TOP 10 MANAGED PUBLIC LANDS
PUBLIC LAND	HARVEST
1. LBL	526
2. Fort Campbell	502
3. AEDC	487
4. CHEROKEE	475
5. CATOOSA	435
6. OAK RIDGE	375
7. CHUCK SWAN	369
8. TENESSEE NWR	319
9. CROSS CREEKS NWR	227
10. EAGLE CREEK	217

THE TOP WMAs AND PUBLIC LAND HUNTS
Despite the EHD outbreak, there were still successes on our public lands. When it comes to numbers, Land Between The Lakes (LBL) retook the top spot among WMAs when last year's public land numbers were tallied. Again, the total harvest in 2007 on WMAs was 5,983 deer and well below the 2006 harvest of 7,156.

LBL was the hotspot with a total harvest of 526 deer in 2007, closely followed by legendary Fort Campbell with its harvest of 502 deer. Fort Campbell also produced a stunning 167-class 17-point buck last season, suggesting that if you think that all public land deer in Tennessee are small and not worth hunting, you might want to check into hunts at some of these WMAs and managed lands, since a few of them do have nice top-end potential.

AEDC was third among WMAs with a harvest of 487 deer. The top five WMAs were rounded out by Cherokee's 475 whitetails and Catoosa's 435 deer.

Oak Ridge WMA had a harvest of 375 whitetails for the sixth spot, and Chuck Swan's 369 whitetails harvested was good enough for a seventh place finish in the top 10. The Tennessee NWR had a significant drop from 615 deer taken in 2006 to 319 in 2007 for the eighth spot among WMAs. The top 10 public land hunts were closed out with Cross Creeks NWR's harvest of 227 whitetails followed by Eagle Creek's take of 217 deer.

HOPE AND PREDICTION It's still too early to predict exactly what the 2008 deer season will hold. The mast crop should be stable enough, though there is the probability that some red oak mast will be missing. That's because red oaks drop acorns every other year -- this year's acorn crop was in flower during the major 2007 spring frost, and in some areas, the acorn crop may have been frost killed. White oak mast, however, should be in good shape.

Ratajczak said areas like the Unaka Mountains and the Cumberland Plateau should produce some good deer this fall because of the good mast crops there. Either way, he said hunters shouldn't see a boom-or-bust year in 2008. We should see a year where the harvest rebounds somewhat from last year, though it's going to take a couple of seasons to recover from the tough 2007 EHD effects.

Ratajczak said hunters should not expect to exceed the 2006 record harvest of over 182,000 deer this season. Thanks to the EHD factor from last fall, the state's deer herd is definitely not in the same shape it was going into the 2006 record year.