KY Hunting Seasons 2024-25: Dates, Regulations, and Gear

Special Furbearer Hunting Restrictions Highlights

NB: Daylight hours are defined as 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.

Raccoon and Opossum:

• Hunting during daylight hours of modern gun deer season is prohibited.
• Night hunting must end 30 minutes before sunrise on the opening day of modern gun deer season.
• No use of lights from boats to hunt raccoon or opossum.
• From March 1 to September 30: no using firearms, slingshots, tree climbers, or any devices to harm or displace raccoon or opossum from trees or dens.

Bobcat:

• Bobcat hunters need a valid hunting license and a bobcat hunting permit (available for free online at fw.ky.gov.)
• Harvesters should submit bobcat jaw samples for population studies.
• Submitting jaws from all harvested bobcats in one season may lead to one additional bobcat in the next season’s bag limit per two bobcats harvested.
• Jaw samples must be received by March 15 to be eligible for increased bag limit.
• Increased bag limits cannot be transferred.
• Verify increased bag limits for the next season through MyProfile.

Coyote:

• Coyotes can be hunted year-round on both public and private lands, day and night, with no bag limit.
• Artificial light or other means for visibility at night allowed only Dec. 1 – March 31, and May 16 – June 30, and cannot be used from a mechanized vehicle.
• Hunters with valid mobility-impaired permits may use stationary vehicles for hunting, using lights or means for night visibility not connected to the vehicle.
• Post-daylight hunting on public lands is restricted to bows, crossbows, or shotguns with multiple projectile shells; on private lands, pelleted shells instead of projectile ones.
• From Dec. 1 – March 31, and May 16 – June 30, night hunters on private lands may also use any breech-loading firearms, single projectile shotguns, or .54-caliber or lesser muzzleloaders.
• Hunting coyotes or furbearers prohibited on Cedar Creek Lake and Miller-Welch Central Kentucky WMAs.
• Night hunting is prohibited in any county or area during open deer or elk firearm/muzzleloader seasons.
• Night hunting for coyotes is prohibited on Kentucky lands managed by Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Daniel Boone National Forest, George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area, Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge and Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge, including Beaver Creek, Cane Creek, Mill Creek, Pioneer Weapons and Redbird wildlife management areas (WMAs).
• Use of hand or mouth-operated calls and electronic calls mimicking wounded prey or coyote calls is legal.
• Hunting over animal carcasses is permitted, though carcasses are considered bait; baiting on all WMAs, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Daniel Boone National Forest, Jefferson National Forest, Land Between The Lakes, and state parks open to hunting.
• Coyote trapping is allowed only during specific furbearer trapping seasons.
• Firearm noise suppressors are legal for coyote hunting if state and federal laws permit ownership.
• Dogs may assist in coyote hunting.

Buying and Selling Hides

• Trappers and hunters can hold raw furs indefinitely after furbearer season ends.
• Raw furs can only be sold to licensed taxidermists, fur buyers, or processors.
• Licensed fur buyers must give a receipt to sellers (per KRS 150.415) and submit a Fur Buyer Report detailing purchases to the department by March 15 of the current license year.
• Non-compliance results in the inability to obtain a license the following year.