Clay County Hunting Guide

Deer Zone 4 rules in Clay County

Clay County is in Deer Zone 4 for 2026-27, one of 15 counties KDFWR placed there under 301 KAR 2:172. Zone 4 holds hunters to two deer, only one antlerless, and keeps antlerless deer closed through modern gun, early muzzleloader and six late muzzleloader days. The 2026-27 map leaves Clay County where it was a year ago.

KDFWR wording for Zone 4: “Up to 2 deer, only 1 antlerless (1 antlered max statewide); no antlerless deer during modern gun, early muzzleloader or the first 6 days of late muzzleloader.” 301 KAR 2:172

The Zone 4 modern gun season runs November 14 to November 29, 2026, 16 days, and the late muzzleloader season follows from December 12 to December 20, 2026. Youth hunters get the woods to themselves October 10 to October 18, 2026, and early muzzleloader falls on October 17 to October 18, 2026. Archery runs statewide September 5, 2026 to January 18, 2027, and crossbow opens September 19, 2026 and ends the same January day.

Gun deer days mean orange for all: head, back and chest, archers and trappers too, unless you are hunting waterfowl or doves. On December 26 to December 27, 2026 youth under 16 need no license or deer permit, only an adult with them.

Zones and bags from 301 KAR 2:172 and the 2026-27 Kentucky Hunting & Trapping Guide; hunter orange from the guide. Checked November 10, 2026.

Clay County bear, elk and bird rules

Black bear, Zone 2

Clay County is in Bear Zone 2, one of 41 counties in that zone and 47 in Kentucky's bear range. Bowhunters go first (October 24 to October 28), hound hunters follow (October 19 to October 23 and October 29 to November 6), and gun hunters finish (December 12 to December 16). A hunter can take one bear a license year; it must weigh 75 pounds or more and cannot be a sow with cubs.

No bait for bears, and garbage counts as bait under KDFWR rules. Bear dogs get practice in the chase-only season, which takes no bears. Hounds stay home at Daniel Boone National Forest and Redbird WMA, where bear dogs are banned.

No bear quota; bear permits are over the counter. 301 KAR 2:300

Elk zone

KDFWR counts Clay County in its elk zone, 16 counties where elk are hunted only by quota permit. The 500-permit pool for 2026 broke down to 140 bull, 164 cow, 170 archery or crossbow and 26 youth-only. Public tracts here carry the labels Elk Hunting Unit 3 and Elk Hunting Unit 4 in the land records.

Bait is off the table in the elk zone, a rule that covers deer hunters too. The voucher cooperator program pays landowners of 100 or more acres in the zone with an elk permit after enough elk come off their land.

Unit boundaries are an incorporated map ("Elk Hunting Units" 2024). Boone's Ridge viewing area closed to all elk hunting. 301 KAR 2:132

Small game and birds

Rabbit and quail follow the Eastern Zone calendar here: November 1 to November 13 and November 16 to January 31. Clay County counts toward the Grouse Zone, with birds open into late February. Clay County falls in Otter Zone 2 for trapping and hunting otters.

The Eastern September goose zone, read from the map, puts the early goose season here at September 16 to September 30, 2026. Kentucky runs one duck zone, opening November 26 and closing January 31, 2027.

September goose zone counties are read from the KDFWR zone map; they agree with the 301 KAR 2:225 rule. Waterfowl guide p. 11

From the 2026-27 Kentucky Hunting & Trapping Guide, the Kentucky Hunting Guide for Migratory Birds and Waterfowl, bear zone rules, elk rules and small game zones. Checked November 10, 2026.

Clay County hunting land, open and closed

Daniel Boone National Forest heads the list of 7 public hunting areas that reach into Clay County. Mapped public hunting land comes to some 83,767 acres, about 28% of the land area.

Acres below come from GIS layers by land kind, with closed land shown so it is not mistaken for open ground.

The 710,298 acres of Daniel Boone National Forest are run by the Forest Service. Its cover is mostly forest, about 95% of the area. KDFWR lists white-tailed deer, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, bobwhite quail for that area. Boone Forestlands WMA adds some 27,997 acres of WMA ground, managed by KDFWR. Forest makes up about 89% of it. Statewide seasons apply there for every species. Redbird WMA adds some 24,033 acres of WMA ground, managed by KDFWR. Roughly 99% of Redbird WMA is forest. KDFWR lists white-tailed deer, wild turkey, squirrel, rabbit for that area.

• Burchell-Beech Creek WMAWMA · 1,241 ac · Zone 4
• Little Sexton Creek WMAWMA · 1,114 ac · Zones 3, 4
• Daniel Boone National Forest – Redbird Ranger DistrictRanger district · 146,434 ac · Zone 4

Little Sexton Creek WMA: In the KDFWR Public Hunting Areas layer and Public Lands Search (detail page "Little Sextons Creek WMA") but not on the 2026-27 Public Land Hunting quick reference charts or the 2026-27 guide list.

Within reach of the county line:

• Asher Hunting Access AreaAccess area · 1 mile from the line
• Cumberland Forest WMAWMA · 2 miles from the line
• Hoskins WMAWMA · 2 miles from the line
• Buckhorn Lake WMAWMA · 3 miles from the line
• Betterment Wildlife Hunting Access AreaAccess area · 5 miles from the line
• Wells Hunting Access AreaAccess area · 6 miles from the line

Land records from KDFWR, the Kentucky Division of Forestry, Kentucky State Parks and federal managers; GIS acres from the KDFWR Public Hunting Areas layer and PAD-US (map measures, not official acreages); closures under 301 KAR 2:178 and 400 KAR 2:090. Checked November 10, 2026.

Explore past Clay County

Neighbouring county guides and statewide pages for Clay County hunters.