I've been looking at some stats coming out of Kentucky and believe it to be one heck of a sleeper state.  A couple of my buddies and I would like to make a trad bow only  EARLY SEASON (before rut) hunt on public land and I'm looking for some general guidance.

1)  What WMAs we might look into.
2)  Best times to go
3)  Places to stay
4)  What quality should we expect.
5)  etc

Not looking for a honeyhole, just some current intell.  Believe me, I'm more than confident that these crazy cajuns can find and kill deer.  Like I said, just looking for recent intell versus the internet scoop dated 3 and 4 years ago.

You can PM me or report here, thanks.

KY River WMA north of Frankfort.  This is a series of once private farms bought by the agency over the past 10 years. They total a few thousand acres now.

Of course if you have the time to get drawn, Ballard WMA in extreme western KY is a GREAT place to see and get chances at 140+ white-tails.

It takes about 11 years to get drawn (Points) and even when drawn you go into another drawing in which only 10% of the hunters will get a buck tag.

Another area, very swampy, is Henderson WMA near Owensboro, KY. It is very large.

Most public areas in KY (state lands at least) are open during the entire bow season without a drawing. Firearms hunting is by lottery on these areas and generally for just one or two weekends per year.

Hope this helps.  The agency has an excellent Public Lands Hunting Guide with maps and regulations.

Great info, Bowwild, thanks a bunch for sharing.

You should try the Daniel Boone National Forest. In Morehead Ky.    It is primitive weapons only.   Bows and trad black powder only. There's beautiful hills and valleys.   Lots and lots of hardwoods.      It's worth looking into.   I use to hunt there.  Never tagged a big buck. But saw several over the years.  Plenty of meat.

Land Between the Lakes in western KY and Tennesse, 170,000 acres total, 107,000 in KY. Maybe not known as highest densities, or biggest deer, but lots of land to roam with no houses or private land. Everything between the lakes is open to hunting save a few campgrounds,welcome stations and nature preserve. You may even sight some fallow deer although they are no longer legal to hunt. Accomodations are improved campgrounds,motels, and backcountry camping with a $5 permit. Lots of oaks, and a small percentage of scattered crop fields that concentrate deer. You can wander for years and never hunt the same spot. Lots of unimproved roads,some that end at lake shores for great camping/hunting/fishing sites.

Thanks guys, keep them coming.

I was concentrating my research on LBL dye to archery harvest records.  But this is some great additional info.

I really like the land between the lakes area also. Been there several times and really liked it.

What's the terrain like at LBL, elevation wise.  Steep or rolling hills?

A cool thing about hunting LBL is you'll be walking in the footsteps of Fred Bear who hunted Fallow Deer there many years ago.  I believe the Fallow Deer are probably gone or very rare now?

Rolling hills and creek bottoms at LBL. Some hills a little steep but nothing at all like DBNF.

LBL is a great place! I nearly flunked out of school at Murray State because of LBL. I did manage to graduate and kill several nice bucks there and a gobbler or two.

The terrain varies with quite a bit of rigde running to be done. It also has some ag areas and open prairie land. I did my best when I got away from the main roads and found white oaks that were being hit. I hunted both the KY and TN side but did my best in KY. They have a map at the station and available online. The great thing is that if you kill a deer there it doesn't count on your statewide total of one buck deer. I hunted Hillman Ferry campground area in October a lot. The north end of LBL always treated me well. One thing: ticks. Teat your clothes!

Another thing: if you are willing to primitive camp, say carry your gear and do a two night hunt, you can get into some pretty cool areas. The north/south hiking trail is a great way to get into some oak flats and ridge tops and into some mature animals. I even used my mountain bike to access areas for bowhunting. You will need to get a backcountry pass to do this. I think it costs 5 bucks.

It has been 12 years since I have been there. I may be out of the loop some, but If you do a little scouting and get away from the roads, LBL can be magic!

My best friend hunted there often when in the service & thought so much of it he plans on retiring in the area. Mike

"A cool thing about hunting LBL is you'll be walking in the footsteps of Fred Bear who hunted Fallow Deer there many years ago. I believe the Fallow Deer are probably gone or very rare now?"

When I was a pup, local bowhunting mentors used to take trips there to LBL and talk about there  fallow deer experiences, which always intrigued me as a kid.  

I'm also curious if the fallow deer are still there and huntable???

There are still fallow deer at lbl but they are not legal to harvest.

When I was there most were near energy lake but never saw one. I have heard they have finally died out.

There is still a fallow herd near energy and around the woodland nature area.  They are quite visible from the road at times in these areas.  They are protected and very tame.

Are you looking for size? Numbers? Or a mix?  You can look at the KDFWR website and it will give you an idea of numbers.  I hunt Klieber and Rich WMA's a bunch, can't go wrong there.  Numbers and size with not much early season pressure.  

 Of course if you have hogs and would want to do a hunt trade you could come up and stay at my camp and hunt on Rich right across the road...  

DBNF is good but it's a huge area that can be overwhelming.  Plus it doesn't have the numbers like some areas.

I often hunted Land Between the Lakes while attending school at Murray State in the mid-1970's.  Lots of acreage to roam around in.  If you plan to hunt early, beware of seed ticks!  I have not hunted LBL since I graduated in 1978 but the seed ticks were terrible until a couple of killing frosts.  They burrow under your skin and itch like hell forever.  Assuming they are still a problem, you must take precautions to keep them off you or they will eat you up.  Very bad in high grass/CRP type fields.

Looking for a challenge and different topography, thats all.  Just don't want to do it on a paid hunt, not that there is anything wrong with that.  Just want to figure the deer out myself.

Sorry, no hogs noname.

Pioneer Weapons WMA shouldn't be too shot up being primitive weapons..no inlines, compounds or rifles.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/dbnf/recreation/recarea/?recid=39554