Hunting Seasons
All hunting seasons are closed unless opened by specific Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission proclamation.
Possession limit is twice the daily bag limit except on opening day. Dogs allowed for hunting all small game species, except on specific WMAs where indicated.
Beaver, coyote, groundhog, striped skunk - Open year-round, no limit.
Fox, mink, muskrat, otterc, spotted skunk, weasel - Opens Nov. 18, closes Feb. 29, 2012 no limit.
Bobcat - Open Nov. 18 – Feb. 29, 2012.
Limit 1 per day.
- Bobcat bag limit is one per day. Bobcat pelts must be tagged with Tennessee U.S. CITES tags in order to be exported from the U.S. Contact your TWRA regional office for instructions
- Exceptions to the statewide fox season are: Benton – unlawful to take or kill red foxes; Dyer, Lauderdale, Smith and Wilson – open year round to hunting and trapping red and gray foxes; Washington – unlawful to take or kill red and gray foxes.
- All river otters harvested must be tagged by harvester with Tennessee U. S. CITES tags. Contact your TWRA regional office for instructions.
BULLFROG HUNTING
All waters of the state are open to bullfrog hunting except waters within state and federal wildlife refuges. Season is open year-round, except on TWRA managed lakes the season is June 1-30. Bag limit is 20 per person, per night. The use of firearms is prohibited for bullfrog hunting on wildlife management areas and TWRA lakes, except air rifles may be used. Only domestically raised bullfrogs or parts thereof may be sold. A hunting license is required to take bullfrogs. No WMA permit is required.
RACCOON And OPOSSUM HUNTING
Opossum can be taken during the raccoon hunting season. No limit.
Statewide – Opens sunset Sep. 16, closes sunrise Feb. 29, 2012; bag limit 2 per person per night. Night is defined as one 24-hour period beginning at sunset.
TRAPPING SEASONS
All trapping devices must be clearly marked with the owner’s name. All traps must be inspected every 36 hours or less and animals removed. When trapping on another’s property, the trapper must carry on his or her person written permission from the landowner, and make a written report to the owner of any domestic animal caught and pay damages for those animals.
Beaver, coyote, groundhog – Open year-round, no limit
Bobcata, foxb, mink, muskrat, opossum, otterc, raccoon, spotted skunk, striped skunk, weasel – Opens Nov. 18, closes Feb. 29, 2012; no limit
- Bobcat pelts must be tagged with Tennessee U. S. CITES tags in order to be exported from the U. S. Contact your TWRA regional office for instructions.
- Exceptions to the statewide fox season are: Benton – unlawful to take or kill red foxes; Dyer, Lauderdale, Smith and Wilson – open year round to hunting and trapping red and gray foxes; Greene and Washington – unlawful to take or kill red and gray foxes.
- All river otters harvested must be tagged by harvester with Tennessee U. S. CITES tags. Contact your TWRA regional office for instructions.
Legal Traps & Specific Regulations
Steel leg-hold traps – Leg-hold traps that have an outside measure of jaw spread that is 9 inches or less, as measured at the widest point, are legal. These must be placed at least 12 inches inside the entrance to a burrow or hole except in the case of a water set. Water sets are defined as traps set in water adjacent to and part of streams, ponds, lakes, wetlands or other water courses, and include floating sets.
Instant-kill traps - Square instant-kill traps that have an exterior jaw measurement of 16 inches or less, as measured at the widest point, and circular instant kill traps that have an exterior measurement of 12 inches or less as measured at the widest point are legal. An instant-kill trap is considered a steel-jawed trap and its use is restricted to that allowed for a steel-jawed trap. Conibear traps are instant-kill traps.
Live traps – Those traps that act as a cage after capture.
Steel cable snares having a minimum cable diameter of 5/64 inch and maximum cable diameter of 3/32 inch. Spring activated snares, except Collarum snares, are prohibited.
Cushion-hold traps – Cushion-hold trap means a commercially available spring-loaded trap with offset jaws designed to capture an animal by closing upon one (1) of its legs and that is so constructed that the edges designed to touch the animal are composed of nonmetallic pads that eliminates or mitigates injury to the trapped animal. Cushion-hold traps that have an outside measurement that is 9 inches or less, as measured at the widest point, are legal. Cushion-hold traps are the only steel traps legal for trapping in the open and on top of the ground provided that the trapper has specific written permission from the landowner to trap.
Dog proof traps - Raccoon traps of a dog proof design are legal for furbearers during the legal trapping season.
DOG TRAINING
Training of bird dogs and squirrel dogs is permitted year-round on private lands, during daylight hours only. Training of rabbit dogs is permitted year round on private lands day and night. The chasing of foxes with hounds is permitted year-round, day and night. A hunting license is required while training dogs except when a person is competing in recognized field trials. When training on a WMA, a small game permit is required. Refer to specific WMA listings for WMA dog training seasons. See bear dog training.
Raccoon Dog Training (no taking)
Year-round except where regulated by Private Acts. The following counties are regulated by Private Acts: Morgan County is open for training from July 1 until opening day of the hunting season; DeKalb County is open for year-round training except in the portion lying south and west of State Hwy. 96 and U. S. Hwy. 70 where the training season will open 30 days prior to the hunting season. Refer to specific WMA listings for WMA raccoon dog training seasons.
