http://www.fortcampbellmwr.com/Recreation/HuntingFishing/

JF Griffin - Index

JF Griffin - magazine - Index

lease lands for hunting, the PHA acreage has
declined significantly over the past decade.
Only heartwood PHA remains.
REGION I
West Tennessee
HeArTwood PHA
Perry County
7,000 ACres
Heartwood PHA manages most of the 7,000
acres for hardwood production, so don’t go
looking for pine plantations. However, about
1,000 acres are in permanent fields, most
of which are currently in the Conservation
Reserve Program. Hunters must purchase a
permit for Heartwood at locations noted in
the Public Hunting section of this guide.
reelfooT wMA
lake and obion counties
24,000 ACres
Reelfoot is well known for its waterfowl
hunting, and for its concentrations of wintering
bald eagles, but few hunters take advantage
of the good quail and rabbit hunting
opportunities to be found there. About 2,300
acres of agricultural crop fields provide quail
and rabbit habitat, while bottomland timber,
sloughs and linear fields hold swamp rabbits
(Remember to bring your high-top waterproof
boots!).
wHiTe oAk wMA
Hardin County
7,000 ACres
About half of this WMA offers quail and
rabbit habitat. However, occasional flooding
conditions can restrict access and habitat.
Hunting is sometimes crowded on weekends
during the early part of the season.
wolf river wMA And GHosT
river sTATe nATurAl AreA
fayette County
7,000 ACres
This area was purchased by the TWRA in
1995. It includes about 2,000 acres of uplands
where farmland wildlife is the targeted
managed species. Habitat management work
continues to improve the quality of this area.
HArMon Creek wMA
Benton County
983 ACres
Isolated in a heavily forested area in eastcentral
Benton County, the Harmon Creek
WMA lies on the south side of Harmon Creek.
About two-thirds of the Harmon Creek WMA
is an upland area crosshatched with hedgerows
of shrub lespedeza surrounding fallow
fields and grain crops.
nATCHez TrACe sTATe foresT
Henderson/Benton/Carroll counties
48,000 ACres
Although Natchez Trace is a predominantly
forested area popular with deer hunters, a
project which began in 1989 has developed
about 406 acres, or 20 miles, of linear wildlife
openings which often connect existing fields
and power line openings. Although quail and
rabbit populations have not yet increased to
the level anticipated, these areas do provide
some public hunting opportunities in an area
otherwise lacking.
oTHer PuBliC lAnds
John Tully, Gooch, Moss Island and Obion
River WMAs all have good bottomland hardwood
swamp rabbit habitat. They also tend
to receive moderate to heavy hunting pressure.
Tumbleweed WMA (Lake County) 1,872
acres has open fields of native grasses with
opportunity for both quail and rabbit hunting.
TVA reservoir lands in Region I which offer
small game hunting opportunities include the
Cypress Creek unit in Benton County (991
acres), the Trace Creek Unit in Humphreys
County (314 acres), and the Cedar Creek/
Marsh Creek Unit (1,943 acres), Gumdale
Unit (467 acres), and East Perryville Unit
(790 acres) in Perry County.
REGION II
MiddleTennessee
forT CAMPBell
Montgomery and stewart Counties, Tn
Christian and Trigg counties, kY
105,000 ACres
Fort Campbell is an active military base.
With such incendiary activities as artillery
shelling and prescribed burning for wildlife
management purposes, much of the base is
burned on a fairly regular basis. As a result,
native grasses and legumes dominate the vegetation,
providing one of the largest expanses
of quality public land quail and rabbit habitat
in the state. Military hunters have priority, but
civilian hunters may obtain hunting access to
the base by purchasing a hunting permit. All
hunters, regardless of age, must posses a valid
Hunter Safety Certificate. Accessability may
vary from day-to-day so it is wise to contact
the Ft. Campbell Hunting and Fishing office
in advance to make sure military activities
are not closing the area. Civilian hunters can
pick up area assignments at the Hunting and
Fishing Office after 10:00 a.m. the day before
the hunt, or after 7:30 a.m. the day of
the hunt. Occasionally, small game hunters
are also permitted to hunt a block of areas
on one permit. Due to the intensive military
training on the base, areas open to hunting
may change, but as long as you have a
valid Tennessee or Kentucky hunting license,
you may hunt any open area in either state.
Quail and rabbit seasons usually open on
Thanksgiving Day lasting through the end of
February. Hunting is allowed only in selected
areas during deer season. A Fort Campbell
Hunting Guide and further information may
be obtained by contacting: Fort Campbell,
Hunting and Fishing Unit, Bldg. 6645,
Ft. Campbell, KY 42223, 270-798-2175.
Seasons, regulations, and details on obtaining
hunting unit and accessability can also be
found on the internet atwww.fortcampbellmwr.
com/Recreation/HuntingFishing/.
lAurel Hill wMA
lawrence County
14,000 ACres
This area is mostly forested, but it does
offer quality hunting experiences in several
forms. Conventional agricultural fields
quickly catch the eye of small game hunters
traveling along the east and south sides of the
WMA. However, an 8-mile long linear wildlife
opening and several other shorter linear
segments were developed along the wooded
ridge tops in the 1960s. These openings are
periodically disked or burned to maintain
stands of partridge peas, lespedezas and native
vegetation. The linear openings receive
less hunting pressure, and are marked on the
TWRA hunt maps. This WMA is well known,
and it is usually crowded during the first few
weeks. Rabbit hunters usually find less competition
here than quail hunters.
PerCY PriesT wMA
rutherford, davidson and wilson counties
10,000 ACres
This WMA contains a number of crop and
fallow fields in numerous tracts scattered
around the perimeter of Percy Priest Lake.
Unit I (1,400 acres) is reserved for bird dog,
rabbit dog and retriever field trials, and Young
Sportsman Only quail and rabbit hunting.
2008 Hunting & Trapping Guide 35