PRATT -- The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has announced that its 2005 Kansas Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary and the Kansas Hunting Atlas are now available online. The Kansas Hunting Atlas will be available at KDWP offices and license vendors Sept. 1. The hunting regulations cannot be printed until the waterfowl regulations are set by the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission, which completed that business Aug. 25. Hard copies of the hunting regulations should be ready Sept. 12.

Those who wish to download either of these publications should keep in mind that the full-sized Hunting Atlas is more than 28 megabytes in size, but a smaller county-by-county version will follow in weeks to come. The Regulations Summary is about 3.5 megabytes. Download time will depend on internet connection speed.

Hard copies of the Regulations Summary and the Hunting Atlas will be available wherever hunting licenses are sold and at most KDWP offices.

Among the most useful additions in the Regulations Summary this year are color photographs and range maps for many game species. Individual maps showing where various deer permits and tags may be used are also included in this year's booklet, so hunters will be able to determine quickly where they may use Whitetail Antlerless-Only Deer game tags, where the extended firearms deer season runs, and what archery units are available. (As with last year, a list of deer check stations is also included.) Detailed antelope and elk unit maps are also included.

The Walk-In Hunting Area (WIHA) program is one of the most highly-used portions of the Hunting Atlas. Now in its 11th year, the WIHA program includes more than one million acres of private land leased by KDWP to provide general hunting access for hunters. The Kansas Hunting Atlas includes a color-coded legend that marks not only WIHA land, but KDWP wildlife areas, state parks, national wildlife refuges, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers areas, U.S. Forest Service areas, and lakes and streams.

To download the 2005 Kansas Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary, click here . To download the 2005 Kansas Hunting Atlas, click here . They may also be found under "Hot Topics."
-30-