Owsley County, Kentucky
Unit info
- Game species
- White-tailed Deer, Wild Turkey, Black Bear
- Group
- Eastern Mountains
- Area
- N/A
- Public land
- N/A
Black Bear — season & harvest
- Reported harvest
- 2
Draw odds for Black Beararen't on file for this unit yet. Check your state wildlife agency website for current draw statistics.
White-tailed Deer — season & harvest
- Reported harvest
- 283
Draw odds for White-tailed Deeraren't on file for this unit yet. Check your state wildlife agency website for current draw statistics.
Eastern Wild Turkey — season & harvest
- Reported harvest
- 83
Draw odds for Eastern Wild Turkeyaren't on file for this unit yet. Check your state wildlife agency website for current draw statistics.
Season & harvest data is published for Black Bear, White-tailed Deer, Eastern Wild Turkey so far. Wild Turkey also occur here — that data can be added as the community contributes.
About this unit
AI-compiled · sourcedOwsley County sits deep in the Eastern Kentucky coalfields on the fringe of the Daniel Boone National Forest, offering rugged mountain hunting for whitetails and wild turkey in a county that sees among the lowest hunting pressure in the state. The steep ridge-and-hollow terrain filters out casual hunters and rewards those willing to work the timber hard with their legs and their patience. Black bears have been documented with increasing regularity as the recovering Appalachian population pushes steadily into this part of the mountains.
Steep Appalachian ridges and narrow hollows; South Fork Kentucky River drainage; mixed hardwood and pine forest with minimal agricultural bottom ground; mountain laurel and rhododendron thickets in hollows
Low - rugged terrain discourages casual hunters; small county population; remote character limits out-of-state hunter interest substantially
OTC state license; one antlered deer per zone; antlerless permits available; timber and laurel-choked hollows favor still-hunters and patient stand hunters
Black bear sightings increasing as Appalachian population expands westward into the county; turkey hunting solid in mature hardwood stands; squirrel hunting traditional in mast-producing ridge timber
Daniel Boone National Forest provides meaningful public access in some of the most rugged country in Kentucky; one of the least-pressured deer counties in the state for hunters willing to put in the miles
Questions, tips & discussion
Ask anything about Owsley County— or drop a tip or trick: access points, where game holds, glassing spots, conditions, crowding, gear that worked. This is where the unit's species-specific intel gets built, hunter by hunter.
Nothing posted yet about Owsley County.
Be the first — ask a question (“Best public access on the north end?”) or share a tip (“Glass the burn scars off the main ridge at first light”).
Boundaries: KDFWR county-based deer management units. Community info last updated 15d ago.