Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area

My 14 year old son is trying to get his points earned for a Texas Youth Hunting program Adventure Hunt. In the mean time he will half to be saving money for such a trip. So this will not be happening this year.

Considering we live in the TX Panhandle we are actually closer to much of New Mexico and Colorado than where most of the Texas Hunts are. Based on this years offerings he will have a choice between a Prong Horn Archery hunt in the plains of Colorado, or an spot and stock archery deer hunt at the Land Of the Lakes National Recreation area in Tennessee.

He is chomping at the bit to go on the Tennessee hunt (if offered next year) and it is as close as some of the Texas Hunts. Any body got any experience with Land of the Lakes? Is Cross Bow allowed in Tennessee? Would this be worth working and saving for a year for a 14 / 15 Year old? I realy want him to have at least one tail kicking cool hunt to look back on.

I live 1.5 hours from land between the lakes. It is1000s of acres of big mature timber with very steep hills and hollows. Not very conducive to spot and stalk hunting. 99% of bow hunting there is done from a tree stand using the terrain to your advantage. It is actually pretty tough hunting for example the folks around here say if you can kill a spring turkey there you can kill one anywhere.

I was stationed at Ft. Campbell, Ky a couple of times while in the military and I hunted and fished there as much as I could. Back then, late 80's, early 90's, crossbows were not legal. Not sure about now. But there is some good deer hunting there with some nice sized deer. As rdhibbs mentioned, very rough terrain but some good hunting.

Thanks Guys,

I found out that Crossbows are legal in Tennessee, but not allowed on this hunt. He has Developmental Coordination Disorder which makes using a conventional bow difficult.

I think we are going to hold out for a Muzzle loader hunt.

Best of luck to him and let us know how he does.

I've hunted there and on the Ft. Campbell land. Yes, there is some nice size deer. Like the others posted, it's not a walk in the park to hunt there. If you go with the antelope hunt, you should see a lot. Antelope are fun to hunt and make a nice looking mount.

His first hunt was Pronghorn at Dalhart. That is the only game he has been able to get in his sites, and he got that one. Yes the mounts look cool he has his in his bedroom.

Bob has Developmental Coordination Disorder along with some pretty significant ADAD, I am more concerned with the requirement to use a compound bow rather than a crossbow.
The TYHP Adventure hunts will default mainly to archery and muzzle loader hunts. Considering he has a brand new Muzzle loader we will probably look for a muzzle loader adventure hunt.

Thank all of you for your information.

I have hunted there in the 70's and 80's. Great place, but as said it is a hard hunt. Went there for NWTF meetings. Meet Knight and Hale there.

Ive hunted LBL quite a bit over the years and it can be very frustrating. There will be years where you will just stand in awe looking at literally hundreds of scrapes around 1 field with massive rubs everywhere, only to hunt for a week and see a doe with twins. But we have shot some really good bucks there over the years too. One thing to consider are the ticks during early season. Without the special repellent you can buy at most local outdoor stores you will be covered up with them during the early season. LBL has different draw hunts each year where he would be able to use a muzzleloader. Typically it isnt too difficult to get drawn for one of the gun hunts, the downside is it may be a little crowded. Best of luck.

This. And chiggers. I scouted last weekend in Tennessee. I sprayed all my clothing with Sawyers (pyrethrum) two days before I went. Once there, I put on boots, duct taped the pants leg and sprayed deet. Chiggers still got me, but no ticks.