PRATT -- Copies of the 2005 Kansas Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary and the 2005 Kansas Hunting Atlas (including Walk-In Hunting Areas) will be available from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) offices and select vendors in early September, before all seasons but the traditional Sept. 1 opening of dove season. Regulations summaries will be available wherever hunting licenses are sold, and Hunting Atlas will be stocked at most KDWP offices. Both will also be available on the KDWP website, www.kdwp.state.ks.us.

More than just rules and regulations, the Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary has been expanded this year, including many new features. Among the most useful of these are color photographs and range maps for many of the state's game species. Hunters who want to know the different ranges of mule and white-tailed deer, eastern and Rio Grande turkey, lesser and greater prairie chicken, scaled and bobwhite quail, as well as many other species, will now find this information at a glance. 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.

Some species of migrating game birds carry restrictive bag limits and may be difficult to identify. To address this issue, full-color photographs of pintails and canvasback are included. Photographs of sandhill cranes and snow geese, in juxtaposition with protected whooping cranes illustrate the clear distinctions among these species. Photographs of all four dove species are also included.

Trappers are also asked to be on the lookout for protected river otters and spotted skunks. Photographs of these two species are included in the "Furbearer" section.

Additional information of interest to all hunters rounds out this information. The booklet outlines the economic impact of hunters in Kansas and the nation, and a 100-year anniversary timeline of KDWP highlights will give hunters an overview of the agency's progress over the past century.

As always, this booklet provides essential summarized information on laws and regulations governing Kansas hunting and furharvesting, including season dates, bag and possession limits, legal equipment, and other information for the hunter and trapper. Other information - such as public hunting areas, safe hunting tips, Wildlife and Parks offices, and license and permit fees - is also included.

Now in its 11th year, the Walk-In Hunting Area (WIHA) program includes 1,010,000 acres of private land leased by the KDWP to provide general hunting access for hunters. WIHA tracts are open from Sept. 1-Jan. 31 or Nov. 1-Jan. 31. The atlas includes an index that lists game species most likely to be found on tracts. A few WIHA tracts are open only to youth dove hunting Sept. 1-Sept. 28.

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.

Both of these information booklets will be available to downloaded from the department's website , about Sept. 1. Look for hard copies by the second week in September. For more information, phone (620) 672-5911 or visit the KDWP website.