Morning gents

With all the talk of the permit draw in Kansas this year, it has gotten me curious. I usually make a trek back to Arkansas every year to hunt deer, but Kansas is on my mind. I know I'm too late for this upcoming season but figured I might give it a try in 2015. I've been doing my research online, but still have a couple of questions.

I know I need to apply for the permit in the unit I want to hunt it, and if selected, pay the fee and obtain a non-resident hunting licence.

My question falls around where do you actually hunt in your unit? Do most of you guys choose your units based off of outfitters? I've heard of several people hunt public land in Kansas, but I can't find where public land is located within each unit. If I apply for a permit, I want to go up and do it myself on public instead of the outfitter route. So, I guess I'm looking for guidance in that department from you guys who have done it before. I don't want to know what unit you hunted but rather how do you find where the public lands you can hunt are and what are the regulations for said public lands (as in setting up blinds, etc.)

Thanks for any help.

http://kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/Hunting/Applications-and-Fees/Deer/Deer-Management-Maps
http://kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/content/search?SearchText=WIHA
They have a booklet with all the WIHA areas by units they put out each year. Some are large and some are smaller. Lot of them are hit hard by locals in the units I hunted on the western side. Youth Season hunts start early so they get hit then. Pronghorn hunters come out in full force after the first few days of the late Sept season. Some of the WIHA areas are CRP, plowed fields waiting to plant wheat, fallow land, standing/harvesting crops or range land. Finding WIHA that are range land (cover) next to crops is a key. The unit(s) I have put in for I was mainly looking for MD using ML since that is what I was permited for. I did see WT and whiffed a ML shoot a huge WT buck(you have to draw a WT permit to enter in MD drawing) in standing corn my last morning the first year. Last year I was drawn again for an either species permit and hunted with an outfitter. He showed me an good and large WIHA area for WT that was adjacent to farmland. We saw 5 really good WT and 2 were really big but they were running for the WIHA land. To get to them you had to walkin over a mile and if you killed one you had to pack him out. Outfitter told me he knew exactly where they went to if we wanted to hike in after them. I was after a MD only. If you draw an early muzzleloader permit for Sept hunt and are unsuccessful you can then use your ML again in the rifle season to hunt in late Nov into Dec.

You're not too late. There are leftover tags available.

http://kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/Hunting/Applications-and-Fees/Deer/Quotas-and-Draw-Stats

http://kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/KDWPT-Info/Locations/Hunting-Fishing-Maps-by-County/Fall-Hunting-Atlas

^^This last link, you can download a kmz file and upload into Google Earth, and it will show you all the WIHAs and other public lands. Pretty nifty.

What you can do, KDWP will put up a map of all the WIHA's (Walk in hunting Areas) for the 2014 hunting season. You can either download and print off each map or just call the Pratt office and they will mail you a booklet. You can then study it for the 2015 season. There could be a few changes from year to year, but most of all the WIHA's stay pretty much the same. I think you will find that the north central to north east of the state has the most available public land to hunt. The south east has a few, but you will be competing with a lot of Texans and other out of staters. You will see a lot in south west, but this part of the state is pretty much wide open. Good for pheasant hunting though.
Or you can do like I do. Just hook up with a outfitter. I only get a week out of the year to go. I get to hunt private land, don't have to scout and try to figure out where the deer are, or even put stands up.

No deer in Kansas

This I forgot to add.
So true, so true!!!

Haha, I'm sure there are no deer in Kansas!

Thanks for all the help guys!

when do they notify you if you were lucky enough to get drawn?

Click the link. Then click #2 for Search Draw Status.
http://kdwpt.state.ks.us/License-Permits

When your tag shows up in the mail!!!
Ks has never "notified" me that I drew a tag. I just get it in the mail about a month or so after the drawing.

Check the link, my name shows successful. Tags should be mailed out before too long

It didn't work for me yesterday.
It worky today!!!
I already knew I drew a tag when they showed they had leftover tags in the units in which I applied for a couple weeks ago, but it's good to see it "officially"!!!

Received my license in the mail today!

Permit or license or both? I got my permit over the weekend and ordered my license on Monday. Talked to the man I am going to hunt with this past weekend also.

Got my permit last week. I won't buy a license till I know for sure when I'm going. With my work, I might not even get to go. If not, I'll at least save about $75 bucks.

I never know if I am going to get to KS or not until fairly late in the year - I have always managed to come up with a left over tag purchased over the counter. 3 out of the last 7 years I have done it as a last minute trip but it really depends on which unit you plan to hunt. If you do a little research there a several public land options - my biggest dear to date was 4 years ago on public land during the muzzleloader season. Good luck.