Deer hunting season peak coming in November

Deer hunting season is about to hit its biggest crest in early November, according to Matthew Cameron, public information officer with the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency. "It's the time a lot of motorists hit deer on the roadways," he said. "There are more deer hit then than any other month. Their movement is extremely high because of breeding season." Muzzleloader season for deer starts Nov. 8 and goes through Nov. 21, and people can still use archery tools during that time as well. "It's a very popular time for hunters to be in the woods, due to the white-tailed deer rut," Cameron said. "Deer activity is usually very high. It is an opportunity to harvest both antlered and antlerless deer." Hunters can kill up to two bucks for the entire season. They're allowed four does in archery season, then two each in muzzleloader and gun seasons. Gun season will begin Nov. 22 and go through Jan. 4, and muzzleloaders and archery will also be permitted during those dates. Cameron said people can hunt in the Cherokee National Forest, along with other areas like Lick Creek Bottoms and Nolichucky WMA in Greene County. Cameron cautioned hunters to read the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency's hunting guide on its website for specific regulations. Cameron also urged people to make sure they had the proper licensing to hunt deer. He added that hunters should remember to "tag before they drag," and put a label on the deer they kill so the TWRA can track the number of deer killed. They can now submit the tags on the TWRA's mobile app if they choose. There were 167,000 deer killed last year, and this year there have been 15,652 so far. "It's been a very good deer harvest and there's still a lot of deer out there," Cameron said. "It indicates a really healthy white-tailed deer population. We want to keep those numbers for balance on the landscape and with the public as well. We'd have more vehicle collisions with deer if we didn't take a large number every year." Bear season Bear season is starting up again Nov. 10 through Nov. 17. Open periods pop up incrementally, a few days at a time. The season was open Oct. 4 through Oct. 6 and then again Oct. 11 and 12. Hunters are allowed to kill one bear per year. Cameron said there were 813 bears killed last year, a new record. So far this year there have been 225. Cameron said there are a lot fewer bears than deer in the state of Tennessee – there are around 6,000 bears as opposed to 900,000 deer. But the bear population is growing, and Cameron said the hunters are doing a service. "There are still a lot of bears out there," he said. "Similar to deer, hunters are the apex predator when it comes to the black bear. We're the only thing keeping the number in balance. There are a certain number of bears people are willing to tolerate." Saying there were "all kinds of human-bear conflicts" where bears tend to live, Cameron called this "cultural carrying capacity" – the maximum amount of animal activity society can deal with. While deer aren't as dangerous to humans as bears, Cameron said they still have their moments. One person per year on average dies when they hit a deer with their car, and deer can cause damage to gardens and crops occasionally. Getting in the game Also popular is small game hunting, Cameron said, which goes on "a very long season" from August to March each year. "Particularly squirrel hunting," he said. "It's a really fun, social way to hunt. It's great for introducing new hunters into the game, so to speak." Turkey hunting is still going on, the fall season for archery going on between Sept. 27 and Oct. 24 and then again from Oct. 27 through Nov. 7. The current bountiful harvest of animals is a change from the mid-20th century, when over-harvesting of them threatened to wipe out several species completely in Tennessee. "In the 1940s, we had fewer than 2,000 deer in the entire state," Cameron said. "There were very few regulations. They almost wiped out the white-tailed deer, and the turkey. There were fewer than 50 black bears in the state in the mid 20th century. They wiped out elk, the bison, the cougar. They were hard on the wildlife in the early 1900s." Cameron said the conservation since then had been "wonderful," and there are now "really healthy and good" populations of deer, bears, turkeys and other animals. Asked about the best game to hunt, Cameron said deer. "It's more bang for your buck," he said. "Pun intended."