This is Tennessee's published 2026-27 season, the whole state at once. A pin reads its deer management unit off the map and cuts this to the seasons, arms and limits that apply there.

Tennessee deer seasons

2026-27

2 antlered deer per licence year. Two antlered deer statewide — one per day, not to exceed two for the season. The limit may be exceeded only by a bonus deer on certain WMAs, under the Earn-A-Buck programme, or as a replacement buck. TWRA deer page.

August Archery
Longbow, recurve, compound or crossbow
Three days at the end of August, bucks only, before anything else opens.
Statewide
Aug 28–30Antlered only
Against the statewide two antlered deer.
- No antlerless harvest in any unit during this season. TWRA deer page.
- Sharpened broadheads are required on archery equipment. TWRA, manner and means.
Archery
Longbow, recurve, compound or crossbow
Late September to early November, with the young sportsman weekend cut out of the middle of it.
Statewide
Sep 26 – Oct 30Either sex
Nov 2–6Either sex
Four antlerless deer in this season, and against the statewide two antlered.
- An archer hunting an archery-only deer season that overlaps a gun season for another species must still wear the fluorescent orange. TWRA, big game regulations.
- Air guns of .35 calibre or larger and pre-charged pneumatic guns shooting arrows are legal in this season. TWRA, manner and means.
Young Sportsman
Gun, muzzleloader or archery equipment
Two weekends set aside for young hunters, one at Hallowe'en and one in January.
Statewide
Oct 31 – Nov 1Either sex
Jan 9–10Either sex
Two antlerless deer, and against the statewide two antlered.
- In Units 4, 5 and 6 the antlerless limit is two across all four young sportsman days combined, rather than two per season. TWRA deer page.
- Fluorescent orange is required: these are gun days. TWRA, big game regulations.
Muzzleloader/Archery
Muzzleloading rifle or handgun of .36 calibre or larger, or archery equipment
A fortnight in November, muzzleloaders and bows together.
Statewide
Nov 7–20Either sex
Two antlerless deer in this season, and against the statewide two antlered.
- Fluorescent orange is required: this is a muzzleloader season. TWRA, big game regulations.
- Single shot rifles using straight-walled cartridge ammunition of .35 calibre or larger are legal on private land for the last week of it, 14-20 November, and count against this season's limit. TWRA deer page.
Gun/Muzzleloader/Archery
Shotgun with slugs, centrefire rifle or handgun, muzzleloader, or archery equipment
Six weeks from the Saturday before Thanksgiving to the first Sunday in January.
Statewide
Nov 21 – Jan 3Either sex
Two antlerless deer in this season, and against the statewide two antlered.
- Full metal jacketed ammunition is not legal for deer. TWRA, manner and means.
- Fluorescent orange is required. TWRA, big game regulations.

New This Season

What changed since last year, and is therefore easiest to get wrong.

Single shot rifles using straight-walled cartridge ammunition of .35 calibre or larger are legal on private land only during 14-20 November 2026, counting against the muzzleloader season limit.
Deer carcass transport restrictions apply to and out of the CWD Management Zone; only approved parts may be moved out of it.

Legal Arms

2026-2027 Tennessee Fishing, Hunting & Trapping Guide weapon specifications, as the digest prints them.

Archery

TWRA, manner and means

Longbows, recurves, compounds and crossbows, with sharpened broadheads.
Air guns of .35 calibre or larger.
Pre-charged pneumatic guns shooting arrows.

Muzzleloader

TWRA, manner and means, and the deer page

Muzzleloading rifles and handguns of .36 calibre or larger.
Shotguns with a single solid ball or slugs.
Archery equipment.
Single shot rifles using straight-walled cartridges of .35 calibre or larger, on private land only, 14-20 November.

Full metal jacketed ammunition.

Gun

TWRA, manner and means

Shotguns with slugs or a single solid ball.
Centrefire rifles and handguns.
Muzzleloading firearms of .36 calibre or larger.
Archery equipment, air guns of .35 calibre or larger, and pre-charged pneumatic guns shooting arrows.

Full metal jacketed ammunition.

Hunting Hours and Orange

What the state defines as legal light, and what has to be worn in it.

Legal Shooting Hours

TWRA, manner and means

Thirty minutes before legal sunrise to thirty minutes after legal sunset.

Fluorescent Orange

TWRA, big game regulations

At least 500 square inches of daylight fluorescent orange or pink on the upper body and head, visible front and back. A hat and a vest together satisfy it. Required while hunting big game except on archery-only and turkey hunts — and an archer hunting an archery-only deer season that overlaps a gun season for another species must wear it too. It does not apply to a landowner hunting their own property, though TWRA recommends it there as well.

Sundays

TWRA season tables, which print no Sunday exception for deer

Tennessee sets no Sunday restriction on deer hunting: the seasons run every day they are open.

Standing Rules

The parts of the digest that are true every day of the season.

Bag limits

TWRA deer page

Two antlered deer statewide, one per day, not to exceed two for the season.
Antlerless limits are set per season: four in archery, two in muzzleloader/archery, two in gun, two on the young sportsman days, and none at all in August.
In Units 4, 5 and 6 the young sportsman antlerless limit is two across all four days combined.
The antlered limit may be exceeded only by a bonus deer on certain WMAs, under the Earn-A-Buck programme, or as a replacement buck.

Tagging and Reporting

The clock that starts the moment the deer is down.

TWRA, big game check-in procedures

Every deer must be reported by midnight on the day of harvest, and before moving the animal or leaving the state.

Check in through the TWRA On The Go app, which works without a phone signal
Or online through the Go Outdoors Tennessee check-in station
Keep the Temporary Transportation Tag on the animal until it is checked in, and keep the confirmation number after

Where This App Is Coarser Than the Digest

Said plainly, because an absence is easy to read as a permission.

The season dates here are TWRA's own, from two of its pages that agree. The printed 2026-2027 guide TWRA publishes through eRegulations prints the same dates on p. 67.
Tennessee's six deer management units are carried here as the two columns TWRA prints its bag limits in — Units 1-3 and Units 4-6. The individual unit a county sits in is on TWRA's deer page.
The antlered limit may be exceeded by a bonus deer on certain WMAs, under the Earn-A-Buck programme in CWD counties, or as a replacement buck. This app carries the statewide two.
Licence fees are as TWRA's schedule stood in April 2026. The Fish and Wildlife Commission approved increases in August 2026 for a later fiscal year; check before you buy.
Wildlife management areas run their own deer dates and quotas, and are not on this calendar.
Tennessee's peak breeding date is an estimate. TWRA publishes no peak conception figure this app could find; 15 November is read off the season structure the agency builds around the rut, and unlike every date in the season table it is not transcribed from anything.
Tennessee publishes no open statewide parcel service this app can query, so there are no property lines on the map here.
Tennessee straddles two time zones and this app carries one. Legal light here is shown on Central time, which is right for Nashville, Memphis and the middle and west; East Tennessee — Knoxville, Chattanooga, the Tri-Cities — is on Eastern time and is an hour ahead of what this screen says.

Useful Numbers

The agency, when the app cannot answer it.

Licences and check-in: gooutdoorstennessee.com, or the TWRA On The Go app
TWRA: [email protected]

Transcribed from the published 2026-27 Tennessee digest. Where this app and the digest disagree, the digest is the law. Read the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency digest.