The pheasant season in Kansas opens this weekend and hunters will be out in force. So too, will the Kansas Game Wardens. With many hunters making their annual pilgrimage to the Sunflower State this weekend, opportunities will abound.
A long held belief among many is the "if its not marked with 'No Hunting' then its perfectly legal to hunt." I myself have heard this throughout my years of pheasant hunting in Kansas and cannot stress enough how untrue it is. I have seen folks receive citations for trespassing when abiding by this age old bit of falsehood. Always ask permission from landowners. If you can, have a form ready for them to sign that allows you access to their fields for pheasant hunting. NEVER drive, walk, hunt, or shoot birds on property where you don't have permission to hunt. Keep your dogs and that occasional stray hunting buddy on the right side of the fence.
Often times a combination hunt is warranted in Kansas. With record populations of ducks making their migration through Kansas, you are almost guaranteed to find a good area for duck hunting while walking for pheasants. Remember though, that shooting ducks or geese with lead shot is illegal. If you know you'll come upon some ducks at the end of a pheasant field, better to not have any lead shot in your possession whatsoever. Pheasants and quail can be harvested with steel, and the ticket is not worth the risk.
Kansas has one of the finest public hunting programs in the nation with it's Walk In Hunting Area program. Pick up or download an atlas that will guide you to numerous CRP, crop, and wetland areas available to the public for hunting. However, if you arrive to a field full of standing crop, remember to not disturb the unharvested crops while hunting. Any areas where this may be an issue will usually have more information available.
As always, you have rights as a hunter and a lawyer with Wildlife Lawyers can help to protect those rights. You should always consult a lawyer before speaking with a wildlife officer outside of the routine license checks. A qualified, Kansas-licensed, Wildlife Lawyer can help make sure a stressful experience with a violation doesn't ruin a beautiful weekend in the Midwest.