Floyd County Deer, Land and Seasons

Floyd County deer limits and gun days

The 301 KAR 2:172 zone list puts Floyd County in Zone 4, a group of 15 counties. In Zone 4 the bag is two deer with a single antlerless deer, and gun hunters cannot take does during modern gun or early muzzleloader. Floyd County kept the zone it had in 2025-26, so last season's bag still holds.

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

Zone 4 gives gun hunters November 14 to November 29, 2026, then a late muzzleloader window of December 12 to December 20, 2026. Young hunters start October 10, and muzzleloader hunters get October 17 to October 18, 2026 before the main gun opener. Archery covers 136 days from September 5; crossbow season is 122 days.

Orange rules cover every hunter during modern gun, muzzleloader and youth gun days, with waterfowl and dove hunters among the exceptions. The free youth weekend, December 26 to December 27, 2026, lets hunters under 16 take a deer of either sex with an adult.

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.

Floyd County zones beyond deer

Black bear, Zone 2

Of the 47 bear counties, Floyd County is a Zone 2 county. Archery and crossbow run October 24 to October 28, hunting with dogs October 19 to October 23 and October 29 to November 6, and firearms December 12 to December 16. Bag: one bear in the license year, at least 75 pounds, never a female with cubs at her side.

Hunting bears over bait is not allowed in any zone. Summer and September bring a chase-only bear season for dog training, no harvest allowed.

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

Elk zone

Elk hunting here runs on drawn permits, since Floyd County is inside the 16-county elk zone. Permits are scarce: 500 in all, with 164 for cow firearm and 140 for bull firearm hunters. The KDFWR layer tags local public areas with Elk Hunting Unit 6.

Inside the elk zone no one may hunt over bait, and the ban lasts 30 days past removal. Through the voucher cooperator program, hosting quota hunters on 100 acres or more can earn a landowner an elk permit.

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

Cottontails and bobwhites in Floyd County are on the Eastern Zone schedule, November 1 to November 13 and November 16 to January 31. The Grouse Zone list includes Floyd County, opening ruffed grouse through February 28, 2027. Otter Zone 2 covers Floyd County, with its own sub-limit inside the statewide bag.

Floyd County gets the Eastern Zone early goose days, September 16 to September 30, 2026, going by the KDFWR zone map. Statewide duck dates start November 26 and finish January 31, 2027, with a break in early December.

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.

Floyd County harvest by the numbers

Hunters checked 881 deer in Floyd County during 2025-26, 72nd among Kentucky's 120 counties. Spread over the land area, it is 2.2 deer a square mile, which ranks 94th. Over ten seasons the count moved down 1% from 2016-17, when it stood at 891. 2016-17 holds the high mark at 891, against a ten-season average near 611.

The split was 718 antlered bucks, 11 button bucks and 152 does. Gun hunters took 671, while bows and crossbows together added 163. Floyd County provided 9% of the 9,631 deer checked across the counties in today's Zone 4.

Wild turkey

Telecheck counted 203 spring birds from Floyd County in 2026, 83rd of 120. Fall hunters took 6 turkeys in 2025-26. KDFWR had not yet published the spring 2027 turkey dates.

Elk

Elk harvest here totals 65 from 2016-17 onward.

Black bear

KDFWR counts 3 bears checked from Floyd County since 2017-18.

Harvest from the KDFWR Harvest Results app (Telecheck; license years, 2025-26 = the latest); turkey from the same app. Checked November 10, 2026.

Floyd County contacts and local businesses

For local wildlife questions, the Northeast Region coordinator line is (859) 473-0061 (FW.NortheastRegion@ky.gov). Visitors can head to the Eastern Fisheries District Office in Prestonsburg, the closest KDFWR office at roughly 8 miles.

Towns with their own pages here:

• Prestonsburg3,638 people
• Auxier

Here are the nearest processors, taxidermists and gun or outdoor stores, with a reminder to call ahead.

Regional coordinator phone and e-mail from the KDFWR regional biologists map; offices from the KDFWR Contact Us page and fisheries district layer; services from the KDFWR taxidermist and processor list and directories. Checked November 10, 2026.

Floyd County sun table for opening days

Floyd County duck, goose and dove hunters stop at sunset rather than half an hour after it, which is why the bird column closes earlier.

Public dove fields open at 11 a.m. early on. Times are on local clock time: Central Time in the western 41 counties, Eastern Time elsewhere.

Hours rules from the 2026-27 Kentucky Hunting & Trapping Guide; sunrise and sunset from the NOAA solar formula at this point on Eastern Time; checked November 10, 2026. Legal hours across Kentucky.

Floyd County neighbours and statewide guides

Four counties closest to Floyd County by centre point, then three statewide guides.