Regular season April 14-May 31; youth/disabled, archery seasons April 1-13
PRATT — The 2010 spring turkey season runs April 14-May 31, and hunters across the state are already making preparations. Turkey permits allow hunters to use a shotgun, crossbow, or bow throughout the regular season. Archery-only and youth/disabled seasons run concurrently, April 1-13. A new regulation change this year makes youth permits valid statewide, including Unit 4. Also new for 2010, a turkey permit/game tag combination is available through March 30 at a reduced price. By purchasing the combination early, hunters save $7.50 over the cost of purchasing each separately after March 30.

Turkey permits for units 1, 2, and 3 may be purchased online from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) website, www.kdwp.state.ks.us, or from license vendors across the state. In addition, hunters may apply online for resident-only, limited-draw permits in Unit 4 (southwest Kansas). A total of 325 permits will be issued for Unit 4. Fifty percent of these permits are reserved for applicants who qualify as landowner/tenants in that unit. Applications for Unit 4 permits must be received online or by phone at 620-672-0728 no later than Feb. 19. There will be no paper applications or mail-in forms for 2010. All draw applications must be submitted through the online application process or by phone.

In addition, any individual with a spring turkey permit may purchase one game tag valid only in Units 2 and 3.

Archery hunters, anyone 16 years old or younger, and those with disability permits may hunt April 1-13. (All youth must have an adult supervisor during the youth season.) Hunters younger than 16 are not required to have hunter education certification to hunt while they are supervised by a person 18 or older, but they must have a turkey permit. During the regular season, persons age 12 and older may hunt without adult supervision if they have completed a certified hunter education course. Hunter education certification may not be obtained until age 11, and all hunters younger than 12 must have adult supervision to hunt at any time. Hunters who are 16 must have a valid Kansas hunting license.

Huntable populations of wild turkeys exist in nearly every Kansas county. The Rio Grande subspecies dominates the western two-thirds of the state. The eastern subspecies is common in the eastern regions although numbers may be slightly down in the southeast, which has experienced heavy spring rains and flooding the past two years. Hybrid Rio Grande/eastern birds are found where the two ranges converge.

Spring turkey permit and game tags fees are as follow:

• Resident General permit — $22.50;
• Resident Combo permit/game tag (available through March 30) — $27.50;
• Resident Youth permit — $12.50;
• Resident Youth Combo permit/game tag (available through March 30) — $17.50;
• Resident game tag — $12.50;
• Landowner/Tenant permit — $12.50;
• Landowner/Tenant Combo permit/game tag — $17.50 (available through March 30 only);
• Nonresident General permit — $32.50;
• Nonresident Combo permit/game tag (available through March 30) — $47.50;
• Nonresident game tag­ — $22.50;
• Unit 4 Resident General permit­ — $27.50;
• Unit 4 Resident Landowner/Tenant Permit — $17.50; and
• Unit 4 Preference Point — $6.50.

A Spring Turkey Atlas showing all public hunting lands and spring Walk-In Hunting Access (WIHA) lands will be available at KDWP offices and the KDWP website in late March.
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