State guide · 2026–2027 season

Kentucky Wildlife Refuge Hunting

Kentucky has 5 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges and stations in our database, 3 of which list hunting opportunities. The largest huntable refuge areas are Clarks River NWR (11.7K ac), Reelfoot NWR (10.4K ac) and Ohio River Islands NWR (2.9K ac).

State mapAll refugesState licenses ↗
5refuges & stations
16hunt units
14.1Khuntable acres
0WPAs

Map of refuges & WPAs in Kentucky

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Refuge with open unitsNo open unitsWPANational Wildlife Refuge Tip: switch to Satellite or USGS Topo in the layer menu · click the map for GPS coordinates

Kentucky by the numbers

Hunt unit acreage by status
Special regulations: 14,084 (85%)Closed: 2,417 (15%)14.1Khuntable acres
  • Special regulations14,084 ac 85%
  • Closed2,417 ac 15%
Refuges offering each activity
🦌 Big Game
3
🦆 Waterfowl
2
🦃 Wild Turkey
3
🐦 Upland Birds
2
🕊️ Migratory Birds
2
🐇 Small Game
3
🐗 Feral & Exotic
1
🎣 Fishing
4
Hunt unit acres by refuge — open special regs closed
Clarks River NWR
11.9K
Green River NWR
2.2K
Reelfoot NWR
2K
Ohio River Islands NWR
381
Wolf Creek NFH
37

All refuges & stations in Kentucky

Clarks River NWR

Marshall County, KY

8 special1 closed
🦌🦆🦃🐦🕊️🐇🎣

11.7K huntable acres

Green River NWR

Henderson County, KY

3 closed
No hunting listed

Ohio River Islands NWR

Adams County, OH · primary: OH

22 special8 closed
🦌🦆🦃🐦🕊️🐇🐗🎣

2.9K huntable acres

Reelfoot NWR

Obion County, TN · primary: TN

3 special1 closed
🦌🦃🐇🎣

10.4K huntable acres

Wolf Creek NFH

Russell County, KY

1 closed
🎣

Counties with federal public hunting land

Hunting in Kentucky: what to know

Licenses & seasons

Refuge hunts follow Kentucky seasons, bag limits and license requirements set by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Refuges may be more restrictive — never less — than state rules.

Refuge-specific rules

Each refuge publishes hunt regulations in 50 CFR Part 32 and in its hunt brochure. Units marked special regulations may limit species, dates, weapons, or require quota permits.

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