How Tennessee WMA Duck Quota Hunts and Tier Blinds Work (2026-27)

Tennessee runs public duck hunting differently from its neighbors. In Arkansas and Mississippi, most WMA duck hunting is freelance: you show up, find water, and hunt. On Tennessee's best-known waterfowl WMAs, many of the spots are numbered stakes in the water, and who gets to hunt each one is decided by a computer draw months or weeks ahead of time.

That system confuses a lot of people, especially newcomers and hunters crossing over from Arkansas. This guide explains how it works for the 2026-27 season, what's still open to apply for, and the small rules that cost people their blind. Every date and rule here comes from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA); we link to the page we checked.

The short version: the Mid segment application window is open now, Oct 21 through Nov 10, 2026, and covers hunts from Dec 22 to Jan 11. The first leftover drawing is Nov 9 (TWRA public land duck hunting, checked Oct 22, 2026).

Why Tennessee uses a draw at all

For years TWRA heard two complaints about public duck hunting: there wasn't enough access, and the old in-person, handheld blind drawings didn't feel fair. A survey of duck hunters done with the University of Tennessee backed both up. In 2020 the handheld drawings moved online because of COVID, and TWRA kept them there so waterfowl would work like its other quota hunts. In 2021 it added the "tier" system, with short 2- to 4-day hunts in the early, mid and late parts of the season on top of the season-long sites. The stated goal was to put more hunters on WMA blinds each year (TWRA).

What that means for you: on the tiered areas, the odds of drawing a short hunt are much better than the odds of drawing a whole season, and a lot of people who never got a blind under the old system now hunt one for a few days each year.

Where the tier system applies

The tier designations apply to marked hunt locations (a physical stake or GPS coordinates) on these areas: Barkley Unit I, Big Sandy (including the Gin Creek Unit), Camden Units I and II, Cheatham Lake, Gooch Unit A, Haynes Bottom, Old Hickory Units I and II, Tigrett, AEDC (Woods Reservoir), West Sandy and Reelfoot (TWRA).

Not every Tennessee WMA works this way. Many are freelance, and some have separate quota permit areas (more on those below). Before you go anywhere, read the area's listing in the 2026-27 TWRA Hunting Guide and check whether it's marked "WF," which means you need a WMA permit (TN Guide pp. 11, 82).

The three tiers, in plain English

Source for this table and the rules below: TWRA public land duck hunting, checked Oct 22, 2026. (There's no "Tier 3" on the current chart.)

Tier 1: the season-long blind

Tier 1 is the old-school permanent blind. You draw a stake for the whole regular season and you build the blind.

• Build deadline: the blind must be finished by the fourth Monday in October, which is Oct 26, 2026. "Finished" means at least 4 feet wide, 4 feet high and 8 feet long, no more than 30 feet long or 300 square feet in total, with solid walls you can attach camouflage to. Camouflage must be done by opening day.
• Location: within 5 feet of the stake or GPS point.
• If you miss the deadline, the permit is cancelled, the site becomes a Tier 4 spot for the rest of the season, and you lose the chance to enter any waterfowl quota drawing the following year.
• Cleanup: remove all blind material, trash, stakes, weights and lines within 15 days after the last day of the regular season or the last youth/military day, whichever is later. Every blind must be gone by April 30 unless the area manager gives you more time in writing.
• Party size: up to 8 adults, with no limit on youth hunters. Youth 6–15 must be with an adult at least 18.
• If you draw a Tier 1 site, you can't also apply for Tier 2 or other pool/site locations that season.

If high water or other conditions make it impossible to build by the deadline, the area manager can grant an extension, but only if you ask in writing before the fourth Monday in October. If you hold a Tier 1 permit and haven't finished, that request is due now.

Tier 2: the short hunt in a TWRA blind

Tier 2 is where most new applicants should start.

• TWRA builds and maintains the blind. You just show up for your 2-, 3- or 4-day period.
• A permittee must be present any time the blind is hunted. Nobody else can hunt it, even if you don't show up by shooting time.
• No access before 4 a.m. on hunt days.
• Up to 8 hunters, no limit on youth, and the group must include the permit holder.
• Remove your decoys and trash on the last day of your hunt period.
• Priority points apply to Tier 2 drawings.

Tier 4: first come, first served

Tier 4 locations need no permit. The first person or party at the location before legal shooting time has exclusive use until shooting hours end that day.

• Temporary blinds only, within 25 feet of the stake or GPS point. No new permanent blinds may be built. Any permanent blind at a Tier 4 spot is a leftover Tier 1 blind that wasn't finished in time.
• Take your temporary blind, decoys and trash out at the end of shooting each day.
• Up to 8 adults, no limit on youth hunters; youth must be with an adult 18 or older.
• TWRA says the Tier 4 blind list will be available in November 2026.

Quota permit areas

The chart on TWRA's page has a fourth column for quota permit areas, which are hunted from temporary blinds on a drawn permit for a 2-, 3- or 4-day hunt. Like Tier 2, they use priority points and have leftover drawings. These include areas such as the Chickamauga units (Candies Creek, Johnson Bottoms, Rogers Creek, Yellow Creek), Meeman-Shelby Forest, Gooch Units A and E, the John Tully Fig Field Unit, White Oak (Lebanon Pond), and Bogota and Thorny Cypress, judging by TWRA's leftover drawing list. Check each area's listing for its exact rules (TWRA).

2026-27 application windows

All waterfowl drawings need a party application of at least 4 and no more than 8 people (TWRA).

Application and claim dates are from TWRA's public land page; hunt days per segment are from the 2026-27 TWRA Hunting Guide, p. 55. All checked Oct 22, 2026. Our draw deadlines calendar tracks these alongside Arkansas and Mississippi.

Claiming matters. Being drawn is not the same as having a permit. Each segment has a claim deadline, and unclaimed permits go back into the pool for the leftover drawing. Put the claim date in your phone the day you apply.

Youth and military days. The chart says hunters apply for youth and veterans/active military hunt days during the Late segment. Tennessee's 2026-27 youth days are Feb 6 and 13, 2027, and veterans and active military days are Feb 7 and 14 (TN Guide p. 55).

Leftover drawings: the in-person second chance

Permits that aren't claimed are redrawn in person at 6 p.m. local time on Nov 9, 2026 (Early), Dec 7, 2026 (Mid) and Jan 4, 2027 (Late). Each area has its own drawing location. A few examples from TWRA's list:

• Reelfoot: Reelfoot State Park, 2595 State Route 21E, Tiptonville.
• Meeman-Shelby Forest and John Tully Fig Field Unit: Covington Civic Center, 100 West Washington Ave., Covington.
• Kentucky Lake units (Barkley, Big Sandy, Camden, Gin Creek, West Sandy): Holly Fork Shooting Complex, Paris.
• Gooch Units A and E: Kenton Gym, Kenton.
• Tigrett, Bogota and Thorny Cypress: Dyersburg Work Base.

The full list, with contact phone numbers for each area, is on TWRA's page. Call ahead; the contact can tell you roughly how many permits are expected to be available.

Blind hopping: the rule that starts arguments

On Tier 1 blinds, the permit holder has to be in the blind by legal shooting time on any day they want to hunt. If the blind is empty at that moment, the first person or party to occupy it (the "blind hopper") gets exclusive use until shooting hours end that day. If the permittee arrives by shooting time with their ID and permit, the permittee gets priority even if someone else is already sitting there (TWRA).

Blind hopping does not apply to Tier 2 blinds. Nobody but the permit holder's party may hunt a Tier 2 blind.

In practice, a hopper should be ready to leave quietly if the permittee shows up with paperwork before shooting time, and a permittee who wants the blind should be there early. Be civil about it either way. Wildlife officers will sort out a real dispute; a loud one at 6 a.m. ruins the morning for everyone on the bottom.

Temporary blinds near the tier sites

On Camden Unit II, Big Sandy (including Gin Creek), Barkley Unit II, Cordell Hull, Reelfoot, Tigrett and West Sandy, you may hunt from temporary blinds as well as the draw blinds, under statewide rules. Temporary blinds and decoys must be at least 200 yards from any Tier 1, 2 or 4 location and must come out at the end of shooting each day (TWRA).

That 200-yard rule is easy to break by accident in the dark. Mark the stake locations you can see on a map app before the season, and check your distance before you set out a single decoy.

Wheelchair blinds

Some WMAs have blind sites for wheelchair-bound hunters, including Camden, Cheatham Lake, North Chickamauga Creek, Old Hickory Unit I, Reelfoot and West Sandy (TWRA). Applications are due by noon on the fourth Friday of October, which this year is Oct 23, 2026 (TWRA migratory birds).

How to build a party that draws well

These are tips, not rules:

• Build a reliable party. You need 4 to 8 people anyway. Pick people who will actually show up, claim on time and help pull decoys, because one no-show can cost a Tier 2 group its morning if the permit holder is the one missing.
• Apply every segment. Tier 2 uses priority points, so applying when you don't draw still helps you later.
• Pick areas you can scout. A blind you've never seen on a lake you've never run is a hard first trip. Choose an area within a reasonable drive so you can look at it in daylight before your hunt.
• Plan for water. West Tennessee is low this fall. Check the river and lake gauges for your area on our migration map and TWRA's crop and blind status pages before you go.
• Have a backup. If you don't draw, Tier 4 spots and freelance WMAs are still there.

What you need to carry

A quick reminder for Tennessee WMA duck hunting. The full list, with prices, is on our Tennessee laws page.

• A Tennessee hunting license with the Waterfowl Supplemental (or a Sportsman license), or the right nonresident license.
• The Tennessee Migratory Bird Permit and the Federal Duck Stamp.
• A WMA permit on areas marked "WF," unless your license covers it.
• At Reelfoot, the Reelfoot Lake Preservation Permit unless you're exempt.

Source: 2026-27 TWRA Hunting Guide pp. 8–11, 82, checked Oct 22, 2026.

Gear that makes a drawn hunt easier

A drawn hunt is only a few days, so small things matter. A GPS-capable mapping app with public-land layers, such as onX Hunt, lets you save the stake locations and your route before you run it in the dark. A good waterproof headlamp and a spare battery are cheap insurance. For temporary-blind setups where you have to pull everything daily, a light blind bag and a decoy bag with shoulder straps make the walk back far easier. Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's both carry well-reviewed options in each of these categories.

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