HuntCatoosaWMA

Check stations: Genesis & Bi-Color

Planning a hunt at Catoosa

The area is big, the rules are specific, and the gate does not care that you drove three hours. Sort this out first.

Permits, in order

Catoosa layers requirements rather than replacing them. You generally need everything above the line you are standing on.

Hunting & fishing license
The baseline. Required before any WMA permit means anything.
WMA permit
Required on top of the license for hunting, and required for OHV, bicycle and hooved animal use.
High Impact Habitat Conservation Permit
An accepted alternative to the license-plus-WMA-permit combination for OHV, bicycle and hooved animal access.
Quota draw
The muzzleloader and November gun hunts are quota hunts. Being drawn is what gets you on the area at all during a big game hunt.

TWRA sells licenses and permits, and runs the quota draw. Start at the TWRA site.

Where you can sleep

Camping on the WMA is allowed for big game hunters only, during big game hunts. Outside of that window, Catoosa is not a place to camp — plan on staying off the area.

Peavine Campground sits on the northwest side and gives the Peavine range its name. Crossville is the nearest town of any size; the Genesis checking station carries a Crossville address, and the Bi-Color station is on the Rockwood side.

Lodging and campground availability changes season to season. Confirm anything you are counting on before you commit to a date.

A gated TWRA access point into Catoosa Wildlife Management Area
A gated access point. Vehicles, OHVs, bikes and horses may only enter through gates like this one.

How check-in works

This one genuinely is a sequence, so it is worth reading in order.

  1. Take your animal whole to a WMA checking station — Genesis or Bi-Color. Hogs in particular must arrive whole; you cannot bring in parts.
  2. Have it checked and tagged there. Big game and hogs must both be tagged before you transport them off the area.
  3. Only then move it off the WMA.

Both stations are pinned on the maps page with addresses and directions.

What to bring

Fluorescent orange
Required during hog control hunts, and required for anyone on the Cumberland Trail during deer, turkey and hog hunts.
Offline maps
Screenshot or download the TWRA interactive map before you leave pavement. Gorge terrain does not reward relying on a signal.
Nitrile gloves
Brucellosis has been confirmed in hogs here. Do not field dress one bare-handed.
Paper copy of your permits
Cheap insurance in a place where your phone may be a brick.
Real boots
Sandstone, creek crossings and old logging grades. The plateau is rockier and steeper than a map suggests.