A Kentucky Deer Season Recap Featuring Super Glue

A Kentucky Deer Season Recap Featuring Super Glue

Deer season wrapped with muddy boots, sore legs, and one obvious lesson. Take the first good shot. Also, the numbers are in, and they tell a story worth paying attention to.

 Every deer season feels historic while you are in it.

Every sit feels like the sit.

Every sound in the leaves feels like destiny.

 Then modern gun season closes, the woods quiet down, and reality steps in with the data.

And this year, the data tells a good story.

Where Kentucky Sits After Gun Season

Modern gun season is the hinge point of Kentucky deer season.

Once it closes, most of the harvest is already in the books.

Historically, roughly 65 to 75%of Kentucky’s total annual deer harvest happens by the end of gun season. Everything after that adds detail, not surprise.

According to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, season-to-date Telecheck reporting following the close of modern gun season, the 2025–26 harvest is tracking very close to last year’s pace at the same point in the season.

Some regions are slightly ahead. Some are slightly behind. Statewide, it balances out.

 That is precisely what biologists want to see.

 What That Actually Means

When gun season numbers mirror the previous year, the final harvest almost always finishes within a few percentage points of last season’s total.

Late archery and muzzleloader seasons still add deer, but they rarely change the overall trajectory.

Just a steady, healthy harvest from a stable herd.

A Quick Word on CWD

Chronic Wasting Disease remains contained to the established surveillance zone in south central Kentucky.

Testing continues, and hunter cooperation continues to matter.

There has been no indication of widespread expansion this season.

That does not mean ignore it. It means management is working.

Follow the rules when asked. Do not haul parts you should not haul. And maybe do not get your wildlife biology advice from the comment section.

About Those Big Bucks

Yes, Kentucky still grows giants. No, they are not everywhere.

Truly exceptional bucks remain rare by design. Age, nutrition, pressure, and luck still rule the day. Public land continues to produce solid deer, but social media only shows the highlight reel.

Your buck does not need a tape measure to be a good buck. It just needs a story.

The Lesson We All Learned Together

Now for the part that will follow me forever. And in case you missed my original article about super gluing an antler back together, well here you go. 

I had a clean shot. Good angle. Clear lane. And I waited. I waited for perfection. I waited for the ideal.

And instead of making a clean memory, I knocked an antler clean off a buck’s head like I was aiming for a party trick.

 Yes, I glued it back on. No, I am not proud. Yes, it is hilarious now. Here is the lesson

Take the first good shot. Do not wait because hesitation does not make things cleaner. It just makes them weirder.

Every hunter reading this has their own version of that moment.

Different details. Same regret.

What This Season Reinforced

1. Weather still matters more than gear.

2. Pressure moves deer faster than hunger.

3. Patience kills more deer than technology.

4. And overthinking has consequences.

Sometimes those consequences come in the form of a loose antler and a tube of super glue.

Kentucky Dude Verdict

This season did what Kentucky deer seasons usually do.

It showed us a healthy herd. A steady harvest. And a reminder that showing up matters more than chasing perfect conditions.