Kentucky WMAs and public hunting areas: deer harvest, rules and maps

These 118 public hunting areas cover 1,646,371 acres, by KDFWR's acreage. The most deer telechecked in 2025-26 were on Daniel Boone National Forest (1,270), Fort Knox Military Reservation (812) and Peabody WMA (575). Statewide, 7,444 deer were telechecked on public land that season.

Data updated October 2026. Harvest: KDFWR Telecheck by public land, to 2025-26. Rules: each area's page on KDFWR's Public Land Search.

Map of the 118 Kentucky public hunting areas with a FilledTag page — up to 2.1 deer per sq mi2.1 to 2.9 deer per sq mi2.9 to 4 deer per sq mi4 to 5.3 deer per sq miover 5.3 deer per sq miPublic hunting areas with a page

Which WMAs are in Kentucky?

Area	Acres	Counties	Region	Deer, 2025-26	Deer, 2016-17
Asher Hunting Access Area	13,145	Bell and Harlan	Southeast region	32	9
Ballard WMA	8,014	Ballard	Purchase region	74	50
Barren River Lake WMA	8,735	Barren and Allen	Green River region	192	91
Beaver Creek WMA	17,753	McCreary and Pulaski	Southeast region	25	14
Beechy Creek WMA	119	Calloway	Purchase region	7	21
Betterment Wildlife Hunting Access Area	8,001	Knott, Perry, Pike, Leslie and Letcher	Southeast region	5
Big Rivers WMA and State Forest	7,574	Crittenden and Union	Purchase region	161	88
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area	30,300	McCreary	Southeast region	19	38
Blue Grass Army Depot	14,517	Madison	Bluegrass region	115	0
Boatwright WMA	8,802	Ballard	Purchase region	31	40
Boone Forestlands WMA	27,997	Leslie, Harlan, Bell and Clay	Southeast region	72	111
Buck Creek WMA	850	Pulaski	Southeast region	10	5
Buckhorn Lake WMA	3,570	Leslie and Perry	Southeast region	10	22
Burchell-Beech Creek WMA	1,241	Clay	Southeast region	3	1
Cane Creek WMA	6,677	Laurel	Southeast region	21	27
Carr Creek Lake WMA	2,880	Knott	Southeast region	21	39
Cedar Creek Lake WMA	796	Lincoln	Southeast region	14	13
Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge	11,852	Marshall, McCracken and Graves	Purchase region	119	173
Clay WMA	8,979	Nicholas, Fleming and Bath	Northeast region	211	74
Clear Creek WMA	858	Hopkins	Green River region	2	12
Coil Estate WMA	795	Carlisle	Purchase region	5	0
Continental Hunting Access Area	15,036	Pike, Letcher and Floyd	Northeast region	32
Cranks Creek WMA	2,155	Harlan	Southeast region	23	22
Cumberland Forest WMA	54,137	Bell, Knox and Leslie	Southeast region	56
Curtis Gates Lloyd WMA	1,105	Grant	Bluegrass region	26	30
Dale Hollow Lake WMA	5,632	Clinton and Cumberland	Southeast region	11	23
Daniel Boone National Forest	710,288	McCreary, Clay, Rowan, Laurel, Whitley, Jackson, Menifee, Pulaski, Leslie, Rockcastle, Owsley, Wolfe, Powell, Bath, Morgan, Lee, Estill, Perry, Wayne, Harlan, Knox and Lewis	Southeast region	1,270	1,109
Decker WMA	300	Boone	Bluegrass region	6
Dennis-Gray WMA	102	Adair	Southeast region	6	2
Dewey Lake WMA	9,172	Floyd	Northeast region	30	13
Dix River WMA	401	Lincoln	Southeast region	13	5
Doug Travis WMA	4,132	Carlisle and Hickman	Purchase region	21	31
Dr. James R. Rich WMA	2,264	Owen	Bluegrass region	10	4
Dr. Norman and Martha Adair WMA	635	Boone	Bluegrass region	8	16
Ed Mabry - Laurel Gorge WMA	1,486	Elliott	Northeast region	6	2
Elk Forest WMA	16,587	Leslie, Clay, Bell and Knox	Southeast region	16	9
Elk Horn Coal Hunting Access Area	19,976	Floyd, Letcher, Knott and Pike	Southeast region	58
Ferguson Creek WMA	615	Livingston	Purchase region	10
Fishtrap Lake WMA	13,138	Pike	Northeast region	44	33
Fleming WMA	1,907	Fleming	Northeast region	38	50
Fort Knox Military Reservation	108,619	Hardin, Bullitt and Meade	Green River region	812
Fortner-Davis WMA	1,358	Bell	Southeast region	12	1
Gabbard Branch WMA	809	Butler	Green River region	5
Grayson Lake WMA	8,025	Carter and Elliott	Northeast region	23	48
Green River Lake WMA	21,019	Adair and Taylor	Southeast region	234	44
Green River State Forest	1,092	Henderson	Green River region	37	43
Griffith Woods WMA	746	Harrison	Bluegrass region	19	5
Harris-Dickerson WMA	1,837	Hopkins and Muhlenberg	Green River region	19
Hensley-Pine Mountain WMA	4,838	Letcher and Harlan	Southeast region	25	57
Hidden Valley Training Area	523	Powell	Southeast region	8	1
Higginson-Henry WMA	5,446	Union	Green River region	80	165
Hoskins WMA	5,292	Leslie and Harlan	Southeast region	5
Jefferson National Forest	857	Letcher and Pike	Southeast region	12	15
John A. Kleber WMA	4,463	Owen and Franklin	Bluegrass region	61	6
John C. Williams WMA	1,073	Nelson	Bluegrass region	17	6
Jones-Keeney WMA	2,055	Caldwell	Purchase region	22	9
Kaler Bottoms WMA	1,904	Graves	Purchase region	9	29
Kentenia State Forest	4,081	Harlan	Southeast region	14	13
Kentucky Lake WMA	4,044	Calloway and Marshall	Purchase region	89	65
Kentucky Ridge Forest WMA	3,505	Bell	Southeast region	40	59
Kentucky Ridge State Forest	11,794	Bell	Southeast region	24	20
Kentucky River WMA	3,643	Henry and Owen	Bluegrass region	69	57
Knobs State Forest and WMA	1,537	Bullitt	Bluegrass region	16	12
L. B. Davison WMA	137	Ohio	Green River region	5	15
Lake Barkley WMA	907	Trigg	Purchase region	71	92
Lake Cumberland WMA	38,788	Russell, Wayne, Pulaski, Clinton and McCreary	Southeast region	155	140
Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area	107,594	Trigg and Lyon	Purchase region	455	229
Lee K. Nelson WMA	60	Webster	Green River region	3	14
Legacy WMA	21,351	Martin, Pike and Floyd	Northeast region	18
Livingston County WMA and State Natural Area	2,430	Livingston	Purchase region	50	66
Marion County WMA and State Forest	1,341	Marion	Bluegrass region	14	17
Marrowbone State Forest and WMA	1,955	Metcalfe and Cumberland	Green River region	10	13
Martins Fork Lake WMA	764	Harlan	Southeast region	13	10
Martins Fork WMA and State Natural Area	1,599	Harlan	Southeast region	2	2
Meadow Creek WMA	232	Wayne	Southeast region	8
Mill Creek WMA	13,009	Jackson	Southeast region	10	5
Miller Welch-Central Kentucky WMA	1,847	Madison	Bluegrass region	17	9
Mud Camp Creek WMA	572	Cumberland	Southeast region	3	0
Mullins WMA	259	Kenton	Bluegrass region	7	7
Nolin River Lake WMA	6,456	Grayson, Hart and Edmonson	Green River region	94	86
Obion Creek WMA	5,326	Fulton, Hickman and Carlisle	Purchase region	35	42
Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge	381	Lewis	Northeast region	0	6
Ohio River Islands WMA	1,264	Livingston	Purchase region	6	2
Old Trace Creek WMA	874	Lewis	Northeast region	6
Otter Creek Outdoor Recreation Area	2,221	Meade	Green River region	21	28
Paintsville Lake WMA	11,220	Johnson and Morgan	Northeast region	35	23
Paul Van Booven WMA	2,287	Breathitt	Southeast region	9	11
Peabody WMA	40,744	Muhlenberg, Ohio and Hopkins	Green River region	575	692
Pennyrile State Forest	14,379	Christian and Caldwell	Purchase region	102	40
Ping-Sinking Valley WMA	806	Pulaski	Southeast region	9	7
Pioneer Weapons WMA	7,731	Bath and Menifee	Northeast region	5	4
R. F. Tarter WMA	1,171	Adair and Russell	Southeast region	3	4
Redbird WMA	24,033	Leslie and Clay	Southeast region	34	37
Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge	2,043	Fulton	Purchase region	1	0
RH Group WMA	15,088	Pike, Floyd, Magoffin, McCreary and Letcher	Northeast region	20
Robinson Forest WMA	2,003	Breathitt and Perry	Southeast region	7	7
Rockcastle River WMA	2,922	Pulaski	Southeast region	14	0
Rolling Fork WMA	2,896	LaRue and Nelson	Bluegrass region	46	32
Ross Creek WMA	1,296	Lee and Estill	Southeast region	1
Rough River Lake WMA	4,180	Breckinridge, Grayson and Hardin	Green River region	49	36
Shillalah Creek WMA	2,535	Bell and Harlan	Southeast region	3	15
Simon Kenton WMA	982	Mason	Northeast region	22
Sloughs WMA	11,173	Henderson and Union	Green River region	156	135
South Shore WMA	98	Greenup	Northeast region	0	11
Stephens Creek WMA	398	Gallatin	Bluegrass region	6
Stone Mountain WMA and State Natural Area	1,017	Harlan	Southeast region	3	3
T. N. Sullivan WMA	145	Franklin	Bluegrass region	4	7
Taylorsville Lake State Park	1,463	Spencer	Bluegrass region
Taylorsville Lake WMA	9,417	Spencer, Anderson and Nelson	Bluegrass region	239	95
Tradewater WMA	727	Christian and Hopkins	Purchase region	2	5
Twin Eagle WMA	170	Owen	Bluegrass region	3	7
Tygarts State Forest	1,176	Carter	Northeast region	21	18
Veterans Memorial WMA	2,998	Scott	Bluegrass region	47	60
Wells Hunting Access Area	5,346	Perry, Leslie, Knott and Breathitt	Southeast region	67	60
West Kentucky WMA	4,495	McCracken	Purchase region	54	42
Winford WMA	236	Carlisle	Purchase region	2	3
Yatesville Lake WMA	13,191	Lawrence	Northeast region	60	79
Yellowbank WMA	7,555	Breckinridge	Green River region	94	90

Acres: KDFWR's area pages. Harvest: KDFWR Harvest Data (Telecheck), deer by public land. 18 more KDFWR areas are not listed yet: their data is too thin for a page of their own.

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Until then, the free FilledTag app for iPhone has a map that works in every state, Kentucky included.

Sources: KDFWR public hunting area boundaries; KDFWR Public Land Search; KDFWR Harvest Data (Telecheck), deer by public land. FilledTag is not part of Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.

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