Nelson County Hunter Guide

Nelson County deer limits and gun days

The 301 KAR 2:172 zone list puts Nelson 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. Nelson 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.

Nelson County zones beyond deer

Black bear

Nelson County is not in a bear zone, so there is no bear season here; the closest bear county is Casey County, about 44 miles away.

Elk

Nelson 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 Nelson County are on the Eastern Zone schedule, November 1 to November 13 and November 16 to January 31. No grouse season reaches Nelson County; it lies outside the Grouse Zone. Otter Zone 1 covers Nelson County.

Nelson County gets the Western Zone early goose days, September 1 to September 15, 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.

Nelson County harvest by the numbers

Hunters checked 2,591 deer in Nelson County during 2025-26, 9th among Kentucky's 120 counties. Spread over the land area, it is 6.2 deer a square mile, which ranks 16th. Over ten seasons the count moved up 33% from 2016-17, when it stood at 1,945. 2024-25 holds the high mark at 2,796, against a ten-season average near 2,412.

The split was 1,090 antlered bucks, 191 button bucks and 1,310 does. Gun hunters took 1,925, while bows and crossbows together added 526. Nelson County provided 2% of the 103,888 deer checked across the counties in today's Zone 1.

Wild turkey

Telecheck counted 434 spring birds from Nelson County in 2026, 23rd of 120. Fall hunters took 26 turkeys in 2025-26. KDFWR had not yet published the spring 2027 turkey dates.

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 Nelson County

For local wildlife questions, the Bluegrass Region coordinator line is (502) 782-0742 (FW.BluegrassRegion@ky.gov). Visitors can head to the Headquarters (Frankfort) in Frankfort, the closest KDFWR office at roughly 39 miles.

Towns with their own pages here:

• Bardstown14,104 people
• Boston
• New Hope

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.

Nelson County neighbours and statewide guides

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