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The Largest Huntable National Wildlife Refuges (2026–27 Data)
Ranked by huntable acres in the 2026–27 USFWS hunt-unit data: the biggest refuges in the Lower 48 and Alaska, with the share of land open to hunting.
Size isn't everything on public land, but it helps: big refuges spread hunters out, hold more undisturbed cover and usually offer more than one kind of hunting. This ranking uses the acreage of hunt units marked open or open with special regulations in the 2026–2027 USFWS National Hunt Units dataset — the same numbers shown on every refuge page here. Of the 420 refuges and stations with any huntable mapped acreage, these are the largest.
The 25 largest huntable refuges in the Lower 48
What the list tells you
- The West dominates on raw acreage. Refuges in the Great Basin, northern Rockies and desert Southwest include vast sagebrush, grassland and desert units where big game hunting is the main draw.
- “Special regulations” is the norm. Most of the biggest refuges open their land under refuge-specific rules — limited species, quota permits or weapon restrictions — rather than general state rules. Check each refuge's unit table before planning a trip.
- Acreage isn't access. Remote units may require long hikes, boats or four-wheel-drive roads. Use the satellite layer on each refuge map to see roads and water before you commit.
Alaska: in a league of its own
Alaska's refuges are so large that they would fill every slot above. They're listed separately here. Most Alaska refuge hunting follows state and federal subsistence regulations, access is often by plane or boat, and many hunters use guides or transporters.
| # | Refuge | Huntable acres | Game |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge | 20.5M | 🦌🦆🐦🕊️🐇 |
| 2 | Arctic National Wildlife Refuge | 19.6M | 🦌🦆🐦🕊️🐇 |
| 3 | Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge | 9.1M | 🦌🦆🐦🕊️🐇 |
| 4 | Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge | 4.5M | 🦌🦆🐦🕊️🐇 |
| 5 | Togiak National Wildlife Refuge | 4.3M | 🦌🦆🐦🕊️🐇 |
| 6 | Innoko National Wildlife Refuge | 4M | 🦌🦆🐦🕊️🐇 |
| 7 | Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge | 4M | 🦌🦆🐦🕊️🐇 |
| 8 | Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge | 3.5M | 🦌🦆🐦🕊️🐇 |
| 9 | Selawik National Wildlife Refuge | 2.7M | 🦌🦆🐦🕊️🐇 |
| 10 | Kenai National Wildlife Refuge | 1.9M | 🦌🦆🦃🐦🕊️🐇 |
Method
Huntable acres are the sum of published acreage for each refuge's hunt units with a status of “Yes” or “Special Regulations Apply” in the 2026–2027 dataset. Refuges are assigned to the state of their headquarters/reference point; a few span state lines. Hawaii and U.S. territories are excluded from the Lower-48 table. See the insights page for more charts and the data sources for how we process the data.
Keep reading
Scouting Public Land with Satellite & Topo Maps
Use satellite imagery, USGS topo and KML/GPX downloads to e-scout refuges and WPAs before you go.
Refuge Hunting Near Major U.S. Cities: 30 Metro Areas
Which National Wildlife Refuges with open hunting are within a 90-minute drive of 30 big metro areas — with distances, game and…
Waterfowl Hunting on Refuges by State: The Numbers
How many refuges allow waterfowl hunting in each state, how much refuge land is huntable and where the Waterfowl Production…