West Tennessee Dominates State Deer Harvest
West Tennessee hunters bagged roughly one-fifth of the entire state's deer harvest during the 2025-26 season, highlighting the region's strength as a deer hunting hotspot. This outsized contribution to Tennessee's overall harvest numbers will likely influence future season planning and wildlife management decisions. The results underscore West Tennessee's reputation among serious deer hunters.
Statewide, Tennessee hunters harvested a total of 227,302 deer during the 2025-2026 season. This represents a significant 10% increase from the previous year's total of 205,759 and is 14% higher than the 10-year average, indicating a healthy and expanding deer herd. The season's gun-hunting portion, which ran from November 22, 2025, to January 4, 2026, had a surprisingly slow start. Hunters and biologists pointed to unseasonably warm weather and a heavy mast crop of acorns, which meant deer had abundant food and did not need to move as much, making them less visible. Final harvest numbers show that firearms were used to take 143,100 deer, while muzzleloaders accounted for 51,472, and archers harvested 32,730. The total included 108,163 antlered bucks and 103,535 does, which made up 45.5% of the harvest. An additional 2,636 deer were harvested during designated youth and apprentice hunts. Many of West Tennessee's counties fall into what the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency designates as Deer Management Unit 1. A significant portion of this region is also an active Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Management Zone, which carries specific regulations such as carcass transport restrictions to prevent the spread of the disease. For hunters in Unit 1, the antlerless bag limit was three per day during much of the season. The statewide season officially concluded on January 11, 2026, with the final youth sportsman hunt.
