There was a little shake-up in Region IV, with Sullivan County moving into the top three as Greene County fell out of that distinction. Region IV was again led by the deer beast in the east: Hawkins County, where hunters harvested 2,635 deer in 2006. Claiborne County hunters were in second place again this past year with a harvest of 1,694 deer, followed by Sullivan County's third place finish with 1,320 deer tagged.

Top WMAs And Public Lands
You knew Fort Campbell couldn't stay out of the top spot among public-land hunts for long. With a harvest of nearly 50 more deer than in 2005, Fort Campbell took back over as leader of the WMA hunts with its harvest of 693 deer. As in 2005, in 2006, LBL was in the second place position with a harvest of 617 whitetails. The 2005 surprise leader -- Tennessee NWR -- produced the third-largest managed public-land harvest last season, with 615 deer tagged.

The Cherokee WMA was in the fourth place position with a harvest of 529 deer, followed by AEDC's take of 543 deer in fifth place. In 2006, Catoosa WMA increased its harvest by nearly 100 deer and moved into the sixth spot with a harvest of 469 whitetails. Chuck Swan WMA fell slightly down the ladder from fifth in 2005 to seventh in 2006 with a take of 397 deer.

Eagle Creek WMA and Cross Creeks moved into the top 10 in 2006, while Cheatham WMA and Big South Fork fell from the leader board. Eagle Creek's harvest of 361 deer was good enough for an eighth place finish. Oak Ridge fell among the top spots from seventh in 2005 to ninth in 2006. Oak Ridge's harvest was 343 deer in 2005 but fell to 284 in 2006. Cross Creeks NWR took the last of the top 10 positions with a harvest of 266 whitetails.

KNOW YOUR TARGET
With more liberal limits in Tennessee, many hunters are encouraged to harvest does, especially in Unit L, and also on quota and non-quota hunts across most of the state. More than half of the state's counties offer some sort of antlerless deer hunt. There were 48 counties participating in these opportunities last year that provide special antlerless-deer-only hunts.

The TWRA offers some suggestions to help you identify does versus button bucks if you are concerned about harvesting a fawn instead of a mature deer. Adult does are very different from juvenile deer. The mature doe is more rectangular in shape with a long neck and face. Fawns are more square-shaped and have a short neck and face.

The agency also said to wait until several deer are together, and then harvest one of the larger antlerless deer. Also, a doe's head is normally more rounded on top between the ears because a buck's head is flattened by the future base of the antlers. It's best to shoot with good visibility, since poor light and heavy cover can make determining the sex and age of deer difficult. The TWRA also said all hunters are different and what may be a small deer to some may be a trophy to someone else. There are now plenty of deer to go around in these modern times in most of Tennessee. Take your time, wait on your shot, and then harvest the benefits of a growing herd. The time to deer hunt in Tennessee is most definitely now.