Perry Wildlife Area

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Perry Wildlife Area Waterfowl Report
Perry Reservoir Fishing Information
Perry State Park

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 Marsh, West River Marsh, Reichart Marsh and Northwest Marsh 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 access area. Written permission required from manager for operating vehicle off road in designated area.

Mentor/Youth access area designated for youth 17 years and younger accompanied by no more than one adult per youth.

Two boat ramps are located on the Delaware River South of Valley Falls. West River Boat Ramp is located at 150th Street on the West side of the Delaware River and Walker Bridge Boat Ramp is located on Hamilton Road East of the Delaware River.

Perry W.A. is heavily used due to its proximity to major metropolitan areas. Opening days and weekends of all seasons are busiest.

Phone:
Address:
7760 174th Street
Valley Falls,KS    66088
County/Counties:

Manager: Andrew Page

Phone: 785-945-6615

Area News - Updated: 08/01/2023

Eight managed Dove fields are located on the Perry Wildlife Area totaling about 85 acres. ALL DOVE FIELDS ON PERRY WILDLIFE AREA ARE NON-TOXIC SHOT ONLY AND REQUIRE USE OF THE ELECTRONIC DAILY HUNT PERMIT SYSTEM. All fields are sunflowers with the centers of the fields mowed out for hunters to sit around the perimeter of each 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 information will be posted on the Perry Wildlife Area web page.

Perry Wildlife Area is included in the electronic daily hunt permit system. 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 ksoutdoors.com/check-in to register and check-in for hunting. After you are done hunting, you will “check-out” and record any harvest you may have from the hunt. Electronic daily hunt check-in is mandatory for all hunters pursuing any type of game on the Perry Wildlife Area.

For additional information go to: ksoutdoors.com/checkin or call Public Lands Section at 620-672-5911.

Field #1:Non-Toxic shot only. Refuge field closed to public hunting/access, will open Monday, September 4th. This field is located North of 190th Rd. East of Swabville and totals 13.1 acres. This is the West field of the two sunflower fields North of 190th this season.

Field #2: Non-Toxic shot only. This field is located North of 190th Rd. East of Swabville and totals 19.4 acres. This is the East field of the two sunflower fields North of 190th this season.

Field #3: Non-Toxic shot only. This field is located immediately West of Finney Road just North of the intersection of 170th/Finney Road and totals 8.5 acres

Field #4: Non-Toxic shot only. This field is located immediately South of 170th Road just West of the intersection of 170th/Finney Road and totals 9.2 acres.

Field #5: Non-Toxic shot only. This field is reserved for a special youth hunt being held on Saturday, September 2nd . It is closed to all activities/access until Sunday September 3rd , then it opens to all public hunting. This field is located just south of Headwater Road and is accessed by walking past the gate on the South side of Headwater along the old railroad access. 5.7 acres.

Field #6: Non-Toxic shot only. This field is the youth/disabled field which is 13.5 acres and located just East of Jackson Road North of the intersection of 154th/Jackson Road in the Youth/Mentor/Handicapped area. Unless disabled, each adult must be accompanied by an actively hunting youth to be hunting this field.

Field #7: Non-Toxic Shot Only. This field is located near the intersection of Finney Road and 190th immediately South of 190th Road and totals 9.6 acres.

Field #8: Non-Toxic shot only. This field is reserved for a special veteran’s hunt being held on Saturday, September 2nd  and Sunday September 3rd. It is closed to all activities/access until Monday, September 4th   when it opens to all public access. This field is located just South of 166th and West of Finney Rd and totals 6 acres.

General Information
Phone:
Address:
7760 174th Street
 
Valley Falls, KS    66088
County/Counties:

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.
  • Gas Powered boats are prohibited from use on all marshes except for the east and west pools of the Kyle marsh complex, Sunset Ridge, and Rucker Marsh.

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 Wildlife Area Waterfowl Report - 01/19/2024
Waterfowl Updates
Update as of 1/19/24. All wetlands and the Delaware River are frozen over. With the duck season opening back up tomorrow, it is unlikely we will have any open water on the wildlife area for the near future. 

Pumping is complete in Northwest Marsh and Reichart Marsh with limitations on how much water we can pull and both units are approaching full. 

Pumping is complete at the Kyle Marsh with the East Unit 100% full and the West Unit is not high enough for some larger boats to get out of the boat lane still. 

Pumping is complete at the West River Marsh. We were unable to get the unit 100% full with the water rights we have and will rely on runoff to continue to fill it.  

Delaware River Level is low and launching at West River Boat Ramp on 150th Road is very difficult or impossible for most boats.  

ATTENTION WATERFOWL HUNTERS - LEGAL SHOOTING LIGHT IS FROM 3O MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE TO SUNSET. 

 
 
*DON'T FORGET TO CHECK-IN / CHECK-OUT HERE, https://ksoutdoors.com/checkin using your licensing login credentials. 
Mallard Migration Rank = 5 (0 = no mallards 10 = peak migration)
Lake level 2.3 Feet Below Conservation Pool
Habitat conditions
Mild flooding in the spring, followed by a dry summer has allowed for a good amount of wetland pool work to be completed and habitat conditions are overall good around the area. 
   
Comments
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: Pumping is ongoing with water filling into both units. Overall dry conditions throughout the summer allowed for a good amount of pool work to be done in East Kyle and moist soil vegetation is plentiful. Portions of the East and upper West units held some shallow water and led to large amounts of unwanted vegetation such as American Lotus and River Bullrush. HCR-5

West River: Pumping is ongoing with some huntable water in upper unit and middle of lower unit. Summer Draw downs were successful in both the upper and lower units which allowed for some disking, mowing, and millet planting. Upper Unit is about half Corn and half good moist soil vegetation. Lower unit had a small amount of Corn planted in the SE Corner that didn't grow too well. Moist soil vegetation and millet did very good. HCR-8

Upper Ferguson: This wetland grew mostly native smartweed and has little water currently. The water control structure is currently removed from the wetland and we do not have a timeline on when we will have the new one installed yet. The refuge is closed Oct 1st thru Jan 15th to ALL Activity HCR-6.

Lassister: No Water. We left boards in the water control structures in an attempt to collect runoff throughout the year. We had some in July, but it has all evaporated now. No pool work could be done this summer because of holding water so some non-desirable vegetation established but overall it still had a good mix of moist soil vegetation.   HCR-5

Northwest: Pumping is ongoing and will continue. Corn was harvested with standing corn left in strips. Some millet and sorghum strips were also planted.   HCR-8

Headquarters: No Water. This wetland was drawn down early and corn was planted in some of it. Once the tenant harvests their 75%, then we will began to try to collect water, no water at this point. HCR-6

Mitigation:  No Water. Disking was completed in this pool to remove some unwanted vegetation and the moist soil vegetation response was very good. We have boards in and are attempting to collect runoff. HCR-7

Hayward: No Water. Most of this unit was disked and planted to Millet that grew very well .  HCR-8

Reichart: Pumping is ongoing and will continue. Upper end of the marsh has corn planted, lower half of marsh was planted with sorghum strips and millet and did very well.   HCR-8. 

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

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.