From Nov. 17 HORIZON

Muzzleloader ends Friday and rifle to open this Saturday

CLAY COUNTY-Tennessee’s youth hunters had a busy weekend of deer hunting here and all across the state in the young sportsman hunt held over Halloween weekend and the harvest numbers show an increase over the 2009 weekend hunt.

The youth hunters (ages 6-16) harvested 8,818 deer, an increase of 616 over the 2009 totals as reported by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA).

The second designated young sportsman hunt will be held January 15-16, 2011, to end all deer seasons for the year.

Muzzleloader

Tennessee’s muzzleloader season has been open since Saturday, November 6 and goes through this Friday, November 19 in all three of Tennessee’s deer hunting units, according to the TWRA.

Hunters here are allowed four antlerless deer (does) during the muzzleloader season, and they could also harvest all of their bucks going towards the statewide bag limit of three with no more than one antlered deer being taken per day.

Muzzleloading firearms of .40 caliber minimum plus long bows, compound bows and crossbows are legal hunting equipment for this season.

Gun season

As the chance to harvest antlerless deer goes by the wayside at week’s end, buck-only big gun season will begin the following morning on Saturday, November 20.

Hunters will take to the woods with heavy artillery in hopes of bagging a trophy buck.  The first segment of the season will run through December 5.  It then closes for several days allowing archery only hunting, but reopens December 18 and runs through January 9, 2011.

For more information about deer hunting here in Clay County or anywhere in the state, visit the TWRA’s website at www.tnwildlife.org.

PHOTO CAPTION: 1ST BUCK-Ten-year-old Kylee Arms killed this nice 8-point buck as her first deer during the first segment of youth sportsman hunt held over Halloween weekend helping statewide numbers surpass those from the same hunt a year ago. (photo submitted)