Letcher County Hunter Guide

Letcher County at a glance

On the KDFWR regional map, Letcher County is one of 29 counties grouped as the Southeast Region. The seat of government is Whitesburg; the county counted roughly 20,139 residents in the 2024 estimate. The county has lost about 1,411 people since the 2020 count.

Expect Eastern Coal Field country: 338 square miles of land and 1.1 square miles of lakes and streams. Its wildlife district is VII, which decides whether the Western or Eastern small game dates apply. Right next door sit Harlan, Knott, Perry and Pike, and over the state line Wise County, Virginia.

Population from the Census Bureau 2024 estimates; land area from the Census Gazetteer; region and districts from the KDFWR administrative layer and 301 KAR 4:010; harvest rank from the KDFWR Harvest Results app. Checked November 10, 2026.

Other game zones covering Letcher County

Black bear, Zone 1

The bear map puts Letcher County in Zone 1, with its own archery, dog and gun windows. The firearm bear days are December 12 to December 14, after archery and crossbow on October 24 to October 26. The limit is one bear per license year, 75 pounds or more, and never a female with cubs.

Bear baiting is illegal, and so is hunting or chasing over a baited site within 30 days of removing bait. A no-harvest chase season covers Bear Zones 1 to 3 from June into September. Inside the county, Hensley-Pine Mountain WMA and Kingdom Come State Park are closed to bear hunting. Dogs may not be used for bears on Hensley-Pine Mountain WMA and Kingdom Come State Park.

No bear quota; bear permits are over the counter. Guide p.17 lists four areas including Kingdom Come State Park; 301 KAR 2:300 Sec. 11 lists three (no Kingdom Come). 301 KAR 2:300

Elk zone

Letcher County sits in elk country: the zone spans 16 counties and roughly 4.1 million acres. Of the 500 permits drawn for 2026, 170 went to archery or crossbow and 26 to youth. Elk hunters drawn for Elk Hunting Unit 5 and Elk Hunting Unit 7 may end up on public ground here.

Elk zone rules ban bait outright, and a baited spot stays closed for 30 days after cleanup. Landowners with 100 acres or more who let quota hunters in can earn an either-sex elk permit through the voucher cooperator program.

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

For rabbit and quail, Letcher County is a Eastern Zone county, with dates of November 1 to November 13 and November 16 to January 31. Grouse hunters can work Letcher County, part of the 53-county Grouse Zone. The otter map places Letcher County in Zone 2.

For the early Canada goose season the county falls in the Eastern Zone (September 16 to September 30, 2026). Duck hunters here use the statewide split season, November 26 through 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.

Letcher County legal light on key dates

Letcher County clocks fall back on November 1, 2026 and spring ahead on March 14, 2027, shifting every time in this table by an hour across those dates.

Pheasant quota hunts keep set hours. 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.