The wait is almost over for the gun guys - Tennessee's first segment gun/muzzleloader/archery season for deer opens across the state on Saturday, November 21, in Units A, B, & L. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) said this year, the season dates for all three units are Nov. 21 - Dec. 6 and Dec. 19 - Jan. 10, 2010.

No more than one antlered buck may be taken per day. The statewide bag limit for antlered bucks is three. An antlered buck is a buck with an antler at least 3 inches long.

For antlerless deer hunting in Units A and B during this season, refer to the list of hunts on page 23 of the hunting guide. There are quota and non-quota hunts listed on that page with bag limits for each. The bag limit for antlerless deer in Unit L is three per day. Antlerless deer are defined as deer with no antlers or deer with antlers less than 3 inches in length.

A Type 94 permit is required to harvest antlerless deer during this season on all non-quota hunts in Units A, B, & L, except for holders of an Annual Sportsman, Lifetime Sportsman, or Senior Citizen License with a Type 167 Permit.

For more information about Tennessee's deer hunting seasons, refer to the 2009 Tennessee Hunting and Trapping Guide available at all license agents or on the TWRA website at www.tnwildlife.org.

Biologists and others from the TWRA will be among us again this year as we check in deer. Personnel from the TWRA will be working deer checking stations at various locations throughout East Tennessee on the opening day of the deer gun season (Saturday, Nov. 22) for the purpose of collecting data. Data collected on this date will provide agency wildlife biologists important information on the status of the deer herds in Tennessee.

The Agency said antler size and age of bucks taken on opening day is very important for wildlife biologists in formulating season proposals for future deer hunting seasons. In addition to the age of bucks, length of the main beam, circumference of the main beam, and greatest outside spread measurements will be taken on antlered bucks.

Counties and checking station locations in our area where TWRA personnel will be are:

* Carter County - APCO 68 in Elizabethton

* Carter County - Hampton Bait Shop in Hampton

* Claiborne County - Rigsbys in Tazewell

* Claiborne County - Southern Outdoors in Tazewell

* Cocke County - Bybee Market on Hwy. 160 in Bybee

* Grainger County - Joyce's Taxidermy in Washburn

* Greene County - Porters Grocery in Baileyton

* Hamblen County - Goodman's Taxidermy in Morristown

* Hancock County - Clinch River Market in Sneedville

* Hawkins County - Lakeview Market

* Hawkins County - Minors Market in Church Hill

* Hawkins County - Rock Hill on Hwy. 70

* Jefferson County - Bucks-N-Bass in Dandridge

* Johnson County - Roan Creek Market (Neva Store)

* Sevier County - White Star Market in Seymour

* Sullivan County - The Store in Bristol

* Washington County - Boonies Market in Fall Branch

University students will be assisting TWRA personnel at the checking stations. This opportunity gives the students, studying wildlife management, hands-on experience that can be a valuable learning tool.

Make yourself a note--the TWRA has announced the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) units 1 & 2 December permits are going to be allocated using a first come, first serve basis. The permits will go on sale Wednesday 9 a.m.

Permits can be purchased at any TWRA license agent or through the TWRA website at www.tnwildlife.org by clicking the License Information icon located on the left side of the home page. The receipt will serve as the permit as no permits will be mailed. No phone sales will be accepted.

A permit fee will not be charged to Annual Sportsman (Type 004) or Lifetime Sportsman (Types 402 thru 405) license holders or Senior Citizen Hunters (Type 166) with an Annual Senior Citizen Permit (Type 167). For all other license holders, the cost is $20 per permit, plus agent fee.

Customers can only obtain one permit per hunt choice. There are five hunt choices for December. Customers can obtain one permit for each hunt choice for a total of five permits per person.

First come, first serve permits are sold one at a time per transaction. Customers can purchase permits for others as long as they have all their pertinent information. The same one permit per hunt choice applies.

The privilege codes for the first come, first serve AEDC WMA permits are as follows:

* 345 for Lifetime and Annual Sportsman and Seniors holding a current Type 167

* 346 for all other license holders

This applies to youth and adults purchasing a permit. AEDC consists of 32,000 acres and is located in Coffee and Franklin Counties. Unit 1 was previously known as the TNARNG maneuver area. Unit 2 is the Camp Forrest area, from the golf course to UTSI road and Wattendorf Memorial Highway to the southern boundary.

The dates that have been confirmed by the Air Force and hunt locations are as follows: