TENNESSEE: A GUIDE TO THE STATE
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Sports and Recreation
Tennesseans have been sportsmen since the days when the pioneers delighted in long hunts and horse racing, wrestling and shooting matches. Though the frontier is long since gone, the State's vast stretches of forest, mountain, and marshland still attract those who love the outdoors. The Great Smokies and the Cumberlands offer magnificent panoramas from skyline hiking trails; the wooded hills and rolling blue grass meadows are ideal for camping, horseback riding, and motoring; and Reelfoot Lake is famous for fishing and duck hunting. Under a vigorous program of conservation the Virginia or white-tail deer, once nearly extinct, is fairly numerous and may be hunted in several counties. Black bear, protected by closed seasons, are found in the wilder parts of the Great Smokies and the Unakas.
For Tennessee's newest big game animal - the Russian wild boar, locally called "Rooshian" wild hog - the ancient sport of boar hunting has been revived. The annual boar hunts, held in the fall in the Cherokee National Forest, are conducted by the State game and fish division in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service. Because the animals are not yet numerous enough to permit indiscriminate hunting, only 108 participants are drawn by lot from the applicants. Three methods of hunting are used, each having its special difficulties and fascination. In shooting from a "stand", the hunter takes a position on a vantage point, while guides with two or more dogs drive the boar within shooting distance. Stalking or still hunting is difficult because the crackling of dry leaves underfoot usually warns the keen-eared boars of the hunter's approach. When jumped by the dogs, the "Rooshians" strike through brush-grown ravines and over laurel-covered mountain slopes. The chase, sometimes lasting for miles, calls for unlimited stamina from both dogs and men, and ends with the hog at bay, slashing at the hounds with razor tusks that will rip an unwary dog to ribbons.
Smaller game animals are abundant in the State. For those who like to shoot cottontail rabbits the near woodlands and back pastures afford good hunting ground. The first chill of autumn brings squirrel hunters into the oak woods, and trapping of small fur bearers - mink, muskrat, and weasel - is widespread during the open season. To 'coon hunters nothing quite equals the night chase under a harvest moon, when two eyes glowing like embers high up in a basswood crotch mean that the game is treed. The deep-toned bay of redbone hounds in full cry is music to the fox hunters who gather around campfires on frosty evenings and argue heatedly about "whose dog's ahead." 'Coon dog trials are held in Chester County each year.
The mounted hunt clubs "ride to the hounds" in the old English fashion from November to April, and act as occasional hosts to the National Fox Hunters' Association. The One-Gallus Fox Hunters, Association, composed of farmers and casual fox hunters who maintain no kennels, meets at various places in Middle Tennessee.
Wild turkeys are plentiful, and are hunted in open season. These fine game birds and bobwhite quail are raised at the State Buffalo Springs Game Farm, near Rutledge, and released on protected land.
In the eastern uplands the ruffed grouse, skyrocketing from cover with a startling thunder of wings, is game worthy of any hunter's gun. Ring-necked pheasants are becoming a popular game bird, taking the place of grouse in the lowlands. Game technicians are experimenting with the propagation of chukar and Hungarian partridges. For the average man, who does not go far afield, bobwhites and doves form the bulk of the daily bag, and hundreds of hunters take to the open with bird dogs and shotguns every season. Annual field trials for bird dogs, sponsored by the National Field Trials Association, are held at Grand Junction, in Hardeman County. On the Hobart Ames Plantation - 24,000 acres of rolling land, well stocked with quail - sportsmen from all parts of the country enter their champion pointers and setters to compete for national honors.
Reelfoot Lake is on America's greatest flyway of migratory waterfowl, and practically every variety of wading and swimming bird rests there during north and south flights above the Mississippi Valley. Geese, ducks, coots, and snipe in thousands roost at the lake and in the adjacent marshes, and may be taken in season. Sportsmen are assured their bag limit of teal, redheads, and mallards. Swans, wood ducks, and eider ducks, because of their dwindling numbers, are under the strict protection of the U. S. Biological Survey, which has control of all migratory birds and game refuges. Since taking over the region in the early part of the present century, the State has spent $450,000 to preserve and improve this sportsman's paradise, now known as the Reelfoot Lake Game Preserve. The game and fish division maintains a large clubhouse and cabins for fishermen and hunters.
When the Reelfoot earthquake shook the bottom of the Mississippi in 1811, fish of practically every variety known in the Central States were swept into the lake with the backward-rushing river. Today the great pool with its acres of sunken snags swarms with large mouth bass, bream, crappie, carp, bluegill, and buffalo fish. The underwater trees make ideal lurking places for tremendous "spoonbill cats" and huge "loggerhead" turtles. Fly fishing, plug casting, and still fishing enthusiasts meet at Reelfoot and use their favorite methods. Other lake sports are gigging for bull frogs, and shooting water snakes among the dead tree trunks, where motionless water turkeys sit above on the bare branches and the only sound is the swirl of the water as the guide paddles the canoe.
About three million fish are reared yearly at the State hatcheries at Springfield and Morristown and placed in streams and lakes throughout the State. The U. S. Bureau of Fisheries also operates two hatcheries in Tennessee at Erwin and Flintville.
In the clear, swift mountain streams, brook and rainbow trout are plentiful and the rapids and pools are ideal for fly casting. Anglers try for small mouth bass, jack salmon, drum, and catfish in the more sluggish waters of the Cumberland and the Tennessee. Small streams and brooks are well stocked with perch and "pumpkinseed" sunfish, usually the first fish to dangle from the homemade rod of the young American angler.
To develop recreational opportunities and conserve or restore natural resources, State parks and forests have been established under the jurisdiction of the Tennessee department of conservation. Most of them have comfortable cabins, swimming and other facilities. In these areas, totaling more than 100,000 acres, and in the State's game preserves animal and plant life are protected and developed.
Pickett State Park and Forest was the first to put into effect the present program linking conservation and recreation. The area consists of 11,500 acres of wild land on the rugged Cumberland Plateau, where 100-foot rock walls tower above brawling streams, and giant magnolias shade the banks of a 15-acre lake. Natchez Trace Forest State Park, on the western plateau, is being developed both as a resort and a fish and game refuge. Half of its 42,000 acres are gullied badlands, now being reclaimed; the remainder are thickly grown with sedge, sumac, and mixed second-growth hardwood. Three lakes have been constructed with beaches, boathouses, and overnight cabins. Among other State areas now being developed are Morgan, Marion-Franklin, Bledsoe, and Chickasaw forests, Chickasaw Forest State Park, and the Lebanon Cedar Forest State Park, containing one of the largest groves of cedar in the Central Basin.
In the Mississippi bottomlands the National Park Service administers the Shelby Forest Recreational Demonstration Area, twelve thousand acres of jungle-like swamps, forests of beech, cottonwood, cypress, and willow. Another Federal owned recreational demonstration project is Falls Creek Falls, fifteen thousand acres of the wildest land in the Cumberlands. Foot trails and a road give access to the falls, a 256-foot curtain of water tumbling over a mighty sandstone cliff.
Foot trails, bridle paths, and campsites are being established in Federal and State areas, and this program is opening up vast roadless sections of the State for nature study, hiking, horseback riding, and camping. Organized hiking clubs and other outdoor groups sponsor trips into the wild parts of the State. In Eastern Tennessee some of the clubs are affiliated with the Appalachian Trail Conference, which maintains the Maine-to-Georgia skyline trail along the crest of the Appalachians.
In Norris Park, a development of the Tennessee Valley Authority overlooking Norris Lake, bridle paths and foot trails have been laid out in the valleys, and stables, picnic areas, and an outdoor theater have been established on the lakeshore. Other TVA developments are Big Ridge Park, a rugged region of limestone ridges, on an impounded arm of Norris Lake; and Pickwick Dam Reservation, an area of rolling wooded hills bordering Pickwick Reservoir.
For those interested in history, the National military parks - Chickamauga and Chattanooga, Shiloh, Fort Donelson, Stones River, and the Meriwether Lewis National Monument - are popular. Caverns with magnificent rock formations have been developed under private management and are open to the public at nominal rates. The most notable of. these are Craighead Caverns, Jewel, Ruskin, Dunbar, Nickajack, and Lookout Mountain Caves.
With the development of lakes and river courses, interest in boating is increasing. Outboards are in use on the principal rivers, and regattas and races are held regularly. Swimming facilities are available for residents and tourists at the State's lake and river beaches, which are among the finest to be found in the South.
A unique sport, drawing enthusiastic crowds of participants and spectators, is the "turkey shoots" of the mountain people, stemming from the rifle contest of pioneer times. Scorning modern breech loaders, the contestants use long-barreled cap and ball "hog" rifles, patterned after the famous guns of the frontiersmen. Indeed, in the high Smokies riflemen still use flint-lock Dechard rifles that saw duty in the Revolutionary battle of King's Mountain. The prize may be a turkey, a hog, or a side of beef. These "old time shootin' matches", most popular in the mountain regions, are also held in other parts of the State.
The four professional baseball teams - Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga - are members of the Southern Association. Softball teams are sponsored by business organizations, factories, unions, and churches all over the State. Leagues have been formed in all localities, and many municipal parks provide free facilities for night games. Collegiate and high school football is popular; the annual games played by Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and Sewanee university teams draw enthusiastic crowds.
The horse and riding shows which are features of State and county fairs are well attended by city and country folk alike. The Plantation Walking Horse, bred originally for planters and overseers to ride while directing work in the fields, is an especial favorite. With its three easy gaits - the walk, the running walk, and the canter - it is an ideal mount for use and pleasure. In Marshall and Bedford counties, where the Walking Horse is bred in great numbers, an extensive network of bridle paths spreads through the rolling hill country. Each spring, usually in April, cavalcades of men, women, and children take to these paths for trips that range from weekend jaunts to rides lasting two weeks or more. The recently inaugurated Ride-a-thon - a two-day horseback trip over the country trails - has proven popular. Plans are in the making for a State-wide system of bridle paths. In most of the cities and larger towns there are riding clubs and stables where horses may be rented.
Most of the county fairs feature horse races, automobile racing, shows, and midway amusements in addition to a variety of exhibits. Large crowds are drawn every year to the iris festival at Nashville, the dogwood festival at Knoxville, the strawberry festival at Bells and Humboldt, in Crockett County, and the rhododendron festival at Gatlinburg. Two outstanding yearly events are the Memphis Cotton Carnival with its Mardi-Gras revelry and Mule Day at Columbia, an all-day celebration in honor of the "orneriest and workingest work-critter living."
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TENNESSEE: A GUIDE TO THE STATE