 90's . I've hunted on places that I've seen 20 to 25 but most times no more than 10 to 12 because the last places I hunted didn't have fields.

 

[ttf909]

I agree . Talked to an elderly gentleman one morning at the Bluebird Cafe in town and just to say what he said that they had did a survey once and they determined that Giles Co. had more head of deer than cattle. This was in the mid 90's . I've hunted on places that I've seen 20 to 25 but most times no more than 10 to 12 because the last places I hunted didn't have fields.

38 in a 4 hr sit was the record for me in Giles. Probably 2004 and again in Lincoln 2009ish same number and sit time .
It hurts to hunt bradley County and not see anything several sits in a row.

 

[CATCHDAWG]

38 in a 4 hr sit was the record for me in Giles. Probably 2004 and again in Lincoln 2009ish same number and sit time .
It hurts to hunt bradley County and not see anything several sits in a row.

Your hunting in the wrong part of Bradley county brother.

 

[Rackseeker]

It hurts to hunt bradley County and not see anything several sits in a row.

Sounds like where I hunt here in TN. LOL......

 

[ttf909]

Your hunting in the wrong part of Bradley county brother.

Probably so .

 

[Popcorn]

Anyone on here hunt in Trigg County, KY ? Going to go look at some property about halfway between Ft Campbell northern boundary and Cadiz. Just wondering about deer numbers in the area. Haven't hunted KY in several years, the last time was near Central City. The road hunters were terrible in that area of KY. Thanks for any info.

I manage some property in the area and am aquainted with a lot of the locals. Im right off the NW corner of Campbell and know the area around hwy 139 and 164 pretty well. Message me where and I will give you what I know.

 

[utvolsfan77]

Most I've ever seen in a single sit here in East Tennessee was early October 2015. In a 15-minute span I saw a ton of deer and stopped counting when I hit 40. First year hunting with a crossbow. Fired three bolts - dropped two adult does and had one clean miss. Had my quiver held more than three bolts, I could have shot several more times.

 

[JBell]

This is a trigg county deer. Killed a 154 on the same property 2 years prior. Cadiz area

 

[ROB]

Anyone on here hunt in Trigg County, KY ? Going to go look at some property about halfway between Ft Campbell northern boundary and Cadiz. Just wondering about deer numbers in the area. Haven't hunted KY in several years, the last time was near Central City. The road hunters were terrible in that area of KY. Thanks for any info.

From your description, you may be hunting near the Hamby property that is managed by Dr. Grant Woods of Growing Deer TV. Dr. Woods has proven that area has potential and, with proper management, can produce great deer. Good luck!

 

[TheLBLman]

From your description, you may be hunting near the Hamby property that is managed by Dr. Grant Woods of Growing Deer TV. Dr. Woods has proven that area has potential and, with proper management, can produce great deer. Good luck!

Have nothing but good things to say about Dr. Woods, but compared to private deer management in TN, it is extremely easy to get stellar results in KY, most anywhere in KY.

IMO, most of Trigg Co., KY has more potential for higher-scoring bucks than ANY county in Middle TN, ALL counties in East TN, and may equal or exceed the inherent "potential" of West TN's Mississippi River bordering counties (count them on one hand).

Even though West TN's Mississippi River border counties may have comparable inherent "potential" for producing high-scoring antlers, most of that "potential" becomes negated by TN's very different "statewide" deer-herd management. In reality, currently, Trigg Co., KY "trumps" every county in Tennessee in current potential simple because of the differences in statewide deer management between the two states.

Nearby Montgomery & Stewart Counties in TN don't even come close to Trigg's potential, mainly because of these statewide deer management differences. The statewide deer management makes a much larger difference than most people, perhaps including most "deer" biologists, seem to think.

When adult male deer regularly (like daily) roam 2 to 4 linear miles (straight distance as the crow flies) during the rut, even some very large acreage tracts become more at the mercy of "statewide" regs than any "private" management they may employ.

I've found that even having thousands of acres in TN under "private" deer management (similar to KY's statewide regs), cannot off-set the negative effects of TN's "statewide" deer regs. IMO, you would need a minimum of 5,000 contiguous acres, or, directly border KY, to have potential just comparable to most 200-acre tracts in Trigg Co., KY (no matter how good you "manage" the property in TN).

Trigg County is probably near "average" but above as for as top-end antler potential goes among Kentucky's counties.

But, I'm not saying TN's current statewide deer management is "bad". For many hunters, maybe most, it has actually recently become better than KY's. The only exception (again, my opinion) are the CWD counties in West TN, which have some very different TWRA regs, making it near impossible for any private management to ever approach the statewide KY management (assuming the goal is producing high-scoring older bucks).

 

[Tnshooter15]

Here are a couple that we have been lucky enough to kill in that same area over the past

 

[Popcorn]

From your description, you may be hunting near the Hamby property that is managed by Dr. Grant Woods of Growing Deer TV. Dr. Woods has proven that area has potential and, with proper management, can produce great deer. Good luck!

Dr Woods has not managed that property for a few years. Yes he has has a great influence on it and his contribution has been great but a student of Dr. Woods managed it for a while and I began making a contribution a few years back. when he left it became my responsibility to care for the property and continue soil improvements as well as building on all wildlife attributes on property. Sadly for me, last month 1100 acres of that property sold into a private compact that banks land into conservation trusts so that it's not divided or developed which is a great thing but it was 60% of my work and recreation. I am fortunate to be acquainted with those folks and will have continued limited access. I still have management and conservation operations on the remaining 500 acres of The Hamby Farms property that joins ft Campbell on that northwest corner. I have almost 10 years of contacts with area residents and land owners.

Trigg has great potential but it varies heavily depending on where you are. East trigg as you near Christian county has better agri land and better bucks as it goes. Larger farms with strict management programs take some exceptional bucks. As you move west toward hwy 139 you move into weaker soils but big blocks of woodlands. The bucks south of 525 are heavily influenced by Campbell genetics. Campbells best bucks are much closer to oak grove and west Clarksville! There also a lot of farms here that run pay to hunt operations and will rotate hunters in all season. This rotation creates far more pressure and larger harvest numbers than most realize. There are a lot of nice 130 bucks killed every year due to everyone shooting the first 3 yo that comes by. There are many areas producing 160" deer in trigg but they are often on or next to properties that are heavily managed. As you move west of 139 or north of 525 there are still some very good lands but the potential goes down as does to population. Most deer in this area are of larger frame and with good soil they can be heavy and even very fat. 160 lb doe are not uncommon where there is good agri land.
Also know there is a large Amish population in trigg that are clearly of the (if it's brown it's down) crowd and having them as neighbors can make it a very different hunt. The best properties here depends on the time of season as large hardwood tracts can be void of deer till the acorn drop then crop land gets vacated by and large. In years when the weather hits right and the rut seems concentrated it can get crazy and all rules are out. Look, trigg is an awesome place where quantity meets quality at a very good level but not all properties are the same so my advice is to go, scout, look at pics and talk to neighbors.
Like I said if I can be of assistance message me. I don't need another place to hunt or fish in TN or KY. So I am no threat.

 

[Roost 1]

Have nothing but good things to say about Dr. Woods, but compared to private deer management in TN, it is extremely easy to get stellar results in KY, most anywhere in KY.

IMO, most of Trigg Co., KY has more potential for higher-scoring bucks than ANY county in Middle TN, ALL counties in East TN, and may equal or exceed the inherent "potential" of West TN's Mississippi River bordering counties (count them on one hand).

Even though West TN's Mississippi River border counties may have comparable inherent "potential" for producing high-scoring antlers, most of that "potential" becomes negated by TN's very different "statewide" deer-herd management. In reality, currently, Trigg Co., KY "trumps" every county in Tennessee in current potential simple because of the differences in statewide deer management between the two states.

Nearby Montgomery & Stewart Counties in TN don't even come close to Trigg's potential, mainly because of these statewide deer management differences. The statewide deer management makes a much larger difference than most people, perhaps including most "deer" biologists, seem to think.

I've found that even having thousands of acres in TN under "private" deer management more similar to KY's, cannot off-set the negative effects of TN's "statewide" deer regs. IMO, you would need a minimum of 5,000 contiguous acres, or, directly border KY, to have potential just comparable to most 200-acre tracts in Trigg Co., KY (no matter how good you "manage" the property in TN.

Trigg County is probably near "average" but above as for as top-end antler potential goes among Kentucky's counties.

But, I'm not saying TN's statewide deer management is "bad". For many hunters, maybe most, it has actually recently become better than KY's. The only exception (again, my opinion) are the CWD counties in West TN, which have some very different TWRA regs, making it near impossible for any private management to ever approach the statewide KY management (assuming the goal is producing high-scoring older bucks).

You are making assumptions and I'll guarantee you better deer and more of them are killed in Montgomery Co TN every year.
Once again I'll say Trigg Co is not known for big deer. That doesn't mean there isn't a good one killed there every so often but as far as trophy counties in KY, Trigg isn't in the conversation. I've lived in this area my whole life, my thoughts are based on knowledge of the area.