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SUBJECT: Deer Hunting
QUESTION: I'm originally from Hawkins County, TN but I'm active duty military and stationed in Louisiana and the only time I get to hunt back home is from mid December to the first week of January and I was wondering what stage the rut would be in this time frame when I'm home. Thanks for the help!!!! -- Steven Cradic
ANSWER: There is some debate over the rut this year, with some hunters thinking the primary breeding phase occurred early and others thinking it will occur late. My personal observations on the Cumberland Plateau, a ways west of Hawkins County, is that there was a flurry of scraping activity in late October-early November, but no rubbing activity until mid-November, and the scraping activity that had dried up after 10-12 days or so has started again as of late November. My personal opinion for this area, at least, is that the primary breeding is taking place now, which would put the secondary rut at the very end of December and very first of January.
— Ben Garrett, TnHunting.Com Publisher. 11/28/07
SUBJECT: Hunting Licenses
QUESTION: I lost my license and hunter safety card and i dont know what to do about getting my license.So how can I get my license? -- templeton@****.com
ANSWER: Hello. Visit your nearest license agent (Wal-Mart, sporting goods store, etc.) and they should be able to take care of you. Tell them you lost your license and need to replace it. They'll need your Social Security Number. The cost to replace the license is $7.
As for the hunter safety card, you'll have to contact the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency about a replacement. To do that, you can email Betty Furkins at betty.furkins@state.tn.us or call 615-781-6585 and she can tell you what you need to do.
— Ben Garrett, TnHunting.Com Publisher. 9/23/07
SUBJECT: Deer Behavior
QUESTION: A few days ago here in KY I called in 3 does and a mature buck with a fawn in distress call. It was working out perfectly until one of the does looked me square in the eye from about 10 yards and busted me. She blew my cover big time. My question is, Will these deer remember that distress call now and associate it with me? I mean, if I was to try the call again in a week would the deer recognize the call and avoid coming near me? -- ejk@**********.com
ANSWER: I don't think if you wait a week or so the deer will rember that sound.They hear bleats from the real thing every day.The thing is deer are like people; they are all different. Unless you are looking at the deer before you start calling you will never know if they shyed away from you or just didn't hear it.There is always the possibility that they just won't respond at all. Hope this helps. Good luck and good hunting.
— Richard Edmons, TnHunting.Com Deer Field Staffer. 12/26/06
SUBJECT: Quality Deer Management
QUESTION: I\'ve read in a few magazine articles that in order to achieve quality deer management, we should kill all spikes and does. Does this make sense? If it does can someone explain why? Thanks -- pearsonmichelle@**********.net
ANSWER: Thanks for the question. You take out the does to even out the buck to doe ratio. The spike will always be a spike theory is a very controversial issue. I don't agree with this this theory at all. In my opinion, a spike is usually the same age as the button bucks we see every fall. So it in fact has more potential to be a lot bigger than the smaller button bucks. Taking out a lot of does does make perfect sense and if I were running a lease I would probably put an earn a buck program in place. In the area we live in, it would take several does being out of the herd to even out the buck to doe ratio. The Earn a Buck program is ineffective in some Northern states and some WMA areas. It is where you have to take a doe or a number of does to get to take your buck. This really puts every body to taking out a doe where as some people won't do it because they are waiting on a buck. So taking out the doe part I agree with, but let those little guys walk and you'll see they won't stay spikes.
— Richard Edmons, TnHunting.Com Deer Field Staffer. 12/26/06
SUBJECT: Food Plots
QUESTION: My buddy and I are planning on planting a summer food plot in hardeman county. Do you have any suggestions as to what we should plant, when, and when we plant, can we hunt it in the winter time or do we have to be a certain distance away from the plot??????? -- pearsonmichelle@**********.net
ANSWER: If I were gonna take on such a project I would start with a soil sample and by all means work the ground up well before attemting to plant. The biggest cause for food plot failure is the seeds germinate and die on top of the ground instead of being under the soil. Alot of companies claim that the seeds will do their thing by simply being broad cast over the area after the leaves have been raked back, but the ground really needs to be worked up and a small amount of dirt put over the seeds. The local Farmers co-op should be able to help with the sample and what to put to into the soil that will bring it into compliance. Then a trip to the food plot section at your local sporting goods store or wal-mart. The premixed packages at the stores have what is in each of them printed on the bag. They recommend good times to plant and how long the plot should last into the winter. Depending on if you are more concerned about growing big racks during the summer or attracting during the winter you might want to section off your area for both.
If I were gonna plant my own mix I would section off my plot. In the first half I would plant stuff like clover, rye, winter wheat, and maybe some turnips greens. Then closer to season like mid August I would plant some more winter wheat and turnips or collard greens in the other half so they will come up in interavals and be peaking after the other is going downhill. The State Forestry service uses some stuff called Australian peas. Deer will not even think about touching this plant until the peas mature. The State Forestry service in our county plants theirs in one week interevals until they run out of planting room. The first ones come in about two weeks before bow season and the last ones finally come in around the first of November if the frost doesn't get them. That is why you will also want to think about planting something that is frost tollerant like the winter wheat and collard or turnip greens so it will draw deer well into December. There are no laws against hunting food plots because it is not considered baiting as long as the crop is standing and not cut. It would be hard to make a law against food plots because farmers plant their crops and hunt near their fields. If my memory serves me right the law on baiting is 100 yards from the sight. If I can be of any more assistance let me know thanks for the question.
Good luck and good hunting,
— Richard Edmons, TnHunting.Com Deer Field Staffer. 12/4/06
SUBJECT: Hunting Regulations
QUESTION: Can you tell me what unit that McMinn County TN in? -- sissie99@**********.com
ANSWER: McMinn County is in Unit A. It is one of 36 counties that make up Unit A. Counties in Unit A include: Benton, Bledsoe, Bradley, Chester, Clay, Crockett, Decatur, DeKalb, Dyer, Gibson, Grundy, Hamilton, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Houston, Jackson, Lake, Lauderdale, Marion, McMinn, McNairy, Meigs, Obion, Overton, Perry, Putnam, Rhea, Roane, Sequatchie, Shelby, Stewart, Tipton, Van Buren, Warren and White.
— Ben Garrett, TnHunting.Com Publisher. 12/4/06
SUBJECT: Hunting Regulations
QUESTION: After browsing the regs Is Sunday hunting permitted for white tail in Wayne Co? -- rocketsrus@**********.com
ANSWER: Yes, hunting is allowed on Sundays in all 95 Tennessee counties, as well as on all Wildlife Management Areas, so long as there is a deer season open. Unlike some states, Tennessee doesn't have a law prohibiting Sunday hunting.
— Ben Garrett, TnHunting.Com Publisher. 11/21/06
SUBJECT: Wild Boar Hunting
QUESTION: yes i have ben trying to get a good place to take my son hog hunting in tn but can't find a place to take him i have ben reserching it for several years and have not found a place to take him i have trid contacting f&g but thay don't anser ther e-mail but hereaily whants to go...can you help? -- Paul
ANSWER: Are you wanting to hunt public land or a commercial operation? If public land is what you are interested in then I would recommend the Cherokee National Forest around Tellico in Southeast Tennessee. The Big South Fork area in Northern Tennessee has declined in population due to eradication programs but may bounce back in the near future. But remember that wild hogs are very tough to hunt. Even if the population is abundant you are looking at around 5% sucess rate.
I myself would recommend a good hunting preserve for a first-time hog hunter. There are many preserves in the middle and eastern Tennessee area that I would highly recommend, dont let the word "fence" scare you; some of these are a very tough hunt, but then there are some that I would NOT recommend as they seem to just be after a quick dollar and have very small tracts of land.
— Lathern Hull, TnHunting.Com Wild Boar Field Staffer. 10/3/06
SUBJECT: Waterfowl Hunting
QUESTION: Hey. What's the best way to clean a goose? Any tips for cooking them? -- Jason
ANSWER: I breast my geese out much like a dove or a duck.
I like soaking them in a BBQ sauce or Dale's sauce marinade for a few hours and then baking at 350 for 45 minutes. Keep them moist so they don't dry out during baking.
My favorite is I like soaking them in the same marinade, then cutting them into cubes and wrap a piece of bacon around them with some cheese and a jalepeno pepper in the middle held together with a toothpick and put on the grill.
— David J. Edgar, TnHunting.Com Waterfowl Field Staffer. 9/2/06
SUBJECT: Deer Hunting
QUESTION: After seeing some deer close by my camp, I heard shortly after this weird sound that sounded like someone trying to make a loud imitation of a fierce wind - brief, husky, forced. Was this a deer or what? -- Rob
ANSWER: Hi Rob.
Condensed version: It sounds like that is exactly what it was!
Book version: Your question doesn't make it clear whether you deer hunt (or are otherwise around deer a lot), so I don't mean to be telling you something that is common knowledge, but just from the way you described the sound, it sounds like a common, everyday deer "snort," which is the deer's alarm sound. They make the sound through their nose. It sounds exactly as you described, and may also include a high-pitched, whistling sound.
When a deer sees, or smells, something that they believe to be dnger (and if they passed close by your camp, chances are very good that they caught a whiff of human scent), they'll snort to warn other deer that might be in the vicinity that danger is imminent. Often, they snort many times. If they're close to you or whatever the danger that they perceive, they'll run out of range a bit and often stop and snort several times before exiting the area.
While the snort warns other deer of danger, it also warns other wildlife . . . for example, squirrels will often stop what they're doing and freeze on the side of a tree trunk when a deer starts to snort until they have observed the area and determined whether or not there is enough danger to send them scurrying through the treetops.
The snort warns any deer within hearing distance that danger is present, but deer also have a more lasting way of warning their comrades of danger. Often when they're snorting, you'll see them stomping their front hooves. They have a gland in these hooves that deposits scent into the ground as they stomp, and when other deer happen by, they'll smell that scent and they, too, will be aware of danger in that particular area.
Sometimes, but not often, deer use the snort as a sign of aggression, usually towards one another, but (rarely) towards larger animals such as humans (this is almost always in cases where a doe has a fawn nearby and feels that the human is threatening her young). In these cases, you'll see the deer's ears flatten back on its head and its eyeballs roll back into its head.
The snort is by far the most common sound that a deer makes.
— Ben Garrett, TnHunting.Com Publisher. 8/14/06.
SUBJECT: Deer Hunting
QUESTION: Why are most droppings individual pellets and some an attached clump? What determines this consistency? Sex, diet, age? -- John
ANSWER: Hello, John. It is all about their diet. One of the most common myths in hunting circles is that pellets mean the deer is a doe, while clumps mean the deer is a buck, or vice-versa. To a much lesser extent, some hunters believe the myth that pellets are left by a young deer while clumps are left by an old deer.
I don't know where either of those myths got their start, but neither is true.
The consistency of droppings is all about the diet. More specifically, it's all about the fiber in the diet. If deer are eating foods that are high in fiber, such as leaves and other browse, their droppings will be more in the form of loose pellets. On the other hand, if they're eating foods that are eating foods that are low in fiber, such as fruits, acorns and other mast, their droppings will be more in the form of clumps.
The reason most of the droppings we find are in the form of pellets is because deer rely primarily on those high-fiber browse food sources. And while deer may feed almost exclusively on mast food sources when they're available, most mast sources are available only in the early fall.
That's not to say that other factors can't affect droppings — such as parasites, disease and stress — but diet is by far (95% or better) the determining factor in the consistency of stool and, again, the deer's sex has nothing to do with it.
I hope that answers your question. Have a good day!
— Ben Garrett, TnHunting.Com Publisher. 8/2/06.