Tennessee · Public Land · 2026 Edition
Tennessee Public Hunting Land 2026: WMAs & Access Rules
2 wildlife management areas tracked here, from 24,700 to 96,000 acres. A hunting license covers you on Tennessee WMA land the same as anywhere else in the state — but read the access rules below before you assume that's all you need.
01 — Wildlife management areas
| Area | County | Acres | Species |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catoosa Wildlife Management Area | Morgan, Cumberland, Fentress | 96,000 | Deer, Turkey, Wild hogs, Ruffed grouse, Small game |
| Chuck Swan Wildlife Management Area | Union, Campbell | 24,700 | Deer, Turkey |
Catoosa, at 96,000 acres across three counties on the Upper Cumberland Plateau, is Tennessee's second-largest WMA and the one that gets searched for by name — but it's also the one most often assumed to sit in Oklahoma next to Red Slough, when it's actually a different state entirely. Chuck Swan, a peninsula between Norris Lake and the Powell River in East Tennessee, runs the same quota-draw system on a smaller scale — 650 gun-season deer permits against 400 for archery gives a sense of how much more accessible the gun quota is here. This list is a starting point, not TWRA's full inventory of more than 90 wildlife management areas statewide.
02 — Access rules beyond your hunting license
A standard Tennessee hunting license covers general-season hunting on any WMA. The state's big-game quota hunts — the deer, turkey and hog dates that draw the most interest — run through a separate TWRA draw system with mandatory check-in/check-out at designated stations, on top of the license, not instead of it.
03 — Where to go next
Verified · Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency · Last verified 2026-08-08
Publisher's note. WMA list and access rules read from TWRA, retrieved 2026-08-08. Review due 2027-08-01. This is a starting list, not the agency's full WMA inventory — confirm current rules for a specific area before you hunt it.