FRANKFORT (AP) – A burst of fall colors, frosty mornings and an uptick in deer activity recently are encouraging and telling signs for hunters.
The season that contributes the greatest percentage of Kentucky’s annual deer harvest and fills many freezers with protein-rich venison is almost here.
Modern gun deer season opens statewide Nov. 11, 2017.
Kentucky’s modern gun deer season is designed to coincide with the peak of fall breeding, known as the rut. It runs for 16 consecutive days in Zones 1 and 2 and for 10 consecutive days in Zones 3 and 4.
County zone assignments are published in the annual Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide, available on the department’s website at fw.ky.gov and where licenses and permits are sold. The guide also provides information about license and permit requirements, hunter education and hunter orange requirements, bag limits and legal equipment for deer hunting.
Also available on the department’s website is a detailed list of frequently asked questions about deer hunting in Kentucky. Type “Deer Season FAQs” into the search box on the homepage to access it.
Hunters in Kentucky have taken more than 130,000 deer annually over the past five seasons. The 2016-17 tally was the third highest on record with the modern gun season harvest accounting for more than 70 percent of that figure.
The statewide deer harvest from September’s record opening weekend of archery season through October was up compared to 2016. Harvest reports from the youth-only gun and early muzzleloader seasons in October were down.
A middling mast crop could play to the hunter’s favor. This year’s statewide mast survey found about a third of white oaks with acorns. Red oak acorn production was better at 63 percent. White oak acorns are the first choice for deer because they are sweeter and more palatable to deer than red oak acorns, which have higher tannic acid.