Tennessee’s Free Hunting Day is this Saturday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee residents will be able to hunt without a license this Saturday.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) announced that Free Hunting Day will be Saturday, August 24, which coincides with the opening day of squirrel season. Hunters can harvest up to 10 squirrels per day from the opening day of squirrel season through March 15, 2025. Hunting days begin one half-hour before sunrise and last until one half-hour after sunset.

On Free Hunting Day, Tennessee state resident hunters are exempt from both hunting license and wildlife management area restrictions. Many wildlife management areas will be open to hunters seeking public access on Saturday, the agency said.

Not only is Saturday the start of squirrel season, but the TWRA said that the three-day archery only for antlered deer hunt on private lands and select wildlife management areas will happen between August 23 and August 25.

Even though license and area restrictions will be lifted, the TWRA noted that hunter education requirements are not waived. Anyone born on or after January 1, 1969, is required to have completed a hunter education course. You can find information about hunter education courses here.

Apprentice licenses are required for anyone born after January 1, 1969, if no hunter education course has been completed. The TWRA explained that the apprentice license exempts a hunter from the mandatory hunter education law for one year from the date of purchase. However, an apprentice license can only be purchased for up to three consecutive years over the course of a hunter’s lifetime.

Anyone under 10 years old that wants to partake in Free Hunting Day does not need a hunter education certificate, but they must be accompanied by someone at least 21 years old, and that adult must be ready to take immediate control of the child’s hunting device.

Click here for more information about hunting in Tennessee.