FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – The 2016-17 deer hunting season surpassed the 130,000 mark for the fifth consecutive season. Hunters combined to take more than 139,000 deer in one of the three best seasons on record in Kentucky.
The only seasons with higher harvest totals were the 2013-14 and 2015-16 seasons.
The 2015-16 season produced new records at nearly every turn, including the overall harvest record.
Archery hunters kept the trend going this past September by starting the 2016-17 season with a record opening weekend.
High winds, an ample acorn crop and a full moon added to the challenge for early muzzleloader season in mid-October and the two-day take was down sharply from the previous year.
Cooler temperatures arrived for modern gun season in November and coincided with the peak of breeding activity across the state.
Hunters responded by checking 41,796 deer the first weekend of modern gun season and 102,848 for the modern gun season overall.
Both figures were the second highest on record behind the 2015-16 season.