Go to Ks web site. Should answer all your questions. Or call the Pratt office if not sure about something. The ladies there are very helpful. But I can answer some for ya.
Ks is a draw state. The draw takes place in April. You need to know where you are going to hunt then. Non residents can only apply for 2 units and they must be adjoining. You can only hunt by one method only. When you apply for the draw, you must either put in for a muzzleloader, archery, or rifle tag. Muzzleloader season is 2 weeks in Sept, but you can also use the smoke pole in rifle season, which is 12 days long, starting the first Wed. after Thanksgiving. Archery season starts the same time Muzzleloader season and runs till Dec 31.
Finding a place to hunt, you either have to hunt public land or go thru a outfitter, unless you know a LO. Kansas has what they call Walk in Hunting Areas, or WIHA's. Find 2 units with the most of these and go from there if you don't want to pay for an outfitter.
When you apply for a deer tag in the draw, you will have to pay at that time using a credit card, which is around $325. If for some reason you don't draw a tag, Ks will refund you the money minus $20 something for fees. You do not have to buy the license at this time.
I use a outfitter because I only get a week to go during the season. If I had more time, I would probably try my hand on the WIHA's up in units 7 & 8. There are quite a few up there and most have some sort of timber on it where you can hang stands with crop land that surrounds it.
I hunt in 15 & 16. A lot of Texans hunt in 11 & 12, but if it were me, I would drive the extra miles and hunt the north east to north central part of the state.
Pretty much sums it up.
I hunt in Unit 14 and know people that hunt in the NE and farther East of where I am at. WIHA's are tough hunting but with scouting, there are some good deer that come off the places. Most the private places that I am aware of run from $1500-$3000.
I would not choose to hunt the rifle season only. This is typically the post-rut and chances of a big deer are reduced. If you go by the cold storage units, the quality drops dramatically in December. Not to say some big deer aren't killed in December, but the overall percentages are reduced.
If you hunt with a muzzle loader, the early season can be a good time to locate a buck and catch him on his feeding pattern. Overall daylight movement is typically down but their patterns are pretty consistent.
Bow hunting the rut can be outstanding hunting. Deer move alot, big deer are up during the day, but trying to get a pattern is virtually impossible. Grunt and rattling typically works pretty well too.