Moving to Chattanooga / East Tennessee

[Shadow14]

So it looks like I will be taking a job in Chattanooga and moving my family up from North GA in the next month or so. I hunt the mountains here so I’m assuming I can expect similar terrain and deer behavior up there. For those who are local, is there anything I should be aware of that’s unique to this area? Rut time frame? Weird regulations or seasons? Reasonable expectations for deer/bear/turkey density and size? Any good local sporting good stores?

Thanks for the help!

Also if anyone has or knows of someone with a place to rent/buy that’d be great too lol.

Seriously though…I do need a place to live so if you have a lead feel free to send it my way haha.

 

[robtattoo]

If you're used to Cohutta, or any other public land around northeast GA, it's pretty much exactly the same deal.
Deer are small, few & far between & tough to hunt, bears are everywhere you look, especially up towards Cherokee NF & north. You're as likely to find pigs as you are deer.

If you hunt further west, into middle TN (which you absolutely should) deer are abundant, bear & hogs less so. Be aware that in a lot of WMAs, hogs are 100% off limits*, even as incidentals.

As with everywhere, public land can be crowded & hard work. If you can find smaller pockets of TVA land, you can be super successful. Bledsoe & Van Buren counties, on the plateau, have been very good to me over the years

One thing you'll have to be careful of, Is the newer unit designations. There are different doe seasons & limits in different parts of the state. Some units in the East put your doe limit at 2 per year, others at 4 per year. Middle & West TN give you 3/day......

Bear seasons seem to change about every 15 minutes. You can bow hunt them for a couple of weeks (I think) in certain areas, not in others. I believe rifle season is about 20 minutes on a Wednesday. It's so freaking awkward to figure out, most folks, myself included, just don't bother. The dog/party hunters have pretty much lobbied it to themselves.





*it's an incredibly badly kept secret, however, that if you skin, debone & pack out a hog, the Possum Cops won't bother you. ("We're not going to DNA test it, just for a $150 ticket") Bring one out whole, you'll get a ticket. They'll feel bad about writing it, but you will get one.

 

[Poser]

East TN deer hunting can be tough, for sure, particularly on public land as the habitat doesn’t support a high deer density. That said, there are deer and a high concentration of public land by Eastern standards. Turkey hunting can be quite good and the terrain extremely challenging.

I used to rock climb quite extensively around the Chattanooga area. That + the mtn biking and paddling (locals call it “creekin”) is quite good. Good fishing, too. Really good all around outdoor scene for the East. Direct and easy access to Eastetn NC, too, where there is also a good bit of public land. Some interesting Civil War sites and history. Chattanooga is a good place to be IMO. I will say that the population is deceiving. The city itself is only 200k but the metro area is over 500k, so it can definitely feel crowded at times.