Kentucky Hunting License: Cost, Requirements & How to Buy
A Kentucky hunting license costs $28.54 for a resident adult and $169.12 for a non-resident adult (fees verified 2026-09-11).
Kentucky's base hunting license covers most small and large game, then sells deer, turkey, elk and migratory bird privileges as separate permits. That split is why a "Kentucky hunting license" quote you see online is often missing the permit you actually need for opening day.
Base license covers most small/large game; deer, turkey, elk, migratory birds and trout each need a separate permit. Resident Sportsman's bundle available for hunt+fish+permits at a higher flat price.
Fee last verified 2026-09-11.
Heading out for Kentucky hunting? Game wardens require carrying physical or digital license proof and valid tags. Equip yourself with a waterproof license and tag pouch, rechargeable wide-beam LED headlamp, and corrosion-resistant multi-tool pliers before your trip.
What a Kentucky hunting license costs
Residents pay $28.54 for the annual hunting license; non-residents pay $169.12. Those are 2026–27 figures for the base license. Deer, turkey, elk, migratory birds and trout each take a separate permit. Residents who hunt and fish several species often come out ahead on the Sportsman's license, which bundles hunt, fish and several permits at a higher flat price.
License year
Kentucky's license year runs March 1 through the last day of February. A license bought in March covers the coming fall seasons in full; one bought in January is already near the end of its year.
How to buy your Kentucky hunting license
Go Outdoors Kentucky (gooutdoorskentucky.com) is the official online portal. Licenses are also sold at authorized retailers statewide. Have hunter education documentation ready if you are a first-time Kentucky hunter.
Hunting in Kentucky: what to expect
Eastern Kentucky's ridge-and-hollow country (Daniel Boone National Forest and the surrounding WMAs) is the state's most talked-about public deer and turkey hunting. The western coalfields and the Purchase region hunt differently: more agriculture, more private land, and in some counties a stronger waterfowl showing along the Mississippi and Ohio. Kentucky also has a limited elk season in the southeast, run as a draw, not something the base license gets you.
Public land
Daniel Boone National Forest is the backbone of public access in the east. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources' WMA system fills in across the rest of the state, with some properties requiring a user permit or a quota application on top of the hunting license. Read the specific WMA page before you go; a statewide license is not a blanket pass for every tract.
Deer, turkey, elk and the Sportsman bundle
Kentucky's $28.54 resident hunting license (or $169.12 non-resident) covers most small and large game, but deer, turkey, elk and migratory birds each take a permit on top. Elk is a draw, not a counter sale, and treating it like a Midwest deer tag is how people show up in October with a license and no hunt. If you hunt deer, turkey and fish, run the Sportsman bundle against buying the pieces; the flat price wins more often than it looks on paper.
The license year runs March 1 through the last day of February. A license bought in January is almost expired when spring turkey opens. Buy after March 1 if you want one credential to cover spring turkey and the following fall deer season. Confirm the current-year permit prices at fw.ky.gov; they move more often than the base license.
Public land, WMA check-in and the Daniel Boone
Wildlife Management Areas and the Daniel Boone National Forest are where hunters without a farm go. Many WMAs require a check-in, a quota hunt, or a separate user permit. The forest looks continuous on a map and is a patchwork of private inholdings on the ground. Mark the boundary before dark.
Opening weekend of modern gun deer season concentrates people on the easy WMA parking lots. If you can hunt Tuesday through Thursday, or walk farther than the first logging road, you will see fewer blaze-orange lines in the woods. Kentucky also has a strong squirrel and rabbit tradition on public land that does not need a deer permit; the base license is enough for that.
Buy at fw.ky.gov or a license agent after March 1 if you want one hunting license to cover spring turkey and the following fall. Add deer, turkey or migratory permits in the same cart. Elk remains a draw with its own application window; do not treat a leftover rumor as a tag. Carry hunter education proof. A digital copy in the Go Outdoors Kentucky app satisfies the carry rule if it will open in a hollow. Screenshot it.
How to renew a Kentucky hunting license
There is no separate renewal process in Kentucky. A hunting license is not extended in place; when it expires you buy a new one for the next license year through the same system you used the first time, and your customer profile, hunter or angler ID and any saved payment details carry over so the second purchase takes a couple of minutes. License year runs Mar 1 through the last day of Feb; 2026-2027 fees shown.
The fastest route is the official Kentucky online licensing portal, which also lets you print or download the new license and add any stamps, tags or endorsements in one transaction. In-person license agents (sporting goods stores, bait shops and, in many states, county clerks) sell the same license at the same price, so use whichever is closer. Buying before the old license lapses is not required, but it avoids an accidental gap if a season opens before you get round to it.
Planning more than one? See the Kentucky fishing license page too, see how much a hunting license costs in every state, compare non-resident hunting fees across states, browse every state, or use the state license finder.