Final action planned at April Kansas Wildlife & Parks Commission meetings
PRATT -- Many Kansas hunters are interested in season dates for the fall 2006 hunting seasons. Some season dates have already been established for the 2006 seasons, while others will be established later this year in public hearings conducted by the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission .

Season dates are listed under “ Sportsmen’s Calendar ” on the department’s website as they are established, and all final season dates are published annually in the Kansas Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary . That document is published in August, and will be available in printed form or may be downloaded from the department’s website.

Among season dates which have not yet been established for 2006 are fall turkey and big game seasons (deer, antelope, elk). The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) presented its recommendations for those seasons at the Jan. 19 commission meeting. However, final action on those seasons will not occur until the March 16 (Topeka) or April 27 (Junction City) commission meeting.
Recommended 2006 season dates and regulation changes for big game include the following:

Deer

• early muzzleloader season: Sept. 9 through Sept. 22;
• youth and disability season: Sept. 23 through Sept. 24;
• archery season: Oct. 1 through Dec. 31;
• early firearms (DMU 19 only) season: Oct. 14 through Oct. 22;
• regular firearms season: Nov. 29 through Dec. 10;
• extended whitetail antlerless-only season: Jan. 1 through Jan. 7, 2007; and
• extended archery (DMU 19 only) season: Jan. 8 through Jan. 31, 2007.

In addition to the proposed season dates, KDWP is recommending that Fort Leavenworth be included in Deer Management Unit 19, which would provide additional hunting opportunity and the use of additional game tags to assist in control of deer populations on Fort Leavenworth, which is adjacent to DMU 19.

Proposed application deadlines are May 31 for nonresidents, July 15 for limited draw resident permits, Dec. 30 for unlimited antlered permits, and Jan. 30, 2007, for unlimited antlerless permits.

Antelope

• archery season: Sept. 23 through Oct. 1 and Oct. 14 through Oct. 31;
• muzzleloader season: Oct. 2 through Oct. 9; and
• firearms season: Oct. 6 through Oct. 9.

KDWP is recommending that unlimited nonresident archery antelope permits be made available. Archery antelope permits have been available to residents on an unlimited basis since 1990. Recent annual sales have averaged about 115 resident archery permits, and with a 10 to 12 percent success rate among archery hunters, harvest impact on the pronghorn population by archery hunters has been minimal.

Proposed application deadlines are June 9 for firearms and muzzleloader permits, and Oct. 30 for archery permits.

Elk

Proposed season dates outside Fort Riley include the following:

• muzzleloader season: Sept. 1 through Sept. 30;
• archery season: Oct. 1 through Dec. 31; and
• firearms season: Nov. 29 through Dec. 10 and Jan. 1, 2007 through March 15, 2007.

Proposed season dates on Fort Riley include the following:

• Any-Elk permit holders: Oct. 1 through Dec. 31; and
• Antlerless Only permit holders: Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, with one-third of antlerless permits valid in each of the months of October, November, and December.

Elk hunting on and around Fort Riley was initiated in 1990. Most of the hunting opportunity occurs on the military base, but unlimited hunt-own-land permits have been allocated off the base since 1999, and additional units were opened to hunting in 2003. Several areas of the state have experienced occurrence of free-ranging elk on private land not currently open to hunting. KDWP would like for landowners throughout the state to have the ability to remove elk causing damage. In addition, department staff want to make limited draw elk permits valid in all Kansas deer management units, including public lands. The department is recommending that an unlimited number of hunt-own-land antlerless-only elk permits be authorized and that these permits be available statewide.

Fall Turkey

The department is recommending that the 2006 fall turkey season run Oct. 1 through Nov. 28, Dec. 11 through Dec. 31, and Jan. 8 through Jan. 31, 2007.
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