I get it.. there are a lot of acres with courthouses, office buildings, highways, plowed fields, and pastures on them... a lot of the TN river plain is heavy to ag, airports, and sprawl. But my opinion is that if my 215 wooded acres can hold 20 deer in what is considered way less than prime deer density area, those blackbelt counties and other southern counties that are 70, 80, 90+ % forested (from cutovers to mature timber) that potentially hold 50, 60, 70+ deer per square mile on a lot of their square miles can bring the overall average way up statewide. I'm not saying that the number is exactly 1.5 million, but I think that's a better estimate overall than what a lot of folks believe.

I have a pal from Limestone county that hunts Bankhead and Wheeler a good bit. He came with me to hunt Barbour WMA and he told me that the WMA, from the sign he saw, holds significantly more deer overall than what he sees on that northern tier put together (his words, not mine). A lot of counties south of the fall line hold those deer densities and help bring up the crappy averages seen in other parts of the state.