Fish and Wildlife Commission Sets 2022-23 Hunting and Trapping Seasons
The Tennessee Fish & Wildlife Commission have set the state’s hunting and trapping seasons for 2022-23.
After hearing growing reports of decreasing turkey populations, the Commission voted to delay the statewide turkey season to improve reproduction and nesting success. The bag limit will also be decreased from three birds to two birds, and only one bird can be a juvenile or jake.
Statewide, the 2022 spring turkey harvest came in at 29,940 birds, down roughly 10 percent from the 5-year average. However, the number of successful hunters was 21,209 which continues to be in line with the 5-year average of 21,259. To reduce predator pressure on turkey nests and poults, the Commission voted to extend raccoon and opossum hunting season to March 15 and double the bag limit. The TFWC approved bobcat hunting during the statewide deer archery, muzzleloader, and gun seasons. The controversial practice of fanning or reaping turkey was also banned in wildlife management areas (WMAs) to ensure public safety. It is still allowed on private land.
To simplify regulations, hunters will no longer need the Type 94 licenses to hunt antlerless deer on private land, but it will still be required on WMAs. Changes to deer season dates will be calendar year changes only. To make progress in reducing the number of chronic wasting disease (CWD) positive deer, the Commission voted to extend the rifle season in the CWD zone by two weeks, increase the buck limit to three, and adjust the “Earn-A-Buck” program to be one doe, instead of two that earns one buck tag. Since the beginning of the program, hunters have harvested nearly 8,700 antlerless deer, with just more than 2,000 does entered in the “Earn-A-Buck” program. TWRA has also been developing a new strategic plan over the last year, which includes more targeted deer management zones to ensure the best science is used to address CWD rates.
Additional updates were made for TWRA’s 110 WMAs encompassing more than 1.5 million acres of natural resources. Notably, a quota hunt for turkeys was established on Chickasaw and Natchez state parks, slight adjustments were made to the deer hunts on Cheatham WMA, and generally opening more hunt units on various WMAs across the state. A list of WMA regulations is available on the TWRA website.
“Our goal for the 2023 hunting season setting process was to find the right balance between healthy wildlife populations and hunter satisfaction,” said Wildlife and Forestry Division Chief Joe Benedict. “We feel confident we have met this goal with the help of the incredible volume of public input we received this year.”
Complete hunting season dates and regulations will be available on the TWRA website, TWRA App, and in the printed 2022-23 Tennessee Hunting Guide, which will be mailed to Lifetime and Sportsman’s license holders and available for free at TWRA license vendor locations in mid-July.
This year, TWRA received more than 1,600 public comments on hunting dates and regulations. Sportsmen can continue to submit comments on hunting seasons regulations to TWRA.huntingcomments@tn.gov.
