2008 KENTUCKY HUNTING GUIDE FOR SPRING
TURKEY & SQUIRREL
March - June 2008
TELECHECK:
1-800-245-4263
Report game violations:
1-800-25-ALERT
Fish & Wildlife:
1-800-858-1549 • fw.ky.gov
Dr. Jonathan Gassett, Commissioner
KENTUCKY
DEPARTMENT OF FISH & WILDLIFE RESOURCES
#1 Sportsman’s Lane
Frankfort, KY 40601
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
This is a SUMMARY
of the laws regarding spring hunting. This guide is intended solely for
informational use. It is not a reprint of any referenced statute or regulation
in its entirety and should not be used as such. Questions about the information
contained in this guide should be directed to the Kentucky Department of Fish
and Wildlife Resources BEFORE engaging in the activities referenced.
Actual wording of any Kentucky Revised Statute (KRS) or Kentucky Administrative
Regulation (KAR) can be viewed at www.lrc.state.ky.us/kar/frntpage.htm.
OTHER GUIDES AVAILABLE
Kentucky
Fish and Wildlife produces separate hunting regulation guides for fall hunting
and trapping, waterfowl and other migratory bird hunting. Fall hunting and
trapping regulations are available in early July. Dove and early waterfowl
hunting regulations are available in mid-August. Regular waterfowl season
regulations are available in early November. Call 1-800-858-1549 weekdays, look
for a copy of these regulation guides where hunting licenses are sold, or log on
to fw.ky.gov.
Kentucky Fish
and Wildlife is funded through the sale of hunting and fishing licenses and boat
registration fees. It receives no general fund state tax dollars. Kentucky Fish
and Wildlife, an agency of the Commerce Cabinet, supports an annual economic
impact to Kentucky of $4.8 billion.
MESSAGE FROM
THE COMMISSIONER
As you head to
the woods this spring turkey season, take a minute to reflect on how far we’ve
come.
Sixty years
ago, there were fewer than a thousand wild turkeys statewide. Most of those
birds were in far western Kentucky. With so few turkeys, hunting was prohibited
and the future was uncertain for this wary game bird.
Between 1978
and 1997, the department carried out an intensive restoration effort. We teamed
with other fish and wildlife agencies, landowners and conservation organizations
like the National Wild Turkey Federation to bring the wild turkey back to
Kentucky. Thanks to the support of hunters like you who pay for wildlife
conservation with your license dollars, the department released 6,760 birds on
430 sites throughout the state.
Kentucky’s wild
turkey restoration is a conservation success story. Today our wild turkey flock
numbers approximately 200,000, with birds in all 120 counties. It’s one of the
healthiest turkey flocks in the eastern United States. Turkey hunters enjoy a
23-day spring season and harvested 24,320 birds last spring. That harvest is 25
times more turkeys than we had in the entire state just 60 years ago. This kind
of conservation success is only possible through the teamwork of hunters,
conservation organizations and state fish and wildlife agencies.
I encourage
each and every one of you to have a safe and ethical hunt this season. Help
ensure the continuation of our success by taking a new hunter along with you.
With your help, the wild turkey will thrive in Kentucky for many generations to
come.
— Dr.
Jonathan Gassett
BASIC RULES
FOR HUNTING
1. You can NOT hunt or
retrieve game on someone else’s land without permission.
2.
Unless you are license exempt, you must buy and carry afield the right hunting
license and permits for the kind of hunting you do.
3. You can only hunt when the
season is open for that species. Your hunting equipment must be legal. You can
take no more game than the daily or season bag limits allow.
4. Before you move a harvested
turkey, you must record it on a hunter harvest log. You must also telecheck the
turkey by midnight. See pages 8-10 for details.
5. All hunters born after January
1, 1975 must pass a hunter education course before hunting on any land besides
land they own, unless they have a valid temporary hunter education exemption
permit. Kids do not have to take the class until they are 12 years old, but must
always hunt with an adult.
All hunters should read the
General Information/Telecheck section of this guide, in addition to the section
for the game they are hunting, before going afield. Public land hunters should
also read the Public Land Hunting section.
HUNTING ON PRIVATE LAND IS A
PRIVILEGE.
ALWAYS
GET PERMISSION AND THANK THE LANDOWNER.
KENTUCKY DEPT. OF FISH & WILDLIFE RESOURCES
Who We Are
The Kentucky Department
of Fish and Wildlife Resources is an agency of the Kentucky Commerce Cabinet.
Our nine-member commission is nominated by Kentucky sportsmen and sportswomen
and appointed by the governor. This commission appoints the department’s
commissioner.
We employ about 500
people full-time, including Conservation Officers, wildlife and fisheries
biologists, conservation educators, and information technology, public
relations, customer service and administrative professionals.
Our Headquarters is located in Frankfort, but we work with landowners, hunters,
anglers, boaters and wildlife enthusiasts statewide.
What We Do
We conserve and
enhance fish and wildlife resources and provide opportunity for hunting,
fishing, trapping, boating and other wildlife-related activities.
Every year, we:
• Enforce
hunting, fishing and boating laws across Kentucky for resource protection and
public safety.
• Manage about 1 million acres of public land
and water for the benefit of all fish and wildlife species.
• Stock
more than 4 million fish in public waters.
•
Build and maintain public boat ramps, shooting
ranges and bank fishing access areas.
• Assist more than 2,000 private landowners
with fish and wildlife habitat improvement.
• Inform and educate more
than 400,000 kids and adults through education and outreach programs.
How You Help
Kentucky Fish &
Wildlife receives no money from the state’s General Fund.
You provide our
agency’s funding every time you:
• Buy a hunting or
fishing license
• Buy a firearm,
ammunition, or archery equipment
• Pay your boat
registration fee
•
Buy fuel for your boat
Funding Use
32% Law Enforcement
26% Wildlife
17% Fisheries
13% Information &
Education
12% Administrative &
Support
Funding Sources
59% Hunting and fishing
licenses
27% Federal grants (based
on number of licenses sold)
10% Boating
4% Miscellaneous
