When Is Squirrel Hunting Season in Kentucky? Dates, Limits, and Licenses

The Kentucky squirrel hunting season for 2026–2027 runs in two segments: a spring season from May 16 through June 19, 2026, and a fall season from August 15 through November 13, 2026, that reopens November 16, 2026, and continues through February 28, 2027. Gray and fox squirrels are both legal statewide, and the daily bag limit is six.

2026–2027 Season Dates and Shooting Hours

Spring season: May 16 through June 19, 2026
Fall season: August 15 through November 13, 2026, then November 16, 2026, through February 28, 2027

The short closure in mid-November lines up with the opening weekend of the modern gun deer season and is in place for safety reasons and to reduce conflicts in the woods.¹

Legal shooting hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. You can be in the woods outside those windows, but you cannot fire a shot.¹

Bag Limit and Harvest Reporting

You can take six squirrels per day and possess up to twelve at any one time. That possession cap matters if you hunt several days running before processing what you’ve taken.¹

Squirrels do not require telechecking. You aren’t required to report your harvest, though Kentucky Fish and Wildlife asks hunters to fill out voluntary small game cooperator surveys to help biologists track populations.¹

Licenses You Need

Anyone hunting squirrels in Kentucky needs a valid hunting license unless an exemption applies. A resident annual hunting license is $28.54, and a non-resident annual license is $169.12.²

Hunters 12 and older who were born on or after January 1, 1975, must complete a hunter education course before buying a license. If you haven’t taken it yet, the Department offers a one-year Hunter Education Exemption Permit that lets you hunt while accompanied by a licensed adult who has completed the course.³

Children under 12 don’t need a license. Youth 12 through 15 need a Youth Hunting License for small game.³ There is also a Free Youth Small Game Hunting and Trapping Week from December 26, 2026 through January 1, 2027, during which resident and non-resident youth 15 and younger can hunt small game without any license.⁴

Resident farmland owners, their spouses, and their dependent children can hunt on their own property without a license, as can tenants who live and work on the farm, with their spouses and dependent children. The exemption only covers the owned or rented farmland. Hunt anywhere else and standard licensing applies.⁵ Under Kentucky Senate Bill 241, the exemption applies only to properties of five acres or more; owners of smaller tracts need a license even on their own land.

Residents 65 and older qualify for a Senior Sportsman’s License, which bundles hunting and fishing at a reduced rate. Residents who are permanently and totally disabled through Social Security, Workers’ Compensation, or a similar qualifying program, and veterans with at least a 50-percent service-connected disability, can buy a Disabled Sportsman’s License at the same price. Both are valid through the end of February each year.⁶

Legal Equipment

Kentucky allows a wide range of weapons for squirrel hunting:

Rimfire rifles and handguns, including .22 caliber
.410 gauge handgun
Shotguns, muzzleloading or breech-loading, no larger than 10-gauge, using lead or non-toxic shot no larger than No. 2; breech-loading shotguns must be plugged to hold no more than three shells total
Muzzleloading rifles
Archery and crossbow equipment
Air guns in .177, .20, .22, or .25 caliber pellets
Slingshots with manufactured hunting ammunition only
Falconry, fall season only
Dogs to aid in the hunt

When You Must Wear Hunter Orange

This is the rule squirrel hunters miss most often. During any modern gun, muzzleloader, or youth firearm deer season, every hunter in the field, squirrel hunters included, must wear hunter orange on the head, chest, and back, visible from all sides. The requirement applies even if you’re only chasing bushytails with a .22.⁷

Mesh orange vests are legal as long as the openings are no wider than a quarter inch. Camouflage-patterned orange does not satisfy the rule on its own; the orange must be solid and unbroken on head, chest, and back. Taking it off in a stand or blind is also a violation. If you hunt from a ground blind on a wildlife management area, state park, or Otter Creek Outdoor Recreation Area during any firearms deer season, the blind itself must display a solid hunter orange hat or vest visible from all sides, in addition to your personal orange.⁷

Check the current deer season calendar before heading out so you know exactly which fall days require orange. During the spring squirrel season in May and June, no firearm deer season is running and orange is not required.

Where You Can Hunt

Public squirrel hunting is widely available on Wildlife Management Areas, State Forests, and National Forests, including Daniel Boone National Forest in eastern Kentucky and Land Between the Lakes in the west. Some WMAs apply equipment restrictions or season dates that differ from the statewide rules, so check the specific area regulations before you go.

On private land, you need oral or written permission from the landowner, tenant, or someone else authorized to grant access. Entering private land to hunt without permission can lead to arrest and prosecution.⁸ Railroad tracks and their rights-of-way count as private property and require permission like any other private land.⁷

Penalties for Breaking the Rules

Kentucky treats each animal taken illegally as a separate offense, so going three squirrels over your limit means three charges, not one.

Hunting without a license under KRS 150.170 carries a fine of $50 to $500. Hunting on private land without permission under KRS 150.092 carries a stiffer penalty: a fine of $100 to $1,000, up to one year in jail, or both. A court can also revoke your hunting license for the remainder of the license year. Ignore a citation from a game warden and your license is automatically forfeited; you cannot buy a new one until the citation is resolved.⁹

Kentucky is also a member of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, which includes 49 jurisdictions. A suspension here is reported to your home state, and every other member state treats the violation as if it happened on their ground. A squirrel hunting violation in Kentucky can cost you hunting privileges across nearly the entire country.¹⁰

1
Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources. Squirrel Hunting
2
Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources. License and Permit Fees
3
Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources. Which License or Permit Do I Need to Hunt
4
Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources. Free Youth Deer Hunting Weekend – Section: Free Youth Small Game Hunting and Trapping Week
5
Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources. License Requirements and Exemptions
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Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources. Senior and Disabled Licenses
7
Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources. Hunting Regulations
8
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 150.092 – Consent Requirement for Entry Upon Lands of Another Person
9
Justia Law. Kentucky Revised Statutes 150.990 – Penalties
10
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Interstate Wildlife Violators Compact – 301 KAR 5:100