A first-ever lottery is being launched this year for archery and crossbow deer hunting in November at four portions of the Green River National Wildlife Refuge in Henderson County.
According to the U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service, the hunting will be permitted on the Green River NWR’s Chestnut and Hickory refuge units in Horseshoe Bend; the Willow Oak unit along Green River Road No. 1; and the Pecan unit on Tscharner Road on Thursday through Sunday of each week in November.
The lottery will determine at which unit and on which dates a party of one or two hunters may hunt. Only the drawn permit holders will be permitted entry to each refuge unit on the designated hunt days.
To participate in the lottery draw, a person must apply at kynwrs.recaccess.com. Applications will be accepted starting Sept. 1 and must be completed no later than Sept. 30. Winners will be notified by email on Oct. 2 and must claim their permit by Oct. 16.
Unclaimed permits will be available at noon Oct. 18 on a first-come, first-served basis. Only one permit may be claimed per user per season.
Individuals age 16 or older and participating who hunt on the refuge must have a Kentucky State hunting/fishing license as well as a Green River refuge annual hunt permit. The cost of a Green River annual hunt permit for those 16 and older is $10; no permit is required for youth younger than 16. The cost of the deer lottery application is $6.
Regulations specific to the Green River NWR are available at www.fws.gov/media/green-river-nwr-public-use-brochure.
Established in November 2019, Green River is the 568th National Wildlife Refuge in the nation, and the second refuge managed in Kentucky.
Located in several areas near the confluence of the Ohio and Green rivers, the refuge here features bottomland hardwood forest that is important habitat supporting migrating waterfowl, songbirds, fish and other wildlife, according to the Fish &Wildlife Service.
