Kentucky Hunting Seasons 2023-2024 [Updated]

Kentucky is one of the best choices for hunting since it has many hunting seasons every year for a diverse array of animals. Wildlife is abundant in the state’s forests, from the elusive wild turkey to the magnificent elk. However, before you go out into the wild, you should study up on Kentucky’s hunting rules and regulations and the licenses and permits you’ll need to do so. You may have a successful and fun hunting season if you know what you’re doing and are well-prepared. Lets find out!

Kentucky Hunting Seasons

The state’s forests are home to a wide variety of wildlife, from Coyote and bears to Goose, Teal ducks, and turkeys, all of which are fair game for hunters. Kentucky is a great hunting destination since it offers a wide variety of wildlife. Remember, however, that specific game requires a hunting license or permit, which may be obtained easily via licensing agents or over the phone, as well as online for both residents and visitors. The price of a license or permit changes depending on factors such as the time of year, the applicant’s location, the applicant’s age, and any special designations.

After a successful harvest, hunters must contact the Department of Fish and Wildlife either by phone or via their website. It is important to remember that no of the method of bagging, all elk, turkeys, bears, bobcats, and river otters must be checked in. Please go to the Fish and Wildlife Resources website for further information, since check-in times vary per species. In addition, federal military reserves may have their own hunting seasons and regulations that are different from the rest of the state. Get in contact with the appropriate organization for further details about federal properties including the Blue Grass Army Depot, Fort Campbell Military Reservation, and Fort Knox Military Reservation.

Below is a list of Hunting Schedules for Kentucky

Deer Season

Deer Season	Hunting Dates
Archery	2 Sep 2023 - 15 Jan 2024
Early Muzzle-loading	Oct 21, 2023 -Oct 22, 2023
Late Muzzle-loading	9 Dec, 2023 - 17 Dec, 2023
Modern Gun	11 Nov, 2023 - 26 Nov, 2023
Senior/Youth Crossbow	2 Sep 2023 - 15 Jan 2024
Crossbow	16 Sep 2023 - 15 Jan 2024
Youth-Only Gun	Oct 14, 2023 - 15 Oct, 2023
Free Youth Weekend	Dec 30, 2023 - 31 Dec , 2023

​Elk Season

Elk Season	Hunting Dates
Either-Sex Archery/Crossbow	9 Sep, 2023 - 22 Sep, 2023
Either-Sex Archery/Crossbow	2 Dec, 2023 - 8 Dec, 2023
Cow Firearms	25 Nov, 2023 - 29 Nov, 2023
Cow Firearms	30 Dec, 2023 - 3 Jan, 2023
Bull Firearms	30 Sep, 2023 - 4 Oct, 2023
Bull Firearms	7 Oct, 2023 - 11 Oct, 2023

Turkey​ Season

Turkey Season	Huntng Dates
Spring Turkey
Youths 15 & younger	7 April, 2023 - 8 April, 2023
Regular Season	15 April, 2023 - Closes on Sun after 23 consecutive days
Fall Turkey
Archery	September 2, 2023 - January 15, 2024
Crossbow	1 Oct, 2023 - 22 Oct , 2023
Crossbow	11 Nov, 2023 - 31 Dec, 2023
Shotgun	28 Oct, 2023 - 3 Nov, 2023
Shotgun	2 Dec, 2023 - 8 Dec, 2023

Squirrel Season

Squirrel Season	Hunting Start Date	Hunting End Date
Spring	20 May, 2023	16 June, 2023
Fall	19 Aug, 2023	29 Feb, 2023

Dove Season

Dove Season	Hunting Dates
1st Segment	1 Sep - 26 Oct, 2023
2nd Segment	23 Nov, 2023 - 3 Dec, 2023
3rd Segment	23 Dec, 2023 - 14 Jan, 2024

Free Youth Hunting Season

Season	Hunting Dates
Youth ages 15 & younger	30 Dec, 2023 - 5 Jan, 2024

​Bear Season

KY Bear Season	Dates	Zones Included
Bear Chase with Dogs	June 1 - Aug 31	All bear zones
Bear Chase with Dogs	Sept 9 - Sept 30	All bear zones
Bear Archery	28 Oct, 2023 - 3 Nov, 2023	All bear zones except Zone 3
Bear Firearms	9 Dec, 2023 - 15 Dec, 2023	All bear zones
Bear Quota Hunt with Dogs	16 Oct, 2023 - 29 Oct, 2023	All bear zones except McCreary Zone

​

Furbearers, Small Game and Upland Game

Rabbit

Rabbit Hunting	Hunting Dates	Note
Western Zone	3rd day of modern gun deer season thru Feb 10, 2024
Eastern Zone	Nov 1, 2023 - Jan 31, 2024	the first weekend of the Mordern gun deer season is closed

Quail

Quail Hunting Season	Hunting Dates	Note
Western Zone	3rd day of modern gun deer season thru Feb 10, 2024
Eastern Zone	Nov 1, 2023 - Jan 31, 2024	the first weekend of the Mordern gun deer season is closed

Grouse

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates	Note
Grouse Season	Nov 1, 2023 - Feb 29, 2024	n grouse zone only; closed during the first 2 days of modern gun deer season

Pheasant

Pheasant Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Green River Lake WMA	Nov 3, 2023 - Nov 9, 2023
Clay & Yellowbank WMAs	Dec 1, 2023 - Dec 3, 2023

Raccoon and Opposum Season

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Raccoon and Opposum	Oct 1, 2023 to Feb 29, 2024

Coyote Season

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates	Note
Coyote Season	Year round	For nighttime shooting, lights or night vision gear are permitted from December 1 through May 31.

Bobcat Season

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Bobcat Season	Nov 25, 2023 - Feb 29, 2024

Other furbearers Season

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Other furbearers	3rd day of modern gun deer season thru Feb 29, 2024

Groundhog Season

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Groundhog Season	Year Round

Falconry Season

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Falconry	Sep 1, 2023 - March 30, 2024

KY Migratory Birds Season

Woodcock

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates	Note
Woodcock Season	28 Oct, 2023 - 13 Dec, 2023	the first two days of the Modern guns deer season are closed.

Snipe

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Snipe Season	20 Sep, 2023 - 29 Oct, 2023
Snipe Season	23 Nov, 2023 - 28 Jan, 2024

Wood Duck

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Wood Duck	Sep 16, 2023 - Sep 20, 2023

Teal​

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Teal	Sep 16, 2023 - Sep 24, 2023

Rail and Gallinule

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Rail and Gallinule	Sep 1, 2023 - Nov 9, 2023

Crow

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Crow Season	Sep 1, 2023 - Nov 7, 2023
Crow Season	Jan 4, 2024 - Feb 28, 2024

Sandhill Crane

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Sandhill Crane	Dec 4, 2023 - Jan 28, 2024

Canada Goose

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Canada Goose	Sep 16, 2023 - Sep 30, 2023
Canada Goose	Nov 23, 2023 - Feb 15, 2024

Cackling, White-fronted & Snow Goose & Brant

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Cackling, White-fronted & Snow Goose & Brant	Nov 23, 2023 - Feb 15, 2024

Light Goose Conservation Order

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Light Goose Conservation Order	Feb 16, 2024 - March 31, 2024

Duck, Coot, Merganser

Hunting Season	Hunting Dates
Duck, Coot, Merganser	Sep 23, 2023 - Sep 26, 2023
Duck, Coot, Merganser	Dec 7, 2023 - Jan 31, 2024

Youth Waterfowl Hunting

Youth Waterfowl Hunting	Hunting Dates
Eastern Zone	Nov 4, 2023 - Nov 5, 2023
Western Zone	Feb 3, 2024 - Feb 4, 2024

• **Dates for each season vary by zone.
• Small game seasons have nonspecific start and end times.

Variable bag limits, special seasons, and other hunting regulations in Kentucky vary with species and time of year. For more information on licensing, permits, and regulations in the state of Kentucky, check out their website.

Kentucky hunting license.

A hunting license and, in certain situations, additional permits, such as a state-issued deer permit or a license to shoot birds, are required in Kentucky. Obtaining a license is easy at fw.ky.gov; just remember to carry a photo ID, driver’s license, Social Security card, and your date of birth whenever you go hunting.

Permit Types	(Resident)	(Non-Resident)
(Deer)	USD 35	USD 185
(Additional 2 deer)	USD 15	USD 15
Spring Turkey-statewide (2 turkeys)	USD 30	USD 85
Fall Turkey-statewide (4 Turkeys)	USD 30	USD 85
(Elk Drawing)	USD 10	USD 10
(Bear)	USD 30	USD 250

Licenses Types	(Resident)	(Non-Resident)
Yearly Hunting	USD 27	USD 150
(Shooting Area-License)	USD 5	USD 5
(Yearly Combo Hunt/Fish)	USD 42	Not Applicable
(Sportsman)	USD 95	Not Applicable

Hunting Regulations

Hunting Hours: Kentucky allows shooting from 30 minutes before dawn to 30 minutes after sunset, except for waterfowl, migrating birds, raccoons, coyotes, turtles, and frogs. Hunters are allowed in the field without guns. Raccoons and opossums may be killed anytime. However, contemporary firearms deer season allows only nighttime shooting. See coyote furbearer hunting and trapping exclusions here. USNO provides dawn and sunset tables.

Hunting Exceptions: The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife enables hunters with physical disabilities to use crossbows during archery-only seasons and hunt from stationary vehicles. These hunters must receive a doctor’s exemption paperwork before hunting. Call 1-800-858-1549 or download a form from the website. After completion, the exemption form is the hunter’s permission and must not be returned to the department. Exempt hunters must have a signed exemption form, a hunting license, and permits.

Property Permission: Shooting, hunting, trapping, fishing, or other wildlife-related recreational activity on another’s property without permission is unlawful. Hunters must access private land, including railroad tracks and rights of way. Landowners are not required to let hunters return with their game or dogs. Undocumented people may be detained and convicted.

Hunter Education: Kentucky hunters born after January 1, 1975, must have hunter education certification or exemption permission. Hunting permits and digital paperwork with image identification meet this need. Hunter education is not necessary for non-licensed hunters. Since March 1, 2014, hunter education cards must be pre-registered online. A 9-year-old must complete the hunter education course to get an orange certification card. Kentucky allows out-of-state hunter education cards. Hunter Education is not required for children under 12, but they must be accompanied by a trained adult and have the weapon within reach. A hunter must accompany fewer than two or more two youngsters under 12.

Apprentice Hunting: Kentucky first-time hunters may get a temporary hunter education exemption permit online. First-time hunters must be accompanied by a licensed adult hunter (at least 18 years old) who has completed the hunter education course and can assume immediate control of the novice hunter’s bow or rifle at all times to qualify for this permit. Hunter’s education is required when the exemption permission expires. It doesn’t matter the hunter’s age. Blue Grass Army Depot and Fort Campbell will not honor the temporary hunter education exemption permit outside Kentucky. Landowners, their wives, and dependent children may hunt on their own or work property without taking a hunter education course. Thus, Kentucky’s hunter-education laws apply even if they’re hunting elsewhere.

Hunter Orange: During contemporary gun, muzzleloading, youth firearm, and firearm elk or bear seasons in Kentucky, hunters and anyone accompanying them must wear a solid, unbroken hunter orange color on the head, back, and chest. This legislation exclusively covers daytime hunting. Duck and dove hunters are exempt from this rule. Mesh clothing branded hunter orange may have holes no bigger than one-quarter inch in any measurement and may disclose a small bit of another color. Without hunter-orange, squirrels, rabbits, and quail cannot be shot during rifle deer or elk seasons. This law also prohibits camouflage-patterned hunter-orange garments without matching head, back, and chest gear. Archery and ground blind hunters must paint their blinds hunter orange during deer firearms seasons.

Prohibited Hunting Practices: Kentucky prohibits hunting on highway medians and rights-of-way with weapons, bows, arrows, crossbows, and similar equipment. Hunting from a car is illegal unless permitted by law. However, boat-hunting small game and furbearers are allowed. It’s also illegal to annoy wildlife from an airplane or shoot at animals to capture or kill them. Dogs, mounts, and sneaking up on water-bound deer, elk, and turkeys are forbidden. Dogs can only find and flush turkeys in the autumn. Feeding bears, hungry or not, is illegal. Animals cannot be caught using fire, smoke, explosives, or gas. All state parks, WMAs, the Daniel Boone National Forest, Jefferson National Forest, Land Between the Lakes, Big South Fork National River, and Recreation Area allow hunting; however, baiting is prohibited. Hunting deer and elk using electronic decoys and sounds, hunting turkeys while roosting, using live turkeys as decoys, and baiting wild turkeys or bears are illegal. The region is deemed baited for 30 days after all bait is removed, making hunting unlawful.

Licenses to carry deadly weapons in concealed Form: Kentucky hunters may use any legal rifle, but they must legally catch animals.

Devices Restrictions: Kentucky only allows furbearer season electronic calls and lures. The state allows the hunting of other species using hand or mouth-operated calls. Only during crow season can mechanical or electronic calls catch crows. Electronic calling devices are prohibited for deer, turkey, and elk hunters.

Spotlighting: In Kentucky, it is prohibited to shine a spotlight or artificial light onto a private dwelling or other building or any public or private field, pasture, forest, or woodland where wild or domestic cattle are reasonably anticipated. Landowners, their immediate family members, and any paid employees working on the land at the time are exempt from this law, as are vehicles using their headlights in the ordinary course of travel, lights used in legitimate agricultural activities, and anyone engaged in legitimate business or occupation activities, including lawful hunting. Except for raccoons, opossums, frogs, and fishes, it is forbidden to blind or illuminate wildlife at night. See coyote furbearer hunting and trapping exclusions here.

Live Native animal transport & Holding: Wild animals cannot be collected or kept without proper documentation in forbidden regions. Selling, trading, or bartering wild-caught native species or their parts is forbidden. Wildlife obtained illegally may be confiscated and punished. People who illegally transport live deer or other cervids (deer family members) or keep them in unlicensed facilities or cages risk having their animals taken, killed, and fined heavily. Wildlife rehabilitators must care for orphaned creatures.

Hunting with Dogs: As long as they hunt during legal seasons, Kentucky hunters may run or train dogs for rabbits, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, and opossums year-round. Pets must be checked before entering a Wildlife Management Area. Unless exempt, you need a hunting license to legally hunt rabbits or furbearers, even if you’re training your dogs. Dogs can hunt bears during designated seasons, not deer or elk. Dogs on leashes can locate and find injured deer, elk, and bears. Raccoon squallers may flush raccoons and opossums from trees and dens year-round, except during hunting season.

Bobwhite Hunt: Bobwhite Shoot-to-Train season allows private landowners to harvest captive bobwhite quail for bird dog training. Except for bobwhites, the season spans from August 15–May 15. Before releasing pen-reared birds, you must have a hunting license or be exempt from one, fill out and submit an application to the department, show proof of sale or ownership, have a captive wildlife permit if you keep more than 100 birds or for more than 10 days, clear the training area of wild quail, and band them with No. 7 leg bands or department bands.

Convicted Felons: Breech- and muzzleloading rifles, shotguns, and pistols are illegal for felons in Kentucky (the prohibition on handguns applies to those convicted after January 1, 1975, and the prohibition on other firearms applies to those convicted after July 15, 1994). Ask the county or commonwealth attorney whether a hunting firearm is legal in your jurisdiction.

FAQs related to Kentucky Hunting Seasons

Which animals are permissible to hunt in Kentucky?

Kentucky has a wide variety of game species that are legal to hunt. These include deer, elk, bear, grouse, rabbit, quail, coyote, bobcat, fox, turkey, hog, coyote, and groundhog.

Are deer bailable on privately owned property in Kentucky?

In Kentucky, hunters on private land are allowed to use bait while shooting deer. Bait deer hunting is prohibited on any publicly accessible lands.

How long is the Kentucky hunting season?

Beginning in the middle of November, the Kentucky season lasts for 16 days, coinciding with the rut, or peak of fall mating, when deer are more active than normal. Deer get more active and roam greater distances if food sources become scarce.

Is a license required in Kentucky to hunt squirrels?

Trappers above the age of 12 are required to get a license. Unless they have a permission from the Kentucky Fish and Species Cabinet, trappers must swiftly catch squirrels and rabbits.

Can you shoot deer using bait in Kentucky?

It all depends on where you go hunting. Only on privately owned property is it acceptable to use bait when hunting.