Hunters gear up for traditional opening day
PRATT -- The 2006 Kansas firearms deer season runs Wednesday, Nov. 29, through Sunday, Dec. 10, and to borrow a line from an old commercial, “We’ve come a long way, baby!” Just more than 40 years ago, Kansans went afield for the first modern deer season, and since then, the state has seen many positive changes.

During that first deer season in 1965, less than half of the state was open to hunting, and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) biologists estimated state deer numbers at just more than 30,000 animals. Thirty-nine hundred permits were issued, and it was estimated that firearms hunters took 1,340 deer.

That’s a far cry from modern deer seasons. In 2005, KDWP issued more than 70,000 Whitetail Either Sex firearms permits to residents and nonresidents. Kansas firearms deer hunters enjoy a phenomenal success rate of more than 50 percent, and when the number of deer harvested by archers and firearms hunters is added to the deer taken with whitetail antlerless only permits, the total will likely be more than 75,000 deer.

All deer hunters must have a deer permit to hunt deer in Kansas. Resident hunters 16 to 65 years old must also possess a hunting license, unless exempt by law. Nonresident hunters must possess a nonresident deer permit, which is drawn from a limited pool in June, and a nonresident hunting license. Hunters must purchase a permit that allows the harvest of an antlered deer before they can purchase a Whitetail Antlerless Only permit or game tag until after Dec. 30.

Resident whitetail deer permits are available online or at license vendors throughout the state. Hunters are reminded that landowner permission is required to hunt any private land, whether that land is posted or not.
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