PHEASANT SEASON OPENED NOVEMBER 12TH

More than 100,000 hunters will be afield opening day

PRATT—The 2005 pheasant season will open statewide on Saturday, November 12. Quail season in the eastern two-thirds of the state will also open on Saturday. In the Western Quail Zone of the state, see quail map in the Hunting and Furharvesting Summary , quail season will open Nov. 19.

The ring-necked pheasant is arguably our most popular game bird, and more than 150,000 hunters will pursue this challenging quarry throughout the season, which ends Jan. 31, 2006. Motels across the western half of the state will have the “No Vacancy” sign out through the weekend. The pheasant is native to Asia and was first imported and released in Kansas in 1906. Annual Kansas pheasant harvests consistently rank among the top three in the nation.

The 2005 fall season outlook is positive. Best areas will include the northcentral and southcentral regions. The northwest and southwest regions will also offer good hunting. See the Upland Bird Forecast for more details.

A smallgame hunting license is required of residents age 16-65 and all nonresidents. No stamps or other issuances are needed. A resident hunting license is $20.15 and a nonresident license is 72.15 (nonresidents 15 years and younger pay $37.15).

There are more than 1 million acres in the Walk-In Hunting Area (WIHA) program this year. The WIHA program leases land from private landowners and opends it to hunting. An atlas with full-page county maps showing all WIHA lands, as well as all state and federal lands is available from KDWP offices or wherever licenses are sold. The atlas can also be downloaded by clicking here.