Deer Hunting Public Lands

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DEER HUNTING ON PUBLIC LANDS

If you don’t have a place to hunt or want to try a different place, Kentucky has over 1.5 Million acres of public hunting lands. Maps are available for these areas. It is vital that you are aware of public lands regulations for the area you will hunt on. Some public lands have quota hunts, which involve an application process for a limited number of hunter slots and hunting periods. Other public lands are open for some or all seasons within the hunting regulations for the prevailing county.

COMMON QUESTIONS

When can you hunt?
No place to hunt?
How many deer can you harvest?
What can you hunt deer with?
What license do you need?
Where can you buy a license?
What are the hunter education requirements and how do I get certified?
Where do I learn to hunt deer?
Learn to process deer with Field to Fork class.
Deer Season FAQs
Can’t find the answers to your questions? (Email: info.center@ky.gov)

COUNTY SPECIFIC STATS

QUOTA HUNTS

For information about Historic Quota Hunts, check out our Quota Hunt App. Please note that this data contains information from 2013 to 2022 deer hunting seasons.

2022 Quota Deer Hunts	Harvested Female	Harvested Male	Deer Seen/ Hour Hunted	Observed Antlered Deer: Antlerless Deer Ratio
Ballard WMA	40	25	1.10	1: 3.2
Beaver Creek WMA	0	10	0.11	1: 1.6
Big Rivers WMA and State Forest #1	4	13	-	-
Big Rivers WMA and State Forest #2	5	22	0.74	1: 1.7
Clay WMA	21	20	0.21	1: 2
Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park	4	6	-	-
Dewey Lake WMA	9	23	0.45	1: 1.5
Fishtrap Lake WMA	13	21	0.36	1: 1.8
Greenbow Lake State Resort Park	6	1	-	-
Green River Lake and Dennis-Gray WMA	31	29	0.36	1: 3.3
Green River Lake and Dennis-Gray WMA - Mobility-Impaired	0	1	0.2	1: 1.5
Green River Lake State Park	15	2	-	-
Higginson-Henry WMA #1	10	13	-	-
Higginson-Henry WMA #2	9	11	0.78	1: 2.4
Kenlake State Resort Park	6	3	-	-
Kentucky River WMA	3	3	0.2	1: 3.5
Kincaid Lake State Park	10	2	-	-
Kleber and Rich WMA #1	4	18	0.24	1: 1.2
Kleber and Rich WMA #2	8	7	0.2	1: 4.6
Otter Creek Outdoor Recreation Area	2	1	0.4	1: 6.7
Paintsville Lake WMA	2	15	0.2	1: 2.8
Pennyrile State Forest and Tradewater WMA****	2	26	0.29	1: 1.6
Taylorsville Lake WMA #1	36	24	0.3	1: 1.8
Taylorsville Lake WMA #1 - Mobility-Impaired	-	-	-	-
Taylorsville Lake WMA #2	22	19	0.20	1: 3.2
Taylorsville Lake WMA #2 - Mobility-Impaired	-	-	-	-
Zilpo - Mobility-Impaired	1	0	0.2	0: 4
Veterans Memorial WMA #1	0	2	0.1	1: 1.5
Veterans Memorial WMA #2	5	1	0.1	1: 1.23
West Kentucky WMA	6	4	0.6	1: 2.9
West Kentucky WMA- Youth Mentor	0	1	0.44	1: 1.4

CWD Surveillance Zone

Special Restrictions Apply

Counties Included:
Calloway, Marshall, Graves, Hickman, and Fulton

Important CWD Links

TEST YOUR DEER

Consider submitting your deer for CWD sampling at one of our conveniently located collection stations across the state.

Buck Demographics 2022 Quota Deer Hunts	AGE	NUMBER HARVESTED	AVG WEIGHT	AVG ANTLER POINTS	AVG OUTSIDE ANTLER SPREAD
Ballard WMA	0.5	15	51.8	0	0
	1.5	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
	2.5	3	161.3	9	16.3
	3.5	3	176	7.7	15.5
	4.5+	4	185.8	8	19.3
Beaver Creek WMA	0.5	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
	1.5	3	82.2	4.7	7.5
	2.5	4	130.8	8	14
	3.5	1	140	8	20
	4.5+	2	120	11	16.8
Big Rivers WMA and State Forest	0.5	1	44	0	0
	1.5	3	113	5.3	11.2
	2.5	8	119.8	6.6	13.8
	3.5	8	151	10	16.0
	4.5+	2	176.5	9	18.8
Clay WMA	0.5	6	51.6	0	0
	1.5	5	96.6	3.6	7.8
	2.5	4	131.8	7	13.5
	3.5	4	159.5	8	15.8
	4.5+	1	174	9	19.8
Dewey Lake WMA	0.5	1	50	0	0
	1.5	5	99	4.2	6.7
	2.5	11	125.1	8.1	14.6
	3.5	3	138.3	10.3	16.7
	4.5+	3	155.3	12.3	17.8
Fishtrap Lake WMA	0.5	2	58	0	0
	1.5	6	102.3	4.5	9.2
	2.5	8	114	5.9	10.5
	3.5	5	145.6	7.2	17.2
	4.5+	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Green River Lake and Dennis-Gray WMA	0.5	8	53.1	0	0
	1.5	6	109.0	3.8	7.4
	2.5	12	155.1	8.5	14.8
	3.5	1	201	11	14.0
	4.5+	2	124.5	9	16.8
Higginson-Henry WMA	0.5	1	43	0	0
	1.5	2	116.5	7	9
	2.5	5	149	8	15.6
	3.5	1	168	9	18
	4.5+	2	174.5	8	17
Kentucky River WMA	0.5	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
	1.5	1	98	5	8.8
	2.5	1	172	8	16.5
	3.5	1	155	13	16
	4.5+	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Kleber and Rich WMA	0.5	2	57	0	0
	1.5	10	96.6	4.3	7.2
	2.5	10	121.4	7.7	15.3
	3.5	3	143	9	7.7
	4.5+	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Otter Creek Outdoor Recreation Area	0.5	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
	1.5	1	125	5	7
	2.5	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
	3.5	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
	4.5+	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Paintsville Lake WMA	0.5	2	55	0	0
	1.5	3	89.7	2.7	6
	2.5	6	121.3	8.8	13.3
	3.5	1	147	8	14.3
	4.5+	3	151.1	9	17.8
Pennyrile State Forest and Tradewater WMA	0.5	2	48.5	0	0
	1.5	3	123.5	5.7	11.3
	2.5	14	132.9	8.2	15
	3.5	5	156	10	18.7
	4.5+	2	161.5	11.5	16.7
Taylorsville Lake WMA	0.5	14	48.2	0	0
	1.5	8	88.9	2.4	6.8
	2.5	14	116.7	8.1	13.7
	3.5	5	146	8.4	16.1
	4.5+	2	158.5	9	17.5
Veterans Memorial WMA	0.5	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
	1.5	1	96	3	6
	2.5	2	134.5	8.5	15.8
	3.5	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
	4.5+	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
West Kentucky WMA	0.5	2	59.5	0	0
	1.5	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
	2.5	2	147.5	7	13.8
	3.5	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
	4.5+	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Totals Across All WMAs	0.5	56	51.6	0	0
	1.5	57	102.6	4.4	7.4
	2.5	104	135.5	7.8	14.4
	3.5	41	155.9	9.2	16.6
	4.5+	23	158.2	9.6	17.8

Deer Hunting Public Lands

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​DEER HUNTING ON PUBLIC LANDS​

​​COMMON QUESTIONS

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​COUNTY SPECIFIC STATS​