Lake levels in our area have been averaging around 354.3ft. TVA continues to release around 25,000cfs throughout the day, trying to help supply much needed water to the Mississippi river. TVA continues to address the rumor that the lake will drop below normal, as many passing over the Hwy 70 bridge notice the lake levels seem to be below normal, they are on ‘par’ with where we should be this time of year. Area lake surface temps are holding in the mid to low 60’s, and water color is clear.
The Juvenile season was held the last weekend of October, with the muzzleloader season beginning this past weekend. The Juvenile deer hunt saw 72 deer taken in Humphreys Co., of which 32 were antlered, the rest were either does or bucks with antlers less than 3 inches. Some really good sized bucks were taken by the kids during this hunt, as the rut seems to be happening in most areas. The statewide total for the juvenile deer hunt was 4,221 deer harvested. The juvenile hunt is held each year near the beginning of the ‘peak’ of the rut. The rut is an often misunderstood period in the deer season. Often we see hunting articles quoting that the rut for a certain area will be a two week period, with dates given. The real rut begins when the bucks shed their velvet and their antlers harden, and ends when the bucks loose their antlers in the late winter or early spring. This period most often begins around the last of September, continuing throughout October. It all depends on when the buck was born and is triggered by the shortening of daylight in the fall. What most consider the actual ‘rut’ is that period that most of the does come into estrus, or are ready to breed. Which in our area is around the 1st few weeks of November. Each doe will be in estrus for only 24 to 48 hours; this is when around 80% of does will become pregnant. There will always be some does which breed before and after this period, and if a doe does not get pregnant during the first cycle, they will come back into estrus 28 days later, which is why we often see fawns born late in the summer.
The acorn crop doesn’t look good this year, the drought seems to have affected the quality of the nuts. Many of the deer are in the fields this year, and I expect the kill to go up due to the visibility of the deer this year compared to last year, when we had an overabundance of acorns, which kept the deer in the woods.
The regular gun season will begin on November 19th, and will always begin on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. TWRA did take away the requirement for a non-quota hunt permits, which had been required during the regular gun season, but now are not needed. The regular waterfowl season will start on November 26th. Always if you have any questions about the hunting seasons, consult the most recent hunting guide, or contact the TWRA during normal business hours.