Cheatham Lake WMA in Cheatham County has registered blind sites, which are drawn for on the first Saturday in August. It also has some flooded timber walk-in areas, which are listed as Harpeth Island, Marks Creek and Bluff Creek. These areas are not restricted to either registered or staked temporary blind sites. Cheatham Reservoir and the associated walk-in areas are closed to waterfowl hunting on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.

"Old Hickory WMA has drawn registered blind sites with a few temporary blind sites," said Skoglund. "The WMA is broken down into three units. The vast majority of the sites require a boat to access them."

The access points for both Cheatham and Old Hickory are from the existing public boat launch sites around each reservoir. Cheatham and Old Hickory have a combination of open-water sites and flooded potholes that on any given day can attract mallards, widgeons, gadwalls, blacks and green-winged teal.

Woods Reservoir WMA, which borders Coffee and Franklin counties, also has registered blind sites and is mostly open-water shooting. The area is especially attractive to rafts of diver ducks, and subsequently hunters are more successful if they use strings of diver decoys rather than typical puddle duck sets. Public access ramps are also available at Woods.

Haynes Bottom WMA in Montgomery County has registered blind sites located in flooded potholes. Most of these sites require a boat for access. Normal bags for Haynes include mallards, widgeons, gadwalls, blacks and green-winged teal. Haynes Bottom is closed to waterfowl hunting on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.

For additional information about duck hunting available in Region II, contact the office in Nashville at (615) 781-6622 or visit the TWRA Web site.

Region III
Farther east, Region III is overseen by wildlife manager Ben Layton from the office in Crossville. Layton is quick to point out that the terrain and wildlife are not nearly as conducive to duck hunting when compared with the western part of the state, but there is some good duck hunting to be found.

"Our two most popular WMAs are at Chickamauga and Cordell Hull," explained Layton. "Chickamauga is broken down into several units, such as Yellow Creek and Johnson Bottoms. These areas are swampy creek bottoms with some standing timber that ducks naturally find attractive. The area gets a good bit of hunting pressure during the season at peak times, and we've even had to limit the time that hunters could arrive prior to the hunt. Probably the better option of the two would be Cordell Hull. There are a number of public blind sites on Cordell Hull and that keeps hunters spread out better."

Special regulations apply to the days and times for duck hunting on Chickamauga. No blinds, decoys or blind materials may be left overnight on any of the Chickamauga units.

Like the other areas of the state, drawings for blind sites on Cordell Hull are held before the season in August. Layton says hunters have an almost 100 percent success rate for drawing blinds, as they typically have more space than applicants. Unlike regions I and II, specific blind sites are not issued. Applicants must register their locations on a map and then construct their own blinds. Like the other regions, registered blinds that are not occupied at beginning of legal shooting light are available on a first-come, first-served basis.