HUTCHINSON Kan. — The cold weather Friday morning certainly reminds you that fall is here. Saturday is the opening of pheasant and quail season in Kansas.
Years of dry weather hurt the upland hunting in Kansas but things have started to improve, and that includes Central Kansas. Although the numbers are expected to be down slightly this year from last, the Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism expects pockets of good hunting in central and southcentral Kansas.
Northwest and north-central Kansas should have the state’s best pheasant numbers this season. There, populations are similar to last season when Kansas ranked second in the nation for quality pheasant hunting. Though, hunters should note that some hunting spots may be more fragmented than usual because of summer rains.
Data suggests Kansas might again have one of the nation’s best bobwhite quail harvests this season, with dense populations of quail in central Kansas.
Numbers look especially promising in much of south-central Kansas, too. Southwest Kansas could have some good pockets of birds.