Kentucky, 2026-27 season year

Kentucky Bear Season 2026-27

Q: When does bear season open in Kentucky in 2026-27?

Firearms: December 12, 2026 to December 16, 2026, varying by zone across 3 rows in the agency table. Archery/Crossbow: September 19, 2026 to October 28, 2026. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources publishes these dates and the full zone tables on this page were read from its own page on September 19, 2026.

Q: Does Kentucky have a spring bear season in 2027?

No. Kentucky publishes no spring bear hunting season. What the department does run in the warm months is a chase-only season that begins June 1, and its hunting seasons all fall between September and December. Spring bear seasons are mostly a western pattern, and the national page lists the states that hold one in 2027.

Q: Who publishes guidance on living with bears in Kentucky?

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, on its page titled Living with Black Bears, which is linked from the agency notice on this page. That page is the agency's own guidance for Kentucky residents on attractants, encounters and who to call, and its sentence on fall activity is quoted verbatim beside the link, read on September 19, 2026.

Q: Where are the rest of the Kentucky bear hunting rules?

At Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, whose regulations page is linked on this page. Those rules are legally binding, change annually and vary by zone and land ownership; the permit and tag system, zone maps, methods and reporting requirements are all published there. This page carries the season windows themselves, with the source page and read date attached.

Deer, bears, wild turkeys, ruffed grouse, squirrels, small mammals, and other species depend on nutritious hard mast to bulk up before winter and for sustenance during winter when few other foods are available. Animal movement in fall and winter is related to the availability of high-energy hard mast foods. In years when little to no mast is available from oaks, hickories, or beech trees, wildlife may move more often and/or greater distances in search of limited food supplies.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources

Firearms: December 12, 2026 to December 16, 2026. People report black bears in Kentucky most in June, and 18 percent of all reports fall in September, October and November. Everything below is Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’s own words and dates, read on September 19, 2026, beside the record of what people reported.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 19, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.

December 12, 2026 to December 16, 2026

Firearms

published

September 19, 2026 to October 28, 2026

Archery/Crossbow

published

No season

Spring

no season

June

Busiest reported month

117 reports on record

Fall activity

When black bears are most active in Kentucky

Kentucky's bears live in the eastern mountains and are a recolonization rather than a reintroduction: the department says black bears were virtually eliminated in the early 1900s by wholesale logging of mature hardwood forests, unregulated hunting and a lack of protected areas, and that as those oak forests matured again bears filtered back in from West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee. The population and its range are both still growing, and the department now draws three bear zones across roughly 47 eastern and south-central counties.

The bars count research grade American black bear observations people uploaded to iNaturalist for Kentucky, by calendar month, across every year the platform holds. The busiest month in the record is June, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by September. The drop into winter reflects bears denning and fewer people outdoors in equal measure, which is why the agency’s sentences below, not the curve, carry the timing.

117 research grade American black bear observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Kentucky across every year the platform holds, and 18 percent of them fall in the three shaded fall months. The busiest month in the record is June, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by September. These are counts of what people reported, so they measure observers as well as bears; they are not a population, not a survey and not a statement about this autumn. See the records on iNaturalist.

Research grade black bear reports uploaded for Kentucky by year, 2016 to 2025: 1 in 2016 and 15 in 2025. Most of the climb is the platform itself growing, and every species on it shows the same shape, so this is a record of reporting rather than a population trend.

What Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources says

Fall feeding

Deer, bears, wild turkeys, ruffed grouse, squirrels, small mammals, and other species depend on nutritious hard mast to bulk up before winter and for sustenance during winter when few other foods are available. Animal movement in fall and winter is related to the availability of high-energy hard mast foods. In years when little to no mast is available from oaks, hickories, or beech trees, wildlife may move more often and/or greater distances in search of limited food supplies.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Denning

Black bears typically den during the winter months and emerge in late March or early April. When they come out of their dens, natural food sources are scarce, which often leads bears to be attracted by the smell of human-related foods.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

When conflicts and sightings rise

In many areas of Kentucky, it is fairly common for bears to be near human dwellings. Bears have an incredible sense of smell and are likely being lured by some type of food attractant. These attractants typically include garbage, birdfeeders and pet food. The best thing to do is identify the attractant and remove the source.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

What Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources says about bears in Kentucky

Living with Black Bears is the agency’s own page for Kentucky residents and visitors: attractants, encounters, and who to call about a bear.

Deer, bears, wild turkeys, ruffed grouse, squirrels, small mammals, and other species depend on nutritious hard mast to bulk up before winter and for sustenance during winter when few other foods are available. Animal movement in fall and winter is related to the availability of high-energy hard mast foods. In years when little to no mast is available from oaks, hickories, or beech trees, wildlife may move more often and/or greater distances in search of limited food supplies.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source.

A young black bear resting its chin on a bare dead branch in a green hardwood forest, ears forward, looking at the camera — A young black bear on a dead limb in the hardwoods. In the eastern forests the fall feeding season runs on acorns and beechnuts, which is why the agency sentences quoted on these pages talk about hard mast and mast years. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Black Bear (20083897724)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Hunting dates

Kentucky bear seasons, 2026-27

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources dates American black bear seasons under its own names, and each is below under that name with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them, the source page linked beside each table, and the date it was read.

Firearms

published

Firearms opens in 60 days, on December 12, 2026 (Bear Zone One).

Kentucky firearms, as published by Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Bear Zone One	December 12, 2026	December 14, 2026	Bell, Harlan, Letcher and McCreary counties.
Bear Zone Two	December 12, 2026	December 16, 2026	Adair, Bath, Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Casey, Clark, Clay, Cumberland, Elliott, Estill, Fleming, Floyd, Garrard, Greenup, Jackson, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Laurel, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Lewis, Lincoln, Madison, Magoffin, Martin, Menifee, Montgomery, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Rowan, Russell, Whitley and Wolfe counties.
Bear Zone Three	December 12, 2026	December 16, 2026	Clinton and Wayne counties.

Dates read from Black Bear Hunting, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, accessed 2026-09-19.

Kentucky splits its bear range into three zones and the firearms season opens on the same December date in all of them, running a few days longer in zones two and three. Three places inside the bear zones stay closed to every bear season: Hensley-Pine Mountain WMA, the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, along with Kingdom Come State Park.

Archery/Crossbow

published

Archery/Crossbow opens in 11 days, on October 24, 2026 (Bear Zone One).

Kentucky archery/crossbow, as published by Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Bear Zone One	October 24, 2026	October 26, 2026
Bear Zone Two	October 24, 2026	October 28, 2026
Bear Zone Three (segment 1)	September 19, 2026	October 2, 2026	Zone three is the only one with a September window.
Bear Zone Three (segment 2)	October 24, 2026	October 28, 2026

Dates read from Black Bear Hunting, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, accessed 2026-09-19.

The late October window is the one the whole bear range shares. Zone three, which is just Clinton and Wayne counties, also opens for two weeks in September, making it the earliest bear season on the Kentucky calendar.

Spring

no season

Kentucky holds no spring bear season. Kentucky publishes no spring bear hunting season. What the department does run in the warm months is a chase-only season that begins June 1, and its hunting seasons all fall between September and December. Source: Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.

Other Kentucky bear seasons the agency names

Chase-only

published

Chase-only has closed for the season year; the last segment ended September 30, 2026.

Kentucky chase-only, as published by Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Bear Zones One, Two and Three (segment 1)	June 1, 2026	August 31, 2026	The same dates apply in all three zones.
Bear Zones One, Two and Three (segment 2)	September 9, 2026	September 30, 2026

Dates read from Black Bear Hunting, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, accessed 2026-09-19.

A season the department names chase-only, with no harvest. It is not permitted on wildlife management areas until the third Saturday in August, and Hensley-Pine Mountain WMA is closed to it entirely.

Hunt with dogs

published

Hunt with dogs opens in 6 days, on October 19, 2026 (Bear Zone One).

Kentucky hunt with dogs, as published by Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
Zone	Opens	Closes
Bear Zone One	October 19, 2026	October 23, 2026
Bear Zone Two (segment 1)	October 19, 2026	October 23, 2026
Bear Zone Two (segment 2)	October 29, 2026	November 6, 2026
Bear Zone Three (segment 1)	October 19, 2026	October 23, 2026
Bear Zone Three (segment 2)	October 29, 2026	November 6, 2026

Dates read from Black Bear Hunting, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, accessed 2026-09-19.

The department's own name for this season. It sits in the week before the archery window and is the first Kentucky bear season of the fall outside zone three's September opener.

The agency's own season sentence

In Kentucky, the return of black bears over the last 20 years has proven to be a true wildlife success story. Some may believe that today's growing population results from a restocking effort, but this is not true. Rather, as oak forests matured after extensive logging efforts in the early 1900s, bears recolonized these habitats in our neighboring states of West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Current Kentucky regulations

Permit and tag requirements, zone maps, permitted methods, tagging and reporting, and everything else a bear hunter is bound by for Kentucky are set by Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources: current regulations

A black bear track pressed into wet grey mud, five rounded toes in an arc above a broad pad, with a second fainter print beside it — A black bear track in mud in Shenandoah National Park. Tracks, scat, turned over logs and claw marks on smooth beech bark are the sign most people meet in the fall woods, weeks before they meet the bear. Photo: M. Punches, NPS. “Black Bear Track in Mud (44654784885)”, ShenandoahNPS, Public domain

Bear season in other states

Kentucky deer seasonArchery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer windows for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Kentucky small game seasonPheasant, quail, grouse, rabbit and squirrel openers, read from the same agency.Kentucky foraging calendarThe acorns, beechnuts and berries the agency names as fall bear food are the same mast a forager follows.

An adult black bear standing on a broken limb high in a hardwood tree above two small cubs, all three looking down — A mother black bear and two cubs of the year in a hardwood tree. The denning sentences quoted on the state pages describe when family groups like this one go to ground, and it moves by weeks between a Gulf Coast winter and a northern one. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Black Bear Family (20083894064)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Kentucky bear season questions

When are black bears most active in Kentucky in the fall?

In the observation record for Kentucky, research grade black bear reports peak in June and 18 percent of all 117 reports fall in September, October and November. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources describes the fall feeding period in its own words, quoted on this page with a link to the page it came from. Reports count people as well as bears, so the shape of the curve is the useful part and the exact numbers are not.

When does bear season open in Kentucky in 2026-27?

Does Kentucky have a spring bear season in 2027?

When do black bears go into dens in Kentucky?

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources describes the denning timing for Kentucky in the sentence quoted on this page, read on September 19, 2026 from the page linked beside it. In the observation record, reports fall below 40 percent of the June peak by September and reach their low in January. That drop reflects bears denning and fewer people outdoors in equal measure, which is why the agency's sentence, not the curve, is the denning answer.

Are black bear sightings in Kentucky increasing?

The number of research grade black bear reports uploaded for Kentucky went from 1 in 2016 to 15 in 2025. Most of that rise is the platform itself growing, since every species on iNaturalist shows the same climb, so the year bars on this page are a record of reporting rather than a population trend. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources describes when sightings and conflicts rise in Kentucky in the sentence quoted on this page.

Who publishes guidance on living with bears in Kentucky?

Where are the rest of the Kentucky bear hunting rules?

A brown wooden Bear Country sign with a white bear pictogram and a red band, on two posts at the edge of a lodgepole pine campground in low sun — A Bear Country sign at Indian Creek Campground, Yellowstone. The land manager writes the rules on the board, and they change by campground and by season: food storage orders, closed drainages, and whether a soft sided tent is allowed at all. “Bear Country Sign for Indian Creek (14457698423)”, Yellowstone National Park from Yellowstone NP, USA, Public domain

A snow covered track running between pines bent low under heavy snow, with a strip of blue sky above — Midwinter at Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, Maine. This is denning season in the north; each agency's own sentence on when its bears enter and leave their dens is quoted on the state pages, and the month bars show the reports thinning to match. “Winter at Moosehorn (11714166893)”, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region, Public domain

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with agency data read on September 19, 2026 and an iNaturalist record to September 19, 2026. Every sentence about bear behaviour is Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’s own, quoted exactly with a link to its page; every season window is republished from the agency page linked beside it, and windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. The month bars count what members of the public reported and are not a population. See also the national bear season guide.