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Elk Hunting Info

ELK HUNTING INFORMATION

All elk hunters must purchase a Kentucky annual hunting license and an elk hunting permit unless they are license-exempt. Elk hunters must also print a vehicle hang tag to display in their vehicle while hunting, and it is only available to print once a hunter has purchased their elk permit. Hunters must comply with all season dates, bag limits, hunter orange requirements, and equipment restrictions for their permit type. Upon the conclusion of their hunt, hunters are also required to complete the postseason elk hunter survey listed in their MyProfile. Failure to comply with the survey requirement will prohibit a hunter from applying for all KDFWR-administered quota hunts and no-hunt options the following year.

Please see the Annual Fall Kentucky Hunting Guide for a comprehensive list of elk hunting regulations.

ELK HUNT LOYALTY REDRAW

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources shall conduct a secondary drawing of Elk Quota Hunt Permits each year to award unclaimed permits as a loyalty reward to long-time applicants. For more information, please check the Elk Hunt Loyalty Redraw page.

Other Resources:

Take Someone Hunting!

Elk Hunting Areas

Elk Hunting Units: The Kentucky Elk Management Zone is divided into 7 Elk Hunting Units (EHU), 6 open for elk hunting. Kentucky is approximately 95 % privately owned, and much of the public land available for elk hunting received significant hunting pressure. The EHU system was developed in 2019 to reduce the risk of overharvesting elk in any one area.

EHU Overview

EHU 1 - Closed to elk hunting

Offline Field Map Instructions

Elk Hunting Browser Map

Regulated Areas: Regulated Areas (RA) are privately owned properties that KDFWR has agreed with the landowner (via the voucher-cooperator or landowner-cooperator programs) to allow limited public access for elk hunting.

Hunting Area Drawing

All drawn elk hunters and Commission permit holders can apply for a specific Elk Hunting Unit and/or Regulated Area in a secondary drawing conducted by the Commonwealth Office of Technology. Before the drawing, each hunter can choose up to five unit or area preferences before midnight on June 30th. Once the selections have been made, each applicant, regardless of permit type, will be given an identifying number and drawn at random for the unit or area of their choosing. A computer will randomly draw an individual and look at their choices before moving to the next applicant. If there are no openings in any of that applicant’s choices, or if an applicant fails to make a selection, the computer will randomly place the applicant in a hunt unit with an opening for their permit type. Results will be available by July 16th. Any remaining spots for Regulated Areas will be available on a first-come, first-served basis on August 2nd at 8 AM EST through your “My Profile” page.

Max Number of Hunters per Hunt Unit (2025)

	Either-Sex Archery / Crossbow	Bull Firearm Week 1	Bull Firearm Week 2	Cow Firearm Week 1	Cow Firearm Week 2	Either-Sex Youth	Total
Unit 2	30	10	10	21	21	4	96
Unit 3	38	21	21	28	28	6	142
Unit 4	34	15	15	5	5	3	77
Unit 5	23	10	10	5	5	3	56
Unit 6	25	9	9	11	11	5	70
Unit 7	20	5	5	12	12	5	59
Total	170	70	70	82	82	26	500

Percent Success by Permit Type and Elk Hunt Unit in 2024

Bull Firearm Week 1
	Permit #	Harvest #	Success Rate
Unit 2	10	3	30.0%
Unit 3	21	6	28.6%
Unit 4	15	6	40.0%
Unit 5	10	5	50.0%
Unit 6	9	1	11.1%
Unit 7	5	1	20.0%
Total	70	22	31.4%

Bull Firearm Week 2
	Permit #	Harvest #	Success Rate
Unit 2	10	2	20.0%
Unit 3	21	6	28.6%
Unit 4	15	8	53.3%
Unit 5	10	4	40.0%
Unit 6	9	3	33.3%
Unit 7	5	2	40.0%
Total	70	25	35.7%

Cow Firearm Week 1
	Permit #	Harvest #	Success Rate
Unit 2	21	4	19.0%
Unit 3	28	3	10.7%
Unit 4	5	2	40.0%
Unit 5	5	3	60.0%
Unit 6	11	4	36.4%
Unit 7	12	7	58.3%
Total	122	39	32.0%

Cow Firearm Week 2
	Permit #	Harvest #	Success Rate
Unit 2	21	9	42.9%
Unit 3	28	8	28.6%
Unit 4	5	3	60.0%
Unit 5	5	2	40.0%
Unit 6	11	5	45.5%
Unit 7	12	2	16.7%
Total	82	29	35.4%

Either Sex Archery/Crossbow
	Permit #	Harvest #	Success Rate
Unit 2	30	8	26.7%
Unit 3	38	14	36.8%
Unit 4	34	14	41.2%
Unit 5	23	5	21.7%
Unit 6	25	9	36.0%
Unit 7	20	7	35.0%
Total	170	57	33.5%

Either Sex Youth
	Permit #	Harvest #	Success Rate
Unit 2	4	3	75.0%
Unit 3	6	3	50.0%
Unit 4	3	2	66.7%
Unit 5	3	1	33.3%
Unit 6	5	2	40.0%
Unit 7	5	3	60.0%
Total	26	14	53.8%

Total Drawn Hunters
	Permit #	Harvest #	Success Rate
Unit 2	96	29	30.2%
Unit 3	142	40	28.2%
Unit 4	77	35	45.5%
Unit 5	56	20	35.7%
Unit 6	70	24	34.3%
Unit 7	59	22	37.3%
Total	500	170	34.0%

Regulated Area Harvest, 2018 to 2024

Regulated Area Name	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Beech Fork Tract	2 (2M)	1 (1M)	-	-	-	1 (1M)	1 (1M)
Continental	3 (1F, 2M)	2 (1F, 1M)	3 (3M)	2 (1F, 1M)	2 (2M)	2 (2M)	2 (1M, 1F)
Carr Creek Tracts	-	1 (1F)	1 (1M)	-	-	-	1 (1M)
Decoy Tract	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Defeated Creek Tract	-	3 (2F, 1M)	1 (1F)	1 (1M)	1 (1M)	1 (1F)	1 (1F)
Elkhorn Coal Fleming-Neon Tracts	-	1 (1M)	1 (1M)	2 (1F, 1M)	-	1 (1M)	-
Elkhorn Coal Wheelwright Tracts	-	-	-	-	1 (1M)	-	-
Hardburley Tract	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Johnson Tract	2 (1F, 1M)	2 (2F)	-	-	1 (1F)	1 (1M)	1 (1F)
Lewis Fork	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	1 (1M)
Lost Mountain Tract	2 (2M)	-	1 (1M)	1 (1M)	-	1 (1M)	1 (1F)
Martins Fork	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	-
Meta Tracts	-	-	-	-	-	-	2 (2M)
Middlesboro Tract	-	9 (6F, 3M)	8 (5F, 3M)	9 (6F, 3M)	6 (5F, 1M)	10 (6F, 4M)	7 (2F, 5M)
Millstone Tract	-	2 (2M)	2 (1F, 1M)	-	-	1 (1F)	-
Pattie Mattie Unit 2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Pattie Mattie Unit 3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
RH Group Blue River Tracts	-	-	-	-	1 (1F)	-	-
RH Group Pikeville Tracts	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Thunder Ridge	5 (3F, 2M)	1 (1M)	4 (1F, 3M)	5 (2F, 3M)	6 (2F, 4M)	2 (1F, 1M)	4 (2F, 2M)
Tug Fork	-	-	6 (4F, 2M)	6 (2F, 4M)	4 (2F, 2M)	9 (4F, 5M)	4 (3F, 1M)
Steel Trap	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	-
Yeaddis	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	-