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Percy Priest WMA vs Yanahli WMA In Tennessee

CooterBrown

CooterBrown

Well-Known Member
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Messages
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I have a training class near Murfreesboro TN next week and thought I may hunt in the evenings. Anybody hunted either of these and have any input on which one I should choose. Yanahli WMA is 30 minutes from My training than 1 hour to hotel and Percy Priest WMA is 1 hour from training and 30 minutes to hotel.
 
Ive hunted Percy and Yanahli. My vote is Yanahli. Harder to access the deeper spots but scrapes should be opening up on beech trees there
 
KYHunter said:
Ive hunted Percy and Yanahli. My vote is Yanahli. Harder to access the deeper spots but scrapes should be opening up on beech trees there
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Thanks, looks like Percy is close the city to so maybe it gets more hunters coming from there. What do you think?
 
Last I heard, Yanahli was #1 in the state in most deer and turkey harvests on Tennessee WMAs. Says there are lots of deer there, but also says there are LOADS of hunters. Pretty sure Percy Priest was #3 in both categories. In other words, they both get hit pretty heavy. More folks from Murfreesboro hit PP, while more folks from Brentwood/Franklin hit Yanahli.
 
TNbowhunter said:
Last I heard, Yanahli was #1 in the state in most deer and turkey harvests on Tennessee WMAs. Says there are lots of deer there, but also says there are LOADS of hunters. Pretty sure Percy Priest was #3 in both categories. In other words, they both get hit pretty heavy. More folks from Murfreesboro hit PP, while more folks from Brentwood/Franklin hit Yanahli.
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I figured Percy was close enough to Nashville to get some people from there also. Got any ideas about where to go on Yanahli. I've never hunted TN or Agg county so it's a learning curve for me?
 
I've never hunted either of those and TBH never hunted much public land. I do know that Percy Priest gets PACKED and people get into disagreements there a lot. The WMAs around Old Hickory Lake in the Wilson Co area have a lot of deer and a lot less people. Wilson Co borders Nashville (Davidson Co) to the east about 25 miles or 30 minutes east. I'm talking specifically Lebanon in Wilson Co. I live in Lebanon and my office is in Nashville. My office is by the airport in Nashville and my office is 24.8 miles from my driveway.

I sold property in 2015 and had one year in between buying another property that I hunted public and most every time I went I had the place to myself and killed deer. I never have shot bucks though and just shoot does for meat so if you're looking for bucks it's hit or miss anywhere in TN.

We have so many doe and overpopulated you can shoot 3/day every day and two bucks for the whole season. Look at the WMA map in northern Wilson Co/Northern Lebanon around Old Hickory Lake. More than likely have it to your self on a weekend and just about definitely on a Mon-Fri.
 
JBDCPA said:
I've never hunted either of those and TBH never hunted much public land. I do know that Percy Priest gets PACKED and people get into disagreements there a lot. The WMAs around Old Hickory Lake in the Wilson Co area have a lot of deer and a lot less people. Wilson Co borders Nashville (Davidson Co) to the east about 25 miles or 30 minutes east. I'm talking specifically Lebanon in Wilson Co. I live in Lebanon and my office is in Nashville. My office is by the airport in Nashville and my office is 24.8 miles from my driveway.

I sold property in 2015 and had one year in between buying another property that I hunted public and most every time I went I had the place to myself and killed deer. I never have shot bucks though and just shoot does for meat so if you're looking for bucks it's hit or miss anywhere in TN.

We have so many doe and overpopulated you can shoot 3/day every day and two bucks for the whole season. Look at the WMA map in northern Wilson Co/Northern Lebanon around Old Hickory Lake. More than likely have it to your self on a weekend and just about definitely on a Mon-Fri.
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Problem is i dont think i could get there in time for an evening hunt from the Fire college in Bell Buckle
 
CooterBrown said:
Problem is i dont think i could get there in time for an evening hunt from the Fire college in Bell Buckle
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For some reason I was thinking you were staying in Nashville. From Bell Buckle to Lebanon if you took I24 to I840 (I840 has ZERO traffic) you'd be looking at I'm guessing 45-50 miles and a solid hour. Right now the sun is setting about 6:30.
 
CooterBrown said:
I have a training class near Murfreesboro TN next week and thought I may hunt in the evenings. Anybody hunted either of these and have any input on which one I should choose. Yanahli WMA is 30 minutes from My training than 1 hour to hotel and Percy Priest WMA is 1 hour from training and 30 minutes to hotel.
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Here’s my take on it, hunt the one that’s closest to the training center, period. Use the extra driving time to get back to the hotel at night.
 
Yanahli without a doubt. Not even close.

Percy has nice bucks. A lot of feeders around the lake. Lots of people, lots of boaters, lots of home owners. I hunted the chit out of both them.
Haley is a good spot if you want to pop a doe. They’ve ruined it with a shooting place for the high school team there. Used to be loaded with turkeys.
You also have Bark camp, Normandy, AEDC you can hunt some really good spots from there.
Is it worth the price of a non res hunting Lic?


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One thing I’ve found intriguing in this thread is I’m a life long middle Tennessean and I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of Yanahali(sp?) and definitely not sure where it’s at.

Is that the place you can put in for a lottery elk hunt, or are they even still doing it?

Id never seen an elk in person until 2018, we rented a cabin in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area and me, wife and kids did Christmas there that year. There were so many elk it consumed the town and impeded traffic. We took a lot of pics but they just amazed me. It put a HUGE burning desire to elk hunt. My only problem is I’m a CPA and my Aug thru Oct 31st is consumed. I can barely hunt deer on my property 9.7mi from home. Much less head west.
 
JBDCPA said:
One thing I’ve found intriguing in this thread is I’m a life long middle Tennessean and I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of Yanahali(sp?) and definitely not sure where it’s at.

Is that the place you can put in for a lottery elk hunt, or are they even still doing it?

Id never seen an elk in person until 2018, we rented a cabin in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area and me, wife and kids did Christmas there that year. There were so many elk it consumed the town and impeded traffic. We took a lot of pics but they just amazed me. It put a HUGE burning desire to elk hunt. My only problem is I’m a CPA and my Aug thru Oct 31st is consumed. I can barely hunt deer on my property 9.7mi from home. Much less head west.
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Really? It’s Maury county Tn close to Columbia


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ImThere said:
Really? It’s Maury county Tn close to Columbia


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No. LOL! Never heard of it.

I've only hunted public one season and that was 2016. I had a cheap hang on fail and a squirrel hunter shot up in a tree on me and a young couple landed under my tree for a little "love in the afternoon" and that was my venture into public land, short and sweet. LOL!

I had some AWESOME property me and 5 others went in together on in 2005 and in late 2008 when the economy took a dump they dropped like flies until it got down to me and one other guy and it was just too much. That land was in Trousdale Co. In 2010 we got out from under it.

In summer of 2010 I bought 50 acres in Alexandria. Every spec of land that touched mine had deer all over it. I put in 3 food plots and 4 feeders and had 12 cameras. I got a pic of a squirrel, 2 skunks, a few birds and the neighbor's kid on a red ATV and that was it. I mean it was dead. It also had a natural pond.

2017 I had a heart attack and went on a friends property opening day and shot one and 6 days later and shot two more and that was all I hunted in 2017. 2018 I leased a piece of land.

I bought the 151 acres I hunt in Lebanon in summer of 2019. It had been forested at some point so other than a few gnarly cedars it's mainly new growth. I have some tall trees but I was mainly a climber guy and the trees got to narrow up top for the climber straps. So I would either use my climber and hunt maybe 10' high or I bought a LW hangon and just absolutely hated life that whole season. So in 2020 I bought a saddle.
 
JBDCPA said:
One thing I’ve found intriguing in this thread is I’m a life long middle Tennessean and I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of Yanahali(sp?) and definitely not sure where it’s at.

Is that the place you can put in for a lottery elk hunt, or are they even still doing it?

Id never seen an elk in person until 2018, we rented a cabin in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area and me, wife and kids did Christmas there that year. There were so many elk it consumed the town and impeded traffic. We took a lot of pics but they just amazed me. It put a HUGE burning desire to elk hunt. My only problem is I’m a CPA and my Aug thru Oct 31st is consumed. I can barely hunt deer on my property 9.7mi from home. Much less head west.
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Just tell them there is a new Ext. filing deadline at the end of August.
 
BTaylor said:
Just tell them there is a new Ext. filing deadline at the end of August.
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A funny thing that you say that - here in TN we're on CST and CA is 2 hrs behind us. Technically I can file past midnight until CA hits midnight, but I could never tell clients that because there would be some that would wait until 1:30AM to get me the last pieces I need to file.

I'm not even telling people that we have until 10/17 because 10/15 falls on a Saturday.
 
Had a great few days of hunting. Saw several deer and a few bucks but none withing range or legal light. Thanks for all the advice.
 
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