A Kentucky Dude’s Guide to NOT Getting Drawn for the Elk Hunt (Again)

Well, would you look at that? Another year, another rejection letter from Kentucky Fish & Wildlife, well, actually, not a rejection letter, but a disappointing viewing of a Facebook live where they go through the lottery winners via live broadcast.

If hope were tags, I’d have filled three freezers by now.

Since 2001, Kentuckians have been applying for the most elusive hunting permit in the East, the Kentucky Elk Tag.

Odds of drawing? About 1 in 100.

Odds of me drawing? Somewhere between a meteor strike and winning the Powerball during a solar eclipse.

The Basics (For 2025):

• Application: $10

• Total Tags in 2025: >500 (bull/cow, archery/firearm)

• Total Applicants in 2025: over 40,000

• Success rate: 1.4 percent

• Me: 0-for-infinity

Source: Elk Hunting results and permits

So... What Do You Do Instead?

Since you’re not waking up at 3:45 AM in September to call in a bull, here’s how to make the most of your un-tagged Kentucky summer instead:

• Fish your stress away; Green River, Dale Hollow, or any local pond will do

• Get weird about mushrooms; Chanterelles, wine caps, and just enough self-doubt to keep it interesting

• County fair season; Corn dogs, tractor pulls, and demolition derbies, where your high school nemesis is probably driving

• Tour bourbon country; If you're not chasing elk, chase a flight of small-batch through Bardstown

• Squirrel season; chase something that exists in your life

Final Thought from the Dude:

The Kentucky Elk Draw is the adult version of Santa Claus. You believe that you try to be good every year and still get socks.

But we keep applying because hope is a powerful drug; one day, that tag will be ours. Until then, enjoy the best state in the country for everything except elk tags.