Public Lands Hunting

Overview

Wildlife Management Areas

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife owns, leases or manages more than 85 wildlife management areas (WMAs) for public use. In some areas, a user permit is required. It also has agreements to provide public access on certain privately owned lands, known as Hunting Access Areas. Many public-use areas have special regulations and hunting season dates that differ from statewide sea sons. In some public-use regions, a user permit is required. Please refer to specific area listings for that information. The rest are open to hunting free of additional charge.

The information here applies to users of all WMAs owned or managed by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. If you intend to hunt (or otherwise visit) public lands listed under “Wildlife Management Areas,” you must comply with the following guidelines.

1. For game listed below, hunting seasons on the WMAs listed are open only as stated.
2. County zone deer bag limits apply to all WMAs unless noted under the area listing.
3. Quota deer hunters may take up to two (2) deer on a quota hunt in Zones 2, 3 and 4, only one of which may be antlered, unless otherwise noted under the area listing.
4. If gun deer hunting is permitted on WMAs, squirrel, rabbit, quail, grouse, and furbearer hunting is closed on the first two days of modern gun deer season.
5. Unless otherwise noted, persons shall not allow unleashed dogs from March 1 until the third Saturday in August, except during department-authorized field trials or when training a retriever or other water dog if a sign at the body of water authorizes the activity. The dog must remain leashed except while training, within 100 feet of the water, or as stated under the area listing or posted on the WMA.
6. Quota hunts for pheasant, deer, quail, upland bird, waterfowl and elk hunts require an advance application. (Refer to "Quota Hunts" and "Elk Hunting" sections.) Advance application is not required for other listed hunts.
7. Camping is permitted only in designated areas. Check WMA maps via our Public Land Search App or call the WMA office for camping availability through Kentucky Fish and Wildlife or other campgrounds. Parking must be confined to designated parking areas if such areas exist. If no parking area is designated, parking is generally allowed alongside maintained roads that do not block a road or gate or prevent access to a portion of the area. Unless otherwise authorized by the department, mechanized vehicles (excluding wheelchairs) are permitted only on maintained roads open to public use. It is unlawful to cut trees or fences, dump trash or litter, or damage any property or habitat in any fashion.
8. A Public Area Trapping Registration Form must be completed before trapping on a WMA or Outdoor Recreation Area.
9. Hunters shall not enter or hunt in areas that have been designated closed by signs.
10. A person shall not discharge a firearm within 100 yards of a residence or occupied building on or off the area.
11. A person shall not distribute or place the bait, hunt over bait or otherwise participate in baiting wildlife on a WMA.
12. A group of ten (10) or more people who gather for any event or organized activity on a WMA shall complete an application and submit it to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife at least 30 days before the event date. The department shall retain the authority to deny events or otherwise restrict, institute additional requirements for, or direct the rescheduling of any event to avoid user conflicts or for other plausible reasons. Permit requests for events that do not meet WMA user guidelines shall be denied, and events may be canceled in progress if participants fail to comply with user guidelines or create hazards or disruption for others.
13. Horseback riding is permitted on some WMAs during certain times of the year and under certain restrictions. Unless hunting, horses shall only be ridden on designated horse riding trails or a maintained public road open to vehicular traffic. Horses may not be ridden on WMAs during firearms seasons for turkey, deer, bear or elk unless participating or assisting in a legal elk hunt.
14. On all WMAs, including the Otter Creek Outdoor Recreation Area and Daniel Boone National Forest, a person shall not use a nail, spike, screw-in device, wire, or tree climber to attach a tree stand or climb a tree. A portable stand or climbing device that does not injure a tree may be used. Stands must be marked with the hunter’s name and address placed no more than two (2) weeks before the season's opening and removed within one (1) week following the last day of each hunting period. A person shall not use an existing permanent tree stand.
    
15. Whenever gun deer hunting is allowed in a wildlife management area, state park or Otter Creek Outdoor Recreation Area, a person hunting inside a ground blind must first attach a hat or vest of solid, unbroken hunter-orange material to the blind. Therefore, it is visible from all sides. Hunter orange clothing requirements still apply to anyone inside the blind.
    
16. Hunters are not required to wear hunter orange clothing or display hunter orange on ground blinds during a firearms season on a ​state-owned or managed WMA where firearms hunting for deer, elk or bear is prohibited.
17. Please visit our hunting pages for information about migratory birds and waterfowl hunting on public lands.

Mobility-Impaired Hunter Access to WMAs

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife offers special exceptions to hunting and fishing regulations for mobility-impaired persons who want to hunt and fish on select WMAs. (Eligibility requirements appear in the Quota Hunts section.) Persons interested in applying for a Mobility-Impaired Access Permit should contact the department for an application or print one here.

Applicants for a Mobility-Impaired Access Permit shall fill out the required information on the application and obtain the attestation and signature from a licensed physician describing the mobility impairment.

A mobility-impaired individual shall have a completed Mobility-Impaired Access Permit application on his or her person at all times while participating in such activities, along with the appropriate hunting licenses and permits.

Mobility-impaired access areas have been designated on portions of the following WMAs:

The Mobility-Impaired Access Permit allows the following activities by a mobility-impaired individual:

• Discharge of a firearm or other legal hunting device from a motor vehicle when the vehicle is motionless and has its engine turned off. The motor vehicle shall be used as a place to wait or watch for game and shall not be used to chase, pursue, or drive game.
  
• May operate electric wheelchairs, ATVs, and other passenger vehicles on or off gated, ungated or open-gated roads otherwise closed to vehicular traffic, but only on designated tracts of designated WMAs.
• Roads may be accessed from March 1 through the third Friday in August.
• Tracts designated as mobility-impaired access areas shall be posted with signs.
• Vehicular access shall not be permitted on fields, openings, roads, paths, or trails planted with annual grains or agricultural crops.
• It shall be permissible to access areas which are not roads the third Saturday of August until the end of February.
• ATV users shall adhere to manufacturer recommendations including wearing a helmet, wearing safety glasses, and restricting riding to one (1) person while using ATVs on WMAs.

A person with a Mobility-Impaired Access Permit may designate one (1) qualified assistant. The assistant may:

• Track and dispatch a wounded animal, retrieve an animal or render other assistance in accordance with all other Kentucky Fish and Wildlife and WMA laws and regulations.

A qualified assistant shall not:

• Operate his or her own ATV, or hunt or shoot from an ATV.
  

​During Quota Hunts

During WMA deer quota hunts and the open firearm deer hunts at Grayson Lake and West Kentucky WMAs, only participating hunters and accompanying non-hunting assistants (limit one per hunter) are allowed to be on those WMAs, except waterfowl hunters in some areas that may be open, or if a part of the WMA is otherwise open as noted in the following area listings. Non-hunting assistants must check in with the quota hunter they are accompanying and abide by hunter-orange requirements.

State Parks and Other Open Deer Hunts

Open deer hunts are offered in the following state parks on the following dates. Contact the host state park for complete details, including the number of available slots, equipment restrictions, bag limits and check-in and check-out procedures.​

• Yatesville Lake State Park and Lawrence County Recreation Area​ (606-673-1492): Muzzleloader starting the second Monday of December for three consecutive days.
  

Other Open Deer Hunts

• Jenny Wiley State Resort Park​ (1,415 acres, Floyd County, 1-800-325-0142): Open the first Saturday of January for two consecutive days, limit two deer, only one of which may be antlered. Limited to the first 15 mobility-impaired hunters who check in at the park Ranger’s Station on the day before the hunt. Hunters must meet the mobility-impaired eligibility requirements. (Mobility-Impaired Access Permit required at check-in.) Hunters must check in and out on hunt days and telecheck all deer taken. Hunters may be accompanied by another person, but that person will not be permitted to hunt.
  
• An open youth hunt is held at Grayson Lake WMA​ on the first Saturday in November for two consecutive days and is limited to youths ages 15 and under.​
  

Public Shooting Ranges

Are available on Curtis Gates Lloyd WMA, Higginson-Henry WMA, John A. Kleber WMA, Miller Welch-Central Kentucky WMA, Otter Creek Outdoor Recreation Area, Peabody WMA, Taylorsville Lake WMA and West Kentucky WMA. (Please Note: Jones-Kenney WMA range is temporarily closed.) Users must comply with all rules posed by sign per each area. Shooting ranges are closed on Mondays and during deer quota hunts at applicable WMAs. Some ranges can be reserved for special events by contacting the WMA manager 30 days in advance of the event. For more information, visit www.arcgis.com and type "Kentucky Shooting Ranges on Public Hunting Areas" in the search box. Public shooting ranges are also available in Daniel Boone National Forest. Details are available online at www.fs.usda.gov/dbnf by clicking "Recreation" and "Other Activities."​

​Public Hunting Area Quick Reference

The charts in this section should be used as a quick reference only. WMAs and other public lands may be open to hunting and trapping during statewide seasons or have different dates and regulations determined by the managing agency. Check out the Public Lands Search App for all the details on these public lands. Also note that some of these public lands may have areas off-limits to hunting or trapping, as indicated by signs, and that units within these areas may have different season dates or regulations.

EXCEPTIONS:

1. Open under statewide archery/crossbow seasons through Oct. 14 only.
   
2. Open Aug. 17 - Nov. 11, 2024.
   
3. Open during the youth-only gun season; closed for free youth weekend.
4. Open for October muzzleloader season only.
5. Any weapon other than a modern gun that is legal to take deer may be used during the modern gun season.
   
6. Closed during department-administered quota hunts.
   
7. Open during department-administered quota hunts only.
8. Open only for youth-mentor quota hunt on "A" tracts. Closed for all other youth firearm seasons.
9. Tracts 1, 4, 5 and “A” tracts open Jan. 1-10 except if harvest limits are reached before Jan. 10; Tracts 2, 3, 6 and 7 open with statewide seasons and close Dec. 31.
10. All deer hunting seasons on this WMA are closed during quota hunts except for drawn hunters. Archery/crossbow quota hunt from the fourth Monday in October through Nov. 30, except when closed during the quota hunt that starts the first Saturday in November.
    

• ​NOTE: A Public Area Trapping Registration Form must be completed before trapping in a WMA or Outdoor Recreation Area.

​OTHER RESTRICTIONS:

• Ballard WMA:​ The main unit is closed to unauthorized public access Oct. 15 - Mar. 15; The area west of Hwy 473 within the two-mile driving loop is closed to all hunting as marked by signs; The 400-acre tract located south of Sallie Crice/Terrell Landing Road is open under statewide regulations for hunting and trapping seasons.
• Boatwright WMA:​ Olmsted, Peal and all other units are open under statewide regulations for all hunting and trapping seasons, except some portions ​​may be closed to public access as marked by signs.
  
• Doug Travis WMA:​ Some areas are closed to public access as marked by signs Nov. 1 - Mar. 15.
• Lake Barkley WMA:​​ North Island Refuge is closed Nov. 1 - Feb. 15; Duck Island Refuge is closed Oct. 15 - March 15, with the exception of the October muzzleloader deer season; All non-refuge tracts open under statewide regulations.
• Ohio River Islands WMA:​​​ The remainder of WMA (Pryor, Rondeau and Sisters Islands) is open under statewide regulations for all hunting and trapping seasons.
• West Kentucky WMA:​ Check-in is required before entering any area marked with an “A”;  Only shotguns may be used for small game or furbearer hunting; Hunters may not use centerfire rifles or handguns to take deer.
  
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