Commission meeting on March 22.

CharBroiled

CharBroiled

Active member
So there is an actual group of people out there which will be attending the commission meeting on March 22 with the idea of basically splitting the upland season. This group believes the upland season needs to open two days before Thanksgiving through Thanksgiving weekend, followed by closing it until the end of rifle season, then reopening the upland season after rifle season until the end of February.

This is through the Kansas Hunting and Fishing group on Facebook.
 
I would like to know the reasoning. February can be some of the harshest conditions, and if you hunt during that time it can be very hard on the population. Are they proposing it for quail and pheasant, or just pheasant?
Personally I'd rather see the limits drop by a bird, or two in the case of quail. But changing the season or adjusting limits does nothing if you don't protect and increase the habitat.
 
So looking at the 2018 calendar, they're proposing:
first segment: 11/20-11/25 (or 11/27?)
second segment: 12/10-2/28/19

To me there are three different elements of this proposal:
1. Later start. Not sure what might be motivating this except a desire to avoid the warmer days we often get early in the season. Maybe opening concurrent with Thanksgiving would reduce pressure on opening weekend, especially with non-residents. Maybe it would give family-returning-home-for-the-holidays a crack at uneducated, plentiful birds. Regardless, not sure I see a benefit to this change. We can choose for ourselves if it's too hot to hunt.
2. Closing during rifle deer. Is this a safety concern from the bird hunters or a we're-tired-of-bird-hunters-screwing-up-our-deer-hunting concern from the deer hunters? If it's the first, I'd prefer to make that decision for myself. No need for more nanny-state stuff. If it's the latter, I suppose that's the nature of doing these things in a participatory manner. I don't support this change either.
3. Extend through February. Perhaps the harshest time of the year for the birds. We need to leave them alone.

Just my thoughts. When/where is the meeting?
 
Matto, sorry I didn't post it, but I think it's Topeka, on March 22. And they were meaning for both pheasant and quail. (at least it's what I could decipher as the Facebook post might have been one of the longest run-on sentences in history)

In reponse to number 1, it seemed like sour grapes with the weather. I think any change like this, takes out of state money away from the state in terms of everything, from license fees to influxes of dollars in small communities in regards to lodging, food, etc.

I think in response to number two, it seemed more like the bird hunters screwing up the deer hunting on public land. At least it seemed this way.
 
CharBroiled said:
Matto, sorry I didn't post it, but I think it's Topeka, on March 22. And they were meaning for both pheasant and quail. (at least it's what I could decipher as the Facebook post might have been one of the longest run-on sentences in history)

In reponse to number 1, it seemed like sour grapes with the weather. I think any change like this, takes out of state money away from the state in terms of everything, from license fees to influxes of dollars in small communities in regards to lodging, food, etc.

I think in response to number two, it seemed more like the bird hunters screwing up the deer hunting on public land. At least it seemed this way.
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bad idea, all the way around. see previous posts, all with correct views. split season is a waterfowl only concept. this will be a bad experiment.
 
This would take of big chunk of Pittman Robertson money away due to reduced license sales. Would hurt the Walk in program. I can't imagine it going through without running it by a state biologist.
People like tradition and farmers don't like to be put out. This reminds me of when the state bumped the season up a week and it fell right in the peak of Milo harvest.
 
Guess I'm swimming upstream....as usual.

I don't deer or turkey hunt, but I'd love to see the change made. A couple of my buddies and I were talking about the wish for a change in season dates just last week. Had no idea there was anything brewing that could push toward an actual change. I agree qualified upland biologists ought to be consulted. If it could be done with no negative on overall populations, I think the change would be wonderful.

I'd also like to see youth weekend increased to two weekends and no out of state hunters until after Thanksgiving weekend.

Point!
 
Anytime a group wants something like this it is to benefit themselves. Wonder if they are bowhunters wanting to push the dates back to keep pheasant hunters out of the deer woods during the rut? I would think that what is proposed would hurt license sales so the legislation won't go for this ignorant idea.
 
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I am an out of state bow and bird hunter, but I grew up in KS. I can tell you that if this change had been made in 2017, bird seasons would have hit right in the middle of when the big-time chasing in the flint hills hit.
Living in Colorado now and relying on the hard-hit walk-in access for my Colorado bird hunting, I understand the frustration of everything being hit hard. However, in the few years that I've hunted WIHA acres in KS, I've never conflicted with another group of hunters on the weekend or weekday.

As far as keeping people out of the woods during bow season, I kind of like having the deer pushed steward me early on opening morning. The out of state license/tags being sold make up a large percentage of the profits being brought in.
Having private land to do my deer hunting on helps, I'll give you that, but the guys on the surrounding parcels that I hunt for birds and/or deer don't usually have an issue if we discuss sharing access.
Guess I don't see the problem. And if you are wondering, the property I hunt is a little more than a 1/4 section, and an 80.
So I don't have a million acres at my fingertips.
 
This proposal is all about deer hunting and offers nothing to pheasant hunters. They want the late start to have the 1st 3 weeks of rut to themselves and then rifle season to themselves. Why, because they are greedy. And the legislation is to blame as well because it is the ignorant any season tag that makes this possible. A total insult to pheasant hunters.
 
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westksbowhunter said:
This proposal is all about deer hunting and offers nothing to pheasant hunters. They want the late start to have the 1st 3 weeks of rut to themselves and then rifle season to themselves. Why, because they are greedy. And the legislation is to blame as well because it is the ignorant any season tag that makes this possible. A total insult to pheasant hunters.
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That's kinda how I feel.
 
The one thing that I will say on this is I work with and know a lot of game wardens. Fire arm deer season in KS is nothing short of a modern-day Wild West. They struggle with people poaching deer while saying they are just coyote or pheasant hunting. You get people who drive around and just shoot things and it's impossible to tell who what when and where in most cases. I could easily see a case of shutting down most seasons during firearm deer season since it's because such big business in guiding for deer in KS. Personally I am against it but I can tell you it would make the job of our overworked Law Enforcement a lot easier.
 
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hunter94 said:
as soon as the deer hunters take over, upland game will be an after thought.
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The already have. It started with the early muzzle loader season back in the 90's, then the antlerless tag, then transferable tags, then an October antlerless season, then the stupid any season tag, then the stupid crossbows in archery season, and it just continues. Once you give one a group a special season then they all want it. Crossbows and the Any Season Tag is the reason you have this proposal.
 
westksbowhunter said:
Anytime a group wants something like this it is to benefit themselves. Wonder if they are bowhunters wanting to push the dates back to keep pheasant hunters out of the deer woods during the rut? I would think that what is proposed would hurt license sales so the legislation won't go for this ignorant idea.
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I'd bet on that westksbowhunter. Seems like a greedy group of deer hunters trying to push the change.
 
upland game will be an after thought.
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I’d say it’s too late for worrying about that in Kansas, but I’m not sure convenient boogeymen like crossbow hunters or greedy deer hunters are to blame.
 
s.davis said:
I’d say it’s too late for worrying about that in Kansas, but I’m not sure convenient boogeymen like crossbow hunters or greedy deer hunters are to blame.
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Do you know why we have crossbows in Kansas and do you know who lobbied the committee to get that passed? If you know the whole story then you know how dirty and underhanded it was. It had everything to do with greed!
 
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