JF Griffin - Index

JF Griffin - magazine - Index

features
25
18 CHeCkinG in BiG GaMe
The alarm goes off; you put on your gear and lucky hat
and drive to the honey hole that you’ve been keeping
a secret from even your best friend. You get settled in
your stand and when daylight breaks across the ridge
you hear the rustling of leaves behind you. Out walks
that deer you’ve been waiting for. As you begin to bring
the scope up to your eye, while your heart is pounding,
the deer turns broadside opening up the best shot ever.
You take the safety off and squeeze the trigger.
25 TakinG THe Reins of DeeR
ManaGeMenT
White-tailed deer management has come a long way
since the early-1900s when deer populations were at
all-time lows across the country. Fortunately, this is no
longer the case since deer are bountiful in almost every
state of the union. It is currently estimated that over
28 million white-tailed deer now roam freely across
North America, so it’s safe to say that statewide deer
management programs have successfully restored this
tremendously popular big game species.
30 34
30 Tennessee TuRkey
PoPuLaTions
Turkey hunting is one of the TWRA’s success stories.
We have set harvest records annually for decades as the
population grew and surveys consistently show hunter
satisfaction ratings over 90 percent as turkey hunter
numbers continue to grow rapidly.
34 QuaiL & RaBBiT HunTinG
on PuBLiC LanD
While much of today’s hunting attention seems to be
focused on the big game species, it was the basic small
game species that occupied most Tennessee hunters
just a generation or two ago. Many of those hunters of
days-gone-by made their living by farming, which made
them particularly aware of the hunting opportunities
within walking distance of the farmhouse door.