Photo by Ron Sinfelt

There aren't too many treasure seekers in the past or present that venture out without a map of or guide to what they're looking for. Applying for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's (TWRA) annual wildlife management area (WMA) draw hunts and others should be no different.

This may not be a treasure map with the exact location marked where you'll take a deer this fall, but it can serve as a guide for choosing which WMAs to consider when filling out this year's application. Depending on your idea of a trophy, there are certain WMAs known for producing heavy-antlered whitetails and others are just good producers of numbers, effectively increasing your odds of refilling your freezer.

Whether you're looking for whitetail treasure or just overall success, this guide holds some answers for completing the WMA draw hunt puzzle. After all, WMA success begins with planning, and successful planning begins with gathering all the knowledge at hand.

LET THE NUMBERS SPEAK
With the TWRA 2004 deer season harvest figures still being tallied when we put this guide together, we'll rely on 2003 WMA harvest numbers for most of our look at top destinations for draw hunts.

The WMA figures in 2003 were down when compared to the 2002 hunt totals, but that doesn't mean plenty of public opportunity doesn't exist within the draw hunts. The total of 4,890 deer taken on WMAs in 2003 was the lowest managed harvest total since 1978. But if you play the odds, that hopefully signals higher numbers were present in 2004 and for the future.

The Fort Campbell deer harvest was down from 887 in 2002 to 707 deer in 2003 but was still good enough to claim the top WMA deer destination. LBL's deer numbers were up from 568 to 632 to take the second spot, followed by AEDC at third in 2003. Catoosa, despite the quality regulations on their hunts, moved up again in 2003 to the fourth spot among the best WMA hunts followed by Oak Ridge.

Catoosa's totals were down slightly, but the area still moved up, thanks to a significant drop at Oak Ridge where totals fell from 421 in 2002 to 2003's 256 deer. The significant harvest at Oak Ridge in 2002 was directly related to the reopening of the hunts following the 9-11 closures in 2001.

Cheatham WMA made the most impressive move in 2003 climbing up the top 10 from last in 2002 to sixth in 2003. Cheatham hunters harvested 202 deer in 2002 but increased to 242 in 2003. Chuck Swan maintained its seventh spot with a slight decrease in 2003 from 222 to 198 deer tagged. The 2003 eighth, ninth and 10th spots were filled by WMAs absent from the top in 2002. They were Laurel Hill, Natchez Trace and the Tennessee NWR, which all moved up the ranks in 2003.

There will be little argument in Volunteer deer camps that when it comes to public hunting, Fort Campbell and the Land Between The Lakes (LBL) are quality destinations when it comes to big bucks. These two management areas are tops in the number of bucks taken category each season. These two top spots also have their own draw hunt systems, which are separate from the TWRA's quota draw hunts held each fall.

Fort Campbell and LBL aside, there are some WMAs in the quota draw hunts that are gaining in reputation each year for producing quality whitetails, and one or two have become old standbys.