Due to high waters in the Mississippi River Floodwaters Zone, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has announced the closure of all big game hunting in the zone, effective Sunday.
The Mississippi River stage has reached 34 feet at the Caruthersville, Mo. gauge. In accordance with Proclamation 16-45, all big game hunting is closed immediately in the Mississippi River Floodwaters Zone. The zone will remain closed until the Mississippi River state falls to 32 feet at the Memphis gauge.
The closure will be in effect until the river falls to 32 feet in Memphis. The last day of the Unit L deer firearms season, (Jan. 6) is now closed in the zone. In addition, the Unit L private lands only antlerless deer hunt (Jan. 7-11) and the Young Sportsman Hunt (Jan. 12-13) is closed within the zone. The 2-feet buffer will ensure that big game will no longer be isolated on islands, levees, etc., when hunting season resumes.
The Mississippi River Floodwaters Zone includes all lands, public and private, from the northern border with Kentucky (Mississippi River Mile 715) to the southern border with Mississippi (Mississippi River Mile 905) and from the western border of Tennessee, east to the base of the Mississippi River Bluff, a geological land formation with a notable rise in elevation.