McCreary County Hunting Guide

Deer Zone 4 rules in McCreary County

McCreary 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 McCreary 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.

McCreary County bear, elk and bird rules

Black bear, Zone 1

McCreary County is in Bear Zone 1, one of 4 counties in that zone and 47 in Kentucky's bear range. Bowhunters go first (October 24 to October 26), hound hunters follow (October 19 to October 23), and gun hunters finish (December 12 to December 14). 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. Bear hunting is off limits at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. Hounds stay home at Big South Fork NRRA, Daniel Boone National Forest and Beaver Creek WMA, where bear dogs are banned.

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

KDFWR counts McCreary 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. None of the county's public tracts names a unit, so use the map.

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. McCreary County counts toward the Grouse Zone, with birds open into late February. McCreary 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.

What hunters took in McCreary County

The 2025-26 deer harvest here came to 441, which places McCreary County 109th statewide. Density-wise, 1.0 deer came off each square mile (119th statewide). Since 2016-17 (504 deer), harvest is down by 12%. Ten-season high: 507 in 2022-23; low: 309 in 2017-18.

86 does and 340 antlered bucks were checked, plus 15 button bucks. By method, modern firearms led with 264 deer; muzzleloaders took 23. Among the counties in today's Zone 4, McCreary County supplied 5% of the harvest.

Wild turkey

Spring turkey hunters checked 200 birds here in 2026, 85th among counties. Fall 2025-26 brought 2 birds. The spring 2027 season dates were still unpublished at the last check.

Black bear

Bear harvest in the county adds up to 19 since 2016-17.

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

Help and services near McCreary County

Reach the Southeast Region through its coordinator at (606) 344-0585 or FW.SoutheastRegion@ky.gov. Region offices have no published address, so the nearest KDFWR building to visit is the Southeastern Fisheries District Office, Williamsburg, roughly 18 miles off.

McCreary County towns covered on this site:

• Stearns
• Whitley City

Need a processor or a taxidermist near McCreary County? These are the closest listed, and it pays to call first.

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.

McCreary County legal hours by season date

McCreary County gets no printed sunrise table from KDFWR, so each time comes from the NOAA solar formula for this exact spot.

Some WMAs post their own 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.

Explore past McCreary County

Neighbouring county guides and statewide pages for McCreary County hunters.