Public Land Hunting in Kentucky

[BOWHUNTIN FOOL]

I would love to archery hunt Kentucky. Anyone ever hunted public land around the NE corner?

[Jeff Roark]

Joe,
I haven't hunted up in that neck of the woods but a guy I work with is from Lewis County and he said the deer are everywhere up there. I am about 45 minutes north of the Cumberland Gap and its pretty tough hunting here on the public land. Not a huge deer population at all. I got lucky last weekend and found a little gang bunched up in the absolute middle of nowhere and got one yesterday. Its definitely not going to be like what you fellas got down that way. Lots of climbing and sweating and seeing not much in comparison.

[kykiller]

LBL (land between the lakes

[BOWHUNTIN FOOL]

Thanks Jeff and Kykiller, on our trip to Wyoming this year we drove I64 from I77 thru Kentucky. That was a beautiful drive. Kentucky looks like a great state to hunt whitetails

[Kentucky Jeff]

There's really no NE corner in KY.  The state kinda comes to a point around Cincinnati and tapers off in both directions from there...  

Having said that... The best deer hunting in the state is in the central bluegrass and west.  The biggest deer tend to come from Western KY west of I-65.  Counties like Ohio, Union, etc seem to produce great deer in good numbers.  

The poorer eastern counties tend to have crummy deer populations mainly due to poaching.  I've hunted some in the eastern part of the state and I know what I'm talking about.  This is also backed up by the numbers...the bag limits and seasons are shorter and more restrictive in the eastern part of the state and the number of deer taken also are lower than in the central or western part of the state.  Too many poor good ole boys feedin' their families with a jacklight and .22 LR...

There are a ton of public hunting opportunities in KY and very little pressure during bowseason.
Also look into hunting on Coal Company land for very modest fees.  You can buy an annual hunting permit to hunt on several hundred thousand acres of land belonging to the Peabody Coal Co in Western KY.  Last time I did it it cost $15.  

Also, though its too late this year you can also apply for deer hunts on Fort Campbell and Fort Knox through their respective hunt control offices.  

I have very little problem getting permission to bowhunt from local farmers.

[koger]

Anywhere you can hunt next to the Ohio River, farmland, public land, is covered in deer, dont know about the quality, but a buddy of mine hunted there for  years, killed a ton of deer with both bow and gun, was pretty green back then and always filled his tags.

[willob]

Do you guys know anything about the pioneer Weapons Area, both deer and turkey?  I believe that it is archery and muzzleloader only.  I have always thought about hunting turkeys there in the spring.

[koger]

The area you are referring to is over by Cave lake, Morehead KY..  Always meant to try thatmyself, guys who have hunted said it was greathunting. I could put you onsome private/public land where i hunt, real world hunting, der & turkey, 10 minutes from a motel. I have blinds & stands set, pre rut will be going by thisweekend. I am 3 hours from Cinc., and have deer, wife and I usually get 6 a year, but they are all earned,  would be glad to have you down for a weekend.

[BOWHUNTIN FOOL]

Thanks for the info.

[Jeff Roark]

The lake that Sam is talking about is actually Cave Run lake. I went there as a kid once and it was some awesome fishing too. Loads of big muskie. There was deer everywhere around the lake.

[John Scifres]

I hunted the Pioneer Weapons area a lot back when I lived in KY.  It's awesome country but typical big woods hunting.  There are deer there but not like on ag land.  There are a lot of turkeys in the area so be sure to get that tag too.  If you have a mountain bike, you can get way back pretty quickly on the really well maintained and gated logging roads.