On February 15, the Tennessee Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus hosted its first meeting of the 2017 legislative session. Legislators, legislative staff, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) personnel, and conservation organization representatives attended the informational meeting.
Attendees heard from Stephen Tucker from Sumner County, Tennessee who recounted the story of recently harvesting a new world record whitetail buck in his home county. Tucker also had the antlers on display during the meeting. Additionally, TWRA Officer Dale Grandstaff informed the crowd about the many different counties that have harvested record book whitetail deer over the past few years. Lastly, Mike Butler of the Tennessee Wildlife Federation introduced Dr. John Fischer, Director of the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, to present a program about chronic wasting disease (CWD) that is a potential threat to free-ranging deer and elk populations across the country.
In conclusion, Senator Mike Bell and Representative Jay Reedy were re-elected as Tennessee Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chairs for another term.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
