Mason County Deer, Land and Seasons

Mason County deer limits and gun days

The 301 KAR 2:172 zone list puts Mason County in Zone 1, a group of 68 counties. In Zone 1 a hunter can keep taking does with additional deer permits, while the antlered limit stays at one for the whole state. Mason County kept the zone it had in 2025-26, so last season's bag still holds.

KDFWR wording for Zone 1: “Unlimited antlerless deer with the statewide deer permit plus additional deer permits; 1 antlered deer statewide.” 301 KAR 2:172

Zone 1 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.

A January 9-11, 2027 antlerless-only firearms season in Zones 1-3 was adopted in 301 KAR 2:172 effective November 5, 2026; KDFWR's guide still lists it as pending. 301 KAR 2:172

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.

Mason County zones beyond deer

Black bear

Mason County is not in a bear zone, so there is no bear season here; the closest bear county is Fleming County, about 17 miles away.

Elk

Mason County is outside the elk zone, where elk may be taken under the out-of-zone rule during deer seasons with deer methods. This permit stands apart from deer permits and the deer bag.

Follows deer season dates and methods; needs annual hunting license plus Out-of-Zone Elk Permit; no deer permit required. 1 elk of either sex per license year (not counted in deer bag) Guide p. 23

Small game and birds

Cottontails and bobwhites in Mason County are on the Eastern Zone schedule, November 1 to November 13 and November 16 to January 31. The Grouse Zone list includes Mason County, opening ruffed grouse through February 28, 2027. Otter Zone 1 covers Mason County.

Mason 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.

Walk-in hunting ground in Mason County

There is 1 listed hunting area inside Mason County; Simon Kenton WMA is the biggest. About 995 acres show as public hunting land on the GIS layers, roughly under 1% of the total.

Use the status column: open land, land with its own rules, and land that is closed.

KDFWR manages Simon Kenton WMA, about 982 acres in all. The habitat breakdown puts forest first at 77%. Statewide seasons apply there for every species.

Just over the line from Mason County:

• Clay WMAWMA · 4 miles from the line
• Ohio River Islands National Wildlife RefugeRefuge · 4 miles from the line
• Fleming WMAWMA · 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.

Mason County neighbours and statewide guides

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