Walk into any gun shop in Olathe, KS during any time of the year and you’ll notice they have hunting firearms for sale. This way, hunters are geared up and ready for the hunting season. But what does “hunting season” mean? Is there only one time in which you can take to the wilderness and hunt animals?
“Hunting season” refers to the time when a state deems it legal to hunt certain kinds of animals. Hunting times vary depending on things like the time of year, the type of animal, the environment, whether it’s mating season and the size of the population of a type of animal. Wildlife biologists in each state who study animal populations determine hunting seasons. The term “open season” is when it’s legal to hunt a species, typically when an animal population is high. “Closed season,” meanwhile, means it’s not legal to hunt a species, either due to low population numbers, a food shortage or extreme temperatures.
Do you know the best spots to go hunting in Kansas? Here’s a list of some of the most popular game to hunt this fall and where to find them:
- Doves: Hunting mourning, white-wing and exotic doves is open statewide from September 1 to November 29. The daily bag limit is 15 in any combination of dove species or a single species, but no limit is placed on Eurasian collared or ringed turtledoves. Hunted dove possession limit is 45 for mourning and white-winged species.
- Squirrels: Squirrel hunting season began June 1 and runs to February 28, 2019. You can hunt squirrel statewide, keeping in mind that the daily bag limit is five squirrels and the possession limit is 20.
- Rabbits: There is no open or closed season placed on rabbit hunting this year. You are welcome to hunt cottontail and jackrabbits anywhere in the state. Note that the daily bag limit is 10 rabbits, while the possession limit is 30.
- Running species: From March 1 to November 8, you can hunt running species (furbearers) statewide. Animals included in this category are raccoon, opossum, red fox, bobcat and gray fox. While it’s legal to hunt running furbearers 24 hours a day, they cannot be hunted, killed or collected during the running season. A furbearer license is not required; it is illegal to have in your possession hunting guns or trapping equipment during the furbearer running season.
- Ducks (high plains unit—first segment): You can hunt ducks in the High Plains Zone from October 13 to December 31. The daily bag maximum is six, but no more than two redheads, two canvasbacks, one pintail, three scaup, three wood ducks and five mallards. Only two can be hens. The limit can be a combination of any other six ducks. The possession limit for ducks is three times the daily limit.
- White fronted geese: The first segment of white fronted geese hunting runs statewide October 27 to December 30. Note that the daily bag limit is two, and the possession limit is six.
Looking for a gun shop in Olathe, KS that carries a wide variety of guns for hunting? Visit Harrison Street Pawn today!