Hey guys, just moved to Guntersville, and am a serious deer hunter... Probably don't have time to get on a lease or club, and would never do so without getting lots of info first... Just wondering what my best options are for public, Looking for good bucks some days, and just to shoot something others....Also into all weapons, especially bow hunting...

Feal free to PM if you don't want to post public... I will be alone...

Thanks

Skyline WMA in Jackson County. Probably the nest WMA in the state, especially for big bucks. I hope you are in shape cause those mountains are rough.

I just moved here from east TN, They ain't no mountains here!!! haha

Thanks alot man, was worried no-one would help me any

Go to the TVA office there in Gville if your headed south on 431 its I believe the left right before the state park turn, anyway the will give you a recreation map of all there property which is huntable, there is plenty close by. Good luck.

If you're a bowhunter, north side of the river on the "dam road". TVA has some land that used to be bowhunting only and from what I was told, was decent. It was just a little too far of a drive for me.

Thanks for the help so far guys, any more areas to look at would be great, I spent 3 hours pouring over maps and things from the suggestions last night

Skyline WMA as said above is your best bet. You're less than an hour from it.

For a chance at a real whopper, study up on the annual bow hunt on the waterfowl management areas. Folks around here refer to it as the Refuge Hunt. It lasts 9 days and is on property that is otherwise closed to deer hunting for the rest of the year. Some big ones are killed on this hunt every year. You could potentially kill a monster on this hunt with little scouting. Favorite areas to look into are North Sauty Refuge, Greentree Reservoir, and Crow Creek Refuge. There are others, but I have no experience there. The hunt is usually starts around the first weekend in November. I haven't looked for the date this year.

As mentioned, Skyline is also a good choice once you have time to scout out a few areas. There's 40,000 + acres here, and obviously some areas are better than others. Personally, I'd concentrate on the walk-in only portion west of Al Hwy 79.

Good luck. CD.

Skyline is the place to be. there are some huge deer in there you just need to get in there and do some serious walking.

Thanks very much guys, really I was cluelless before this post..

I am already studying Skyline and the refuges by map..The walking is no problem, I have never owned a 4 wheeler and have killed very few deer less than an hour from the truck...

What are the deer sightings like at Skyline??? is seeing a deer a big deal or are they plentiful???

Also if any of you want to hook up and hunt a little I am open to it, and I actually live in Woodville for now...

I haven't been, to Skyline, in a few years. When I was hunting it, I got to a point that I was seeing deer every time I went.

What WMA have you hunted where seeing a big one wasn't a big deal?

Same here. It's been at least 5 years since I've hunted there but I use to go on the PW hunt. I saw deer almost every time I was in the woods, and definitely saw some every trip. There use to be very little pressure during bow season, but I haven't bow hunted up there since crossbows became legal. I'm sure there are more people in the woods now since they were legalized.

I just said seeing a deer, not a big deer...I hunt Kansas 10 days a year, and seeing a big one is still a big deal to me....

I just wanted a mindset of what was doing good there before I got started... Which these guys have graciously given me.

Sorry Neutral miss read i was going to say i'm hunting the wrong WMA. I Hunt wheeler wildlife refuge alot to and you are only about an hour away its bow only but there are alot of big deer in there you just got to find them. (correction there is a flint lock season too.)

The biggest buck I ever saw in the woods was on a club that bordered Skyline WMA. Last two weeks of January is when you want to be there.

I havent heard or seen much to make me want to hunt Little river WMA. I think around christmas is rut time.

Never been to Wheeler NWR. Heard about big deer there though.

There are several tracts of TVA land within an hour from you. I would overlook Murphy Hill though. Lots a pressure.

I've hunted most all of Skyline WMA at one point or another for about 25 years now and I would argue that you will have missed LOTS of good hunting by then. We've killed several good bucks chasing does on the mid December and end of December hunts over the years. You can certainly kill a goodun during the timeframe you mentioned roaming and looking for a last remaining doe, but your chance of seeing a chase during that time period is pretty slim, regardless of what part of Skyline you hunt (though I will concede I haven't spent a whole bunch of time right close to Highway 79). If you know what area to hunt when, you can hunt 2 distinctly different primary rut timings/cycles on Skyline WMA with a rifle.

It starts on November 5th this year.

I hunted the Jacobs Mt area , south of the shooting range, northwest of the town of skyline. Yes we did shoot some good ones earlier in the year. I killed a 9 point and my buddy killed a 10 point both on opening day of succeeding years. But other than the opening few days of the season, More of the better bucks (9 point or better) were killed in the last 2 weeks of the season than at any other time. I did only hunt there for 3 yrs though. I have seen chasing in the last week of January. I know that sometimes the deer only a few miles apart can have quite different breeding dates though, and this may be the case around there. On my club in Russell Co., the deer primarally breed in late Nov. as they do in the ajacent area of Georgia. 10 miles down the road, they breed mainly in January.

No one has mentioned Wheeler NWR, it's close by for him.