Eastern KY public land

[Rackseeker]

I was wondering if anyone hunts public land in eastern KY?

 

[Rakkin6]

Moms side of the family is from over around Hazard, Harlan and Red River Gorge. It is challenging to sat the least in regards to terrain. And to be blunt there are a lot of moonshiners in that area still and a lot of marijuana grows so be careful

 

[Rackseeker]

Moms side of the family is from over around Hazard, Harlan and Red River Gorge. It is challenging to sat the least in regards to terrain. And to be blunt there are a lot of moonshiners in that area still and a lot of marijuana grows so be careful

Sounds like the area I live and hunt in TN. LOL........

 

[knightrider]

Its rugged mountain hunting, but there are some giants to be had if you can get away from the bears,elks, and meth heads. Be careful where you leave your truck and for goodness sake's dont leave anything valuable in your truck!!

 

[Tn_Va_Hunter]

Its rugged mountain hunting, but there are some giants to be had if you can get away from the bears,elks, and meth heads. Be careful where you leave your truck and for goodness sake's dont leave anything valuable in your truck!!

This !! I'm 15 min from the Ky boarder and I don't go. One trip to Pikeville ky Walmart and you'll see why. Only way I'd hunt it is private land where my vehicle is safe. But it is very steep country and rough walking. Lots and lots of bear. Several elk. And even more meth heads.

 

[Billboy]

I used to hunt Bell/Harlan/Leslie counties. It is rough and steep with a variety of terrain from mature hardwood to open, reclaimed strip pits. Perfect habitat for deer and turkey. I killed a couple of decent bucks and have seen a couple of bigguns. Lots of bear and elk too. The locals can be intimidating if they see out of state tags. Others are perfectly nice.

 

[Iglow]

I went to Pike Co Kty to buy a dog and it's without a doubt the steepest most remote place I've ever been east of the Mississippi. We think we got mtns here in Tn? Huh!

 

[quackaholic]

I have several friends who live in Harlan, and they don't even hunt there. It is rough. I scouted it when I was a younger, healthier version of myself. I think that trip was part of the trip to disability for me lol. I did see a track that was so big I took a Pic of it beside a dollar bill for reference. There are some big deer there for the young guns.

 

[killingtime 41]

Sounds like north Cherokee loads are hard walking with very little pay back.

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

I went to Pike Co Kty to buy a dog and it's without a doubt the steepest most remote place I've ever been east of the Mississippi. We think we got mtns here in Tn? Huh!

My Dads family is from Pike County. The Breaks Interstate Park is the Grand Canyon of the South. It's amazing how They have so many Deer and Elk there now when there were none 30 or 40 years ago.

 

[Antler Daddy]

I was wondering if anyone hun

There are some good land buys in east KY, and some looks pretty good. It is for young knees.

All the public I ever saw in far east KY was tough. The exception was the flat mountain top removal areas near Hazard where elk were released, but everywhere else was very steep and rough.

 

[Iglow]

There are some good land buys in east KY, and some looks pretty good. It is for young knees.

All the public I ever saw in far east KY was tough. The exception was the flat mountain top removal areas near Hazard where elk were released, but everywhere else was very steep and rough.

I was thinking "how in the world do they even squirrel hunt with dogs here?" If a dog treed off the ridgetop how would you get to him and back up? If you shot one out it'd fall 500 feet or more down the mountain before it ever hit the ground!"

 

[Tn_Va_Hunter]

As I stated earlier. I can be in Ky in 15 min. Jenkins. Then hazard. The only flat land is old strip land. I've seen some big deer beside the roads at night. But they have to be part goat to climb those mountains.

I had a buddy who bear hunted pine mountain. It usually took them 6-8 men to get one out and several hours. Topping over the Va/ky line on Jenkins mountain is a rock formation from previous earthquakes that people come from all over the world to study because of the different layers that's exposed. It's pretty amazing to see.

 

[Antler Daddy]

There seem to be some pretty areas depending on where you go in east KY. That area runs all the way up to Ohio.

All I know is it is pretty rugged from London to Hazard and London to Murfreesboro. Same when you branch out from both of those places.

This place is pretty enough further north.

https://www.whitetailproperties.com...agoffin/magnificent-relaxing-mountain-getaway

 

[Bone_Chaser]

DBNF is crowded during gun season but does have big deer. I used to hunt a property that joins the new University of the Cumberlands WMA. Big deer are there in places, big woods, tough terrain. I lived and hunted EKY for 30 years. I do have several 140-150" deer on the wall but I hunted hard for them. Laurel, Mccreary, Whitley, Jackson are all decent options with a lot of land available. Around Cave Run Lake as well. You'll have alot of sits with no deer seen if you're chasing a decent buck.

 

[Doskil]

University of the Cumberlands WMA is archery only for all hunting?

 

[Antler Daddy]

DBNF is crowded during gun season but does have big deer. I used to hunt a property that joins the new University of the Cumberlands WMA. Big deer are there in places, big woods, tough terrain. I lived and hunt EKY for 30 years. I do have several 140-150" deer on the wall but I hunted hard for them. Laurel, Mccreary, Whitley, Jackson are all decent options with a lot of land available. Around Cave Run Lake as well. You'll have alot of sits with no deer seen if you're chasing a decent buck.

This is the area where I have most experience hunting, but I am also familiar with about 12 SE KY counties.

We lived in London for two years so I hunted as much as I could in Laurel/Whitley county area and then drove back after moving to NC. This was the first place I ever hunted where big rubs were very common. Finding rubs the size of my thigh on several trees was motivating in the days before cellcams and cellphones in the woods. It was also before the bears moved in and elk were just being dropped in Hazard.

I would describe the Laurel/Whitley county areas of DBNF similar to maybe hunting Catoosa in many areas. It was easier than hunting NF around Johnson City and held more deer. In those days, walking in a mile was no big deal to me. But, just thinking about doing that now without a cellphone is scary as there are some bluffs and other hazards.

 

[Bone_Chaser]

University of the Cumberlands WMA is archery only for all hunting?

For deer yes. Tough to access unless you can come off private too. It has been "public" to locals for decades but like I said not very accessible.

 

[Bone_Chaser]

These are all EKY deer. Only 2 are from public land.

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

I was thinking "how in the world do they even squirrel hunt with dogs here?" If a dog treed off the ridgetop how would you get to him and back up? If you shot one out it'd fall 500 feet or more down the mountain before it ever hit the ground!"

I never squirrel hunted there. Coon hunting was interesting. I was barely 13 and a skinny little kid. The men took me because I could climb trees .They'd throw me up in the tree with a ball bat . I'd knock the coon out of the out of the tree so the dogs could get after him again or find another one. I'm pretty sure they were sipping shine and making bets on if I'd get the coon or he'd get me.

 

[PaintRocker]

My parents grew up on the WV border in pike county. All of my family is still there. The most popular public land they always talked about was in Louisa. Which is closer to Ohio than TN but still EKY. None of them would hunt it because they said you could hear bullets flying by you due to having so much hunting pressure. I've seen some big deer killed in those mountains but heard no good stories from hunting public land there.