Deer Hunting in East Tennessee

In TN, the further East you go, the lower the deer population. That being said, in Knoxville, you can be in “Middle TN” quickly. Also, Big South Fork is a interesting place to hunt. I used to travel up there from West TN even though the population is much lower.
I also used to go to South Cherokee. You can hunt deer, bear and hog simultaneously, though good luck actually finding a bear.
 
If your worried about pressure hit the national forest. There's some good deer you just gotta work for them.
 
One thing I’ve learned over the years hunting public all over, the locals and anyone online will always be super negative and tell you horror stories—then magically their trucks are in the pull offs. There’s a reason.
 
Knox county resident here. Echoing what others have said, deer densities are low and it's tough to find low pressure spots on WMAs. Catoosa and North Cumberland can be decent, but you need to get away from the roads. Cherokee NF will keep you away from other hunters, but it can be tough to find deer. All of the above is why I travel to Middle Georgia to hunt whitetails.
 
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