On the other hand, there is very little chance that Tennessee will experience this year a major EHD outbreak like we saw last year. An EHD effect of that magnitude is extremely rare to begin with, and the deer that survive such an outbreak are resistant to the disease. Let's hope most of us won't live long enough to see another one like it.

Ratajczak did say that the agency received numerous requests to move some counties from the liberal Unit L regulations because of last year's EHD problem. He said they didn't want to react and make major harvest regulation changes based on one season. Essentially, the deer herd is now in the same shape it was in when the Unit L counties were put in place. Ratajczak saw no need to pull any counties out, since Unit L regulations existed four years ago. There were even two counties from Unit A that were moved to Unit L status this year. They are Shelby and Obion. Jackson County is the only county statewide that had its antlerless quota removed.

The major changes that have occurred to this year's hunts are significant for opportunity, but Ratajczak doesn't expect them to have major effects on the harvest overall. The first muzzleloader hunt will feature two weekends and nine days this year. That's an addition of two extra blackpowder days. The first five days of the hunt will still be either sex and run Nov. 1-9 in all deer units.

Also in Unit B, for the first time, there will be non-quota antlerless deer hunts in portions of Loudon County (west of I-75) and all of Knox and Hawkins counties. The hunt is Dec. 20-28 and has a limit of one deer. Antlerless gun opportunities were also increased in Anderson, Benton, Blount, Carter, Chester, Claiborne, Fentress, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Henderson, Jefferson, Johnson, Meigs, Sevier, Sullivan and Tipton counties.

In Unit A and Unit L, to simplify things, hunters will be able to bag their three-buck limit during any of the seasons. The new regulation allows units A and L hunters to harvest all three bucks with the same weapon in their unit of choice. They no longer have to switch units to harvest their three bucks. You can review all of the regulation changes on the TWRA's Web site at www.tnwildlife.orgon the main page under 2008-09 deer seasons.

PART 2 NEXT MONTH
You have to put your hands on next month's issue of Tennessee Sportsman to see our look at where Tennessee's best bucks are harvested. As our deer population rebounds along with mast crops, the buck outlook could be better than expected. We'll take a hard look at just where Tennessee's best buck hunts are found from statewide hunting to WMA bucks; the serious bragging rights will be featured next month.