Perry Wildlife Area

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Much of Perry Wildlife Area lies within the Perry Reservoir flood pool, thus flooding is not uncommon. The Delaware River bisects the area from north to south with several small creeks feeding it. The area has a diversity of habits with interspersion of Oak-Hickory woodlands, warm and cool season grasslands, man-made wetlands, and several acres of cropland.

In the mid 1970's, 11 marsh complexes were built. Two additional marshes were developed after 2000. These marshes provide about 1,000 acres of wetland habitats. The Kyle and West River marshes can be pumped from the Delaware River to provide habitat for migratory birds during dry years. All other wetlands depend on natural run off, thus water levels may vary from year to year.

Moist soils management is conducted on all marshes which uses water level fluctuations to manage for desirable wetland vegetation beneficial to migratory birds. Periodically, some marshes will be drained in order to conduct dike repairs and control invading woody vegetation and cattails. Management of upland habitats over the years has consisted of converting croplands and cool season grasses to native warm season grasses and forbs, planting of shrub plots, selective cutting of invading woody vegetation, and prescribed burning to stimulate native warm season grasses and forbs.

White-tailed deer and wild turkey are plentiful on the area. Waterfowl numbers vary depending on available habitat, but the area has supported large numbers during both the fall and spring migrations. Mourning dove numbers vary yearly depending on nesting conditions. Ring-necked pheasant can be found on the area with good numbers on the area. Bobwhite quail populations are good on the area, but a good dog is needed due to the dense vegetation. Squirrel and cottontail rabbit numbers are generally healthy and provide some of the most under utilized hunting opportunities on the area.

Non-game species are very plentiful on the area and provide some of the best wildlife viewing opportunities. A wide array of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians can be found on the area.

Fishing for catfish, white bass, and crappie in the Delaware River are also popular activities. Trapping which is allowed on the area, can be a very successful venture due to the wide array of furbearer habitats.

Special Features

  • Handicapped hunting area. Written permission required from manager.
  • Mentor/Youth hunting area designated for youth 16 years and younger accompanied by no more than one adult per youth.
  • Delaware River Boat Ramp located south of Valley Falls.
  • Perry W.A. is heavily used due to its proximity to major metropolitan areas. Opening days and weekends of all seasons are busiest.
Phone:
785-945-6615
Address:
7760 174th Street
Valley Falls,KS    66088
County/Counties:
Jefferson
Area News - Updated: 08/16/2018

Five managed Dove fields are located on the Perry Wildlife Area totaling about 80 acres. ALL DOVE FIELDS ON PERRY WILDLIFE AREA ARE NON-TOXIC SHOT ONLY. All fields are sunflowers with the centers of the fields mowed out for hunters to sit around the perimeter of each field. A field is located just South of the area office near 174th and Finney Rd to the East of Finney Rd. and totals 18.6 acres. The refuge Dove field is located North of 190th Rd. East of Swabville and totals 13.9 acres. The refuge Dove field and everything North of 190th Rd. will be closed to all hunting/access and will open for hunters on Monday September 3rd. A field is located just south of the information kiosk on 190th Rd. East of Swabville and totals 20.9 acres. A field is located just Southeast of the intersection of 130th and Edwards Rd. and totals 12.5 acres. The last field is the youth/disabled field which is 15 acres and located just south of 154th Rd and West of Ferguson Rd. in the Youth and Mentor/Handicapped field. Each adult must be accompanied by an actively hunting youth to be hunting this field.

Maintain safe shooting distances between hunting parties and always know what lies beyond your target. It is highly recommended that hunters where safety/shooting glasses within the dove fields to prevent potential injury due to falling pellets.

Detailed maps and information will be posted on the Perry Wildlife Area web page.

Perry Wildlife Area is included in the electronic permitting system iSportsman. This system, which will streamline data gathering for management purposes and be convenient for hunters, has taken the place of the old paper dove survey card system. Hunters can register at any time by going to kdwpt.isportsman.net, and clicking on “Register” to create a permit. Once you obtain a permit and are ready to hunt, click on login, then enter login ID and password to “check-in” daily for hunts. After you are done hunting, you will “check-out” and record any harvest you may have from the hunt. You are also able to check-in/check-out by telephone or smart phone. iSportsman is mandatory for all hunters pursuing any type of game on the Perry Wildlife Area.

For additional information go to: kdwpt.isportsman.net or call Public Lands Section at 620-672-5911.

Dove fields #1 and #2
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Dove fields #3
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Dove fields #4
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Dove field #5
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General Information
Phone:
785-945-6615
Address:
7760 174th Street
 
Valley Falls, KS    66088
County/Counties:
Jefferson
Perry Reservoir & WA (PDF 928.15 kB)

Manager: Andrew Page

Phone: 785-945-6615

Special Regulations
  • Camping, horse-back riding, ATV riding, and target shooting are prohibited activities. See Public Lands Regulations Summary for additional restrictions.
  • All vehicles must stay on maintained roads and parking areas. Off-road driving is prohibited.
  • Please do not park in front of or block gates and field accesses.
  • Refuge areas are closed to all activities from October 1 through January 15.
  • Motorized boats are prohibited from use on all marshes except for the east and west pools of the Kyle marsh complex.

Here is a complete list of Public Land Regulations or you can download the regulation summary.

History

The Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks has leased 10,500 acres of land at the north end of the Perry Reservoir Project from the U.S.Corps of Engineers since 1970. The area is operated and managed by the Department for wildlife management and public hunting opportunities.

Perry Facilities
Delaware River Boat Ramp
  • Type of Facility: Boat Ramp
  • Location of Facility: N39 19.114 W095 26.490
  • Click for more information

    Boat ramp is located on the Delaware River.

Lassiter Marsh
Northwest Marsh
Hayward Marsh
  • Type of Facility: marsh
  • Location of Facility: N39 22.783 W095 30.094
  • Click for more information
    xmlns:xhtml='http://ez.no/namespaces/ezpublish3/xhtml/' ><paragraph>20 acre wetland</paragraph></s xmlns:xhtml='http://ez.no/namespaces/ezpublish3/xhtml/' >

    20 acre wetland

Headquarters Marsh
Reichart Marsh
Kyle Marsh
  • Type of Facility: marsh
  • Location of Facility: N39 17.741 W095 27.082
  • Click for more information
    xmlns:xhtml='http://ez.no/namespaces/ezpublish3/xhtml/' ><paragraph>300 acre wetland complex including marsh and oxbow.</paragraph></s xmlns:xhtml='http://ez.no/namespaces/ezpublish3/xhtml/' >

    300 acre wetland complex including marsh and oxbow.

West River Marsh
  • Type of Facility: marsh
  • Location of Facility: N39 18.692 W095 26.650
  • Click for more information
    xmlns:xhtml='http://ez.no/namespaces/ezpublish3/xhtml/' ><paragraph>200 acre wetland complex</paragraph></s xmlns:xhtml='http://ez.no/namespaces/ezpublish3/xhtml/' >

    200 acre wetland complex

Upper Ferguson Marsh
Lower Ferguson Marsh
  • Type of Facility: marsh
  • Location of Facility: N39 17.860 W095 25.291
  • Click for more information
    xmlns:xhtml='http://ez.no/namespaces/ezpublish3/xhtml/' ><paragraph>100 acre wetland</paragraph></s xmlns:xhtml='http://ez.no/namespaces/ezpublish3/xhtml/' >

    100 acre wetland

East River Marsh
Mitigation Marsh
Perry Waterfowl Report - 11/13/2018
Waterfowl numbers
A waterfowl survey was conducted on 11/13/18 and approximately 11,000 ducks and 1,000 Geese were observed around the area with nearly all being down around Lake Perry as our wetlands have all froze over this past weekend. Mostly Mallards were observed with some Green Wing Teal, Gadwalls, and various diving ducks around as well. USE CAUTION WHEN ACCESSING KYLE MARSH'S WEST UNIT AS WATER LEVELS ARE STILL ABOVE NORMAL AND SOME AREAS ARE UNABLE TO BE ACCESSED BY WALK IN HUNTERS. Both East and West Kyle are full and boat access is available. We will continue to draw any units down that are above normal pool to get them down to a more desirable level. 

*DON'T FORGET TO USE THE ISPORTSMAN ELECTRONIC PERMIT SYSTEM WHEN HUNTING AT PERRY WILDLIFE AREA. THIS IS A FREE AND REQUIRED DAILY HUNT PERMIT SYSTEM THAT ALL HUNTERS MUST USE WHEN ACCESSING THE AREA. 

Mallard Migration Rank = 5 (0 = no mallards 10 = peak migration)
Lake level 3.25 feet above conservation pool.
Habitat conditions
The drought this summer has provided the opportunity for a lot of habitat work/renovation work to be completed around Perry. Large amounts of rain and flooding has filled/overfilled multiple wetlands. We are attempting to retain water in these wetlands.  Renovation work on Kyle Marsh is at the final stages of completion and the boat ramps will be completed soon. 
Expected hunting success Fair to Good
Comments
With the extreme drought this year, it allowed for significant work to be completed in nearly every pool. Everything from tree/brush removal, disking, spraying, and seeding were done in many different pools this summer.  
Habitat Condition Rating (HCR): 1-10; 1-Poor habitat, 5-quality habitat, 10-Exceptional habitat

Reminder: Gas powered boats are only allowed on the River, Lake, Sunset Ridge, Kyle East and West and Rucker wetland pools.  Electric powered boats are allowed in all marsh pools.

Kyle:  Significant flooding has led to Kyle Marsh filling to a overfull stage, we are retaining water and will be evaluating any damages from the flood. Kyle East: Major renovations have been done to the this unit of Kyle. Levee reconstruction, installation of a screw gate structure to move water from the East to the West, tree/brush clearing through the entire unit, millet and sorghum seeding throughout, and ditch work for improved drainage was all completed. Kyle West: FULL POOL This unit dried completely this year and allowed for a tremendous amount of native moist soil vegetation to grow which will provide endless amounts of food for ducks once flooded. We also spread some Japanese Millet in the mud flats of the West unit earlier this summer and it all is growing well. A boat lane was constructed to make for easier travel for boats from the ramp to the South end of the unit. Both boat ramps will also be renovated and additional gravel added for easier boat launching as well. HCR-10

West River: Once again, with help from the Leavenworth Ducks Unlimited Chapter we were able to spread Millet and Sorghum in both the upper and lower units of West River. A significant amount of tree/brush removal was conducted in both the upper and lower units of West River along with some cocklebur spraying, sorghum planting, and corn planting.  North- HCR-9, South- HCR-9. Pumping will continue in the upper unit, and we experienced flooding in the lower unit, we will continue to add water to the lower unit as time progresses. 

Upper Ferguson: This unit was mostly dry going into the spring/summer and never got any additional rain to supplement. With the extremely dry conditions in this pool, this promoted some marestail and ragweeds, however we still got a good crop of annual smartweeds and millets mixed in as well.   This is our refuge marsh and closes October 1st through January 15th.  HCR-7.

Lassister: West Unit: We dewatered this unit after 2 years of holding flood water from 2016 in order to deal with the Lotus and River Bullrush encroachment we were experiencing. We burned this entire unit this spring and disked the entire thing to set back all the Bullrush. This unit will remain dry this season and is planned to be farmed with corn next spring. East Unit: This unit got very dry this year and promoted a lot of annual sunflower growth and about half the unit was disked which set back some of those larger growing plants and promoted some more moist soil vegetation. This unit is runoff dependent and will need some significant rainfall to get huntable water levels. HCR: 7

Northwest: Nearly all woody vegetation was removed from within this unit. Corn was planted in this wetland to provide food for ducks and also to hep with the Reed Canarygrass issue that was covering most of the wetland. The new water control structure is installed in the East part of the wetland. This wetland will be able to be pumped with our new marsh pump that was constructed earlier this year. The tenant has cut his portion of corn in this wetland. This has a junior water right and is dependent on river flows, and we experienced flooding in this wetland and will be pumping to bring the water level up.   HCR-8  

Headquarters: This wetland was planted to corn and is runoff dependent still as we have plans to soon run a pipeline from our new marsh pump to the HQ marsh, however that will not be done until the Headquarters marsh expansion is completed. We are using farming as a technique to keep the area "cleaned up" from tree/brush growth so that once expansion work is ready to begin it will be much easier. We intend on starting the HQ marsh expansion as soon as next year. All of the Corn has been harvested in this wetland and we have left extra corn in Northwest Marsh. Boards have been added and we are retaining any water.

Mitigation: Mitigation marsh was drawn down this spring and planted almost entirely to corn. The deer have done some significant damage to this corn, however there is still a good amount out there. This practice was not only to provide food for the ducks but to help remove the invasive Phragmites that was starting to show up in the unit.  HCR-7. This unit is reliant on runoff to fill and the corn will all remain unharvested in this pool. 

Hayward: FULL POOL Flooding has caused this marsh to be overfull and water was running over the spillway, water will be retained for this season. Hayward has been drained all summer and the vegetation growth has been good this summer with some Millet spread as well. HCR-8. This unit is dependent on runoff to fill and has a significant drainage, making it one of the easier units to fill up from rainfall. 

Reichart: FULL POOL Flooding has caused this marsh to fill and we will be retaining water for duck season. This unit was drawn down and a significant amount of brush/tree removal occurred. We also sprayed some non-desirables and drilled some millet. This unit also has corn planted in the upper half or so of the unit to help with reed canaraygrass issues. This wetland will be able to be pumped with our new marsh pump that was constructed earlier this year. The tenant has harvested the corn and left approximately 25% of the corn standing to be flooded for the ducks. This has a junior water right and is dependent on river flows, and we will pump soon.   HCR-8. 

Zebra Mussels have been confirmed in the lake. Be sure to dry boats and equipment before moving to other waters.

Perry WA has transitioned to a daily permit system called iSportsman.  Hunters will need to register via PC prior to hunting at Perry WA. Hunters will be able to login via PC, smartphone, or call in from cell phone or landline phone each day prior to hunting to get a daily permit, and report back similar to the paper daily permits.  Please visit https://kdwpt.isportsman.net/ to register prior to hunting season.

Please remember to fill out the permit with accurate information. THIS INFORMATION IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THE CURRENT AND FUTURE MANAGEMENT OF THE AREA. FILL OUT ONLY YOUR INDIVIDUAL HARVEST EFFORTS, i.e., NOT A GROUP HARVEST TOTAL.