Best Hunting In Tennessee?

[Guest KarlS]

This could be a loaded question but here goes. I am moving to TN soon I hope, whenever our house sells. I have tried to look on line for areas of the state that have good hunting and fishing. I am basing my area strictly on hunting and fishing availability. Work is not an issue cause I don't anymore. I trophy hunt always but meat on the table is always priority.

I have looked real hard at the Dale Hollow area and east to the Norris Lake area. Any hogs around there? How's the availability of open hunting land? Do I need to find leases to hunt on? Getting real bad up here. Anti's are posting up everything and confining much of the hunting to small woodlots then they complain the deer ate all the shrubs down to the stub during the winter.

Any views would help and I will research the area and make a trip down to look for real estate. Oh yeh....cheap real estate a plus.

Thanks for the help!

KS

[Guest mosinon]

I've got no idea where the best hunting is but I've got a website that can help you find land in TN. Though the website may suck. I haven't used it much yet. So for what it is worth:

Tennessee Hunting Land for Sale at LANDFLIP.com

[Rightwinger]

Anywhere in Unit L. Check out the stats from TWRA and if your a numbers guy this will give you some starting points.

https://hfwa.centraltechnology.net/TNHFInternetHarvest/app/mainHarvestReport.do

My first suggestion would be any of the counties just east of the Tennessee River. We hunt Wayne Co and this was my brothers result last year:

My best out of Wayne Co from a few years ago

[Guest KarlS]

Yeh I'll take those anyday! Nice bucks. Looks like open land in the pics. We're lucky to get a shot out to 75 yds here. Thick and crunchy. Most of the time you snap shoot at bucks you almost step on. Can't imagine what it would be like to get a 200yd shot off.

Thanks for the input!

[whiskey]

Lincoln and Giles Counties turn out some big deer. Dickson, Montgomery and Stewart counties turn out big deer too. All of these areas are also loaded with Turkeys. Stewart county probably has the fishing advantage being right on Land Between the Lakes (LBL). LBL also offers some of the best trophy opportunities on public land in Tennessee. The closer you are to Nashville, the more pressure the public land gets. To consistently take big deer every year, you need private land that you can manage for trophies.

There aren't many hogs in middle Tennessee. There are a few at LBL, with picture proof in a thread below by WD-40. However, there aren't a lot of them. Nothing like Texas or Florida.

The agricultural areas turn out bigger deer. The further north you go the bigger the genetics get. Just look at the body size of some of the deer coming out of Kentucky now.

If I were moving to Tennessee just to hunt and fish, I would move to Dover, TN. I would fish Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake and a I would hunt LBL and Fort Campbell and Cross Creeks.

[Guest KarlS]

Whiskey Thanks for the info. I did read some about LBL and it sounded like a pretty good spot. Our oldest son is in Missouri right now so he'd love it. This is all good info I can research this winter and make a trip down in spring. Never hunted hogs but father-in-law is in Florida and lives to hog hunt. He's hoping where we go there's some for him to hunt.

[RCCsDad]

I'm originally from Hickman County. Historically, a great number of deer. However, since Unit L has been around, I think the number is dropping but quality is rising. At least on our farms.

25 minutes from Columbia and Dickson, an hour or less from Nashville. Good fishing, lots of turkeys. An hour to TN River.

My mother is a retired school teacher that now sells real estate over there. If you are interested in the Hickman/Dickson/Williamson County area, PM me and I will get you her info.

[Guest Bluemax]

Good luck on your move. If you are interested in East Tn, I would highly recomend, Sevier or Blount county. I'm sure the surrounding counties are just as good but I grew up here and would have to say: if I were ready to retire this would be the place

[Hidalgo]

OK, I agree with West or Central Tennessee ... but here's my take:

First off, I love to coyote hunt at LBL. But during deer season, it's EXTREMELY crowded.

Although the better deer hunting is probably NOT in the East Tennessee / Chattanooga area, it is withing 60-90 minutes of here. Easy drive and you only have to be dealing with it during hunting season which is a very limited time. And don't get me wrong, we have a TON of deer in this area.

The Tennessee River runs through Chattanooga and offers some of the best fishing in the state, IMO. Watts Bar, Chickamauga, and Nickajack all turn out numbers as well as trophys every year. And don't forget to add in the excellent trout fishing in the Hiwassee River which is 30 miles away.

The Cherokee Natl Forest has a pretty good hog population, as does Catoosa WMA which is within a 45 minute drive.

Chattanooga is a great location, IMO, not only for hunting/fishing but for other uses as well. Hiking, boating, motorcycling, golf, and most any other outdoor activity is available here. The mountain range is 30 minutes to the east, Knoxville is 90 minutes north, Nashville is 90 minutes west, Atlanta 90 minutes to the south ... heck we're sitting in the middle of everything.

[Guest KarlS]

I have heard quite a bit about the Chattanooga area. None bad. I'd be alot better off if I was getting transfered for a job or something but having to pick a spot that meets outdoor needs hasn't been easy. I could travel all over the place to hunt but I spend most of the season in the woods and it's nice to be within short drives.

Coyote hunting sound fun too. Crowds and I don't get along unless you're looking for someone to get the deer moving when they're laying low.

It's going to be a fun time picking a spot to live. Wherever it is as long as I'm there I'll be better off than this place.

[Guest clownsdd]

Pretty much, anywhere in the state. Good hunting is within 30-60 minutes away.

[Guest ridge runner]

I second the area in North Tennessee is the best hunting and fishing in the state. The Henry, Stewart, Montgomery county area has the most opportunity to hunt and fish of the state.