PRATT – You’ve been lucky enough to have a deer come within range. You take the shot, and it’s a good one. You take a moment, delight in your efficient and ethical shot placement, and breathe a sigh of relief. You did it. But your work isn’t over. Before rolling up your sleeves and unfurling your trusty field-dressing knife, use your clean hands to electronically register your deer. It’s voluntary, will just take a moment, and it will keep you legal during transport if you don’t have an either-sex permit and want to bone your deer out in the field.

Kansas regulations require a hunter to tag a deer before it’s moved from the kill site. Unless a hunter possesses an either-sex permit, the head must remain attached to the carcass while in transit to a residence, or to a place of commercial processing or preservation. For hunters who want to bone out their deer onsite prior to transport, the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) offers a voluntary electronic deer check-in system that hunters can access using their smartphone. You’ll just need some basic information and photos taken at the harvest site. To access the electronic deer check-in system, go to www.ksoutdoors.com and click “Deer Check-in.”

The electronic registration process requires hunters to submit two photographs — one close-up clearly showing the completed tag attached to the deer and a second showing the entire body of the deer with the head still attached. Once in the system, and registration is complete, a confirmation number will be issued by e-mail. This confirmation number must be retained during transport.

Hunters need the following information when electronically registering their deer: KDWPT permit number, time and date of kill, and county where deer was taken.

If Internet access is unavailable at the kill site, hunters can retain the photographs while in transit and a registration number can be obtained later.

This system can be especially convenient for nonresident hunters who will take deer meat across state lines. Because chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in Kansas deer, some states may have special regulations limiting the parts of the deer that may be brought in. Boning a deer out in the field is the best way to prevent spreading diseases such as CWD.

For more information on Kansas’ big game regulations, consult the 2016 Kansas Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary, or visit ksoutdoors.com and click “Hunting,” then “Hunting Regulations.”

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