Kansas Pheasant and Quail Season 2026: Dates to Know

Kansas pheasant season 2026 opens on Saturday, November 14, and I already have my orange hat hanging by the back door like it might wander off. Around here at Golden T Cross Farm we raise Golden Cross hens, not pheasants. Still, when November rolls in, half of Kansas starts talking about roosters, and for once they don’t mean the loud one in my coop. Here’s what you need to know for this year, checked against the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) website.

Kansas Pheasant Season 2026 Dates

KDWP sets the regular pheasant season to open the second Saturday in November and close January 31. That gives us a good long stretch to get out there, or a good long stretch to make excuses, depending on the weather.

• Youth season: November 7-8, 2026, statewide, for hunters 17 and younger
• Regular season: November 14, 2026 through January 31, 2027, statewide
• Shooting hours: one-half hour before sunrise to sunset

Quail run on the same youth and regular dates, so if a covey busts out from under your boots, at least you’re legal. Your heart rate is your own business.

Bag and Possession Limits

Kansas is a roosters-only state for pheasants. Leave the hens be. KDWP lists these limits:

• Daily bag limit: 4 roosters
• Possession limit: 16 roosters
• Birds you’re transporting must keep a foot, plumage, or some other part that shows the bird’s sex

That last rule trips people up. Don’t clean every bird down to the meat in the field and then try to explain it at a check stop. A tail feather costs you nothing.

KDWP also explains why the limit is roosters only. One rooster mates with many hens, a lot like a buck with does, so taking roosters in the fall doesn’t hurt next spring’s hatch. As somebody who has watched a single rooster run a whole henhouse, I believe it.

Youth Season: Take a Kid Out

The youth season is the first Saturday in November and the day after, so November 7 and 8 this year. It’s open to hunters 17 and younger, and they must be with a non-hunting adult 18 or older. The daily bag is 4 and possession is 8. KDWP’s hunter education page says youth seasons are a good way to get young folks started in uncrowded, noncompetitive conditions. Translation: the birds haven’t heard every truck door in the county slam yet. If you have a grandkid, a neighbor kid, or a kid who keeps asking about your boots, this is the weekend.

Hunter Education and Your License

A general Kansas hunting license is required to hunt pheasant. KDWP’s deer page notes that residents 16 through 74 need a resident hunting license unless exempt, residents 75 and older don’t, and all nonresidents need a nonresident license no matter their age.

On hunter education, state law says anyone born on or after July 1, 1957 has to finish an approved Hunter Education course before hunting in Kansas. There are a few ways around it:

• Landowners can hunt their own land without it.
• Youth 15 and younger can hunt without it while directly supervised by an adult 18 or older.
• Anyone 16 or older can buy up to two Apprentice hunting licenses and hunt under a licensed adult’s supervision. After the second one runs out, you need the course.

Kansas accepts hunter education cards from every other state. KDWP also offers a free online course for folks 18 and older, and a hybrid course with a shorter field day that’s open to students 11 and up. I took mine the old-fashioned way, and the instructor’s jokes were worse than mine, which takes some doing.

Walk-In Hunting Access (WIHA)

If you don’t own a section of CRP, you’re in luck anyway. KDWP’s Walk-In Hunting Access program leases private land from landowners who sign up, and the 2026 upland bird forecast says there are just under 1 million acres enrolled this year. Add in wildlife areas and federal land, and Kansas has almost 1.7 million acres open to public hunting. A few things to know:

• It’s still private land. Hunting only, and only during that property’s posted access period.
• Fall access starts September 1 or November 1 and ends January 31, March 31, or May 31, depending on the tract. Check the Hunting Atlas or the signs.
• iWIHA tracts make you check in and out with your Go Outdoors Kansas account, and they cap the number of hunters each day.
• Keep gates and driveways clear, and stay out of the Safety Zone areas.

The 2026-2027 Hunting Atlas is already posted, so you can scout from the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. That’s my favorite kind of scouting.

What the 2026 Forecast Says

I’ll give it to you straight, because KDWP did. Their 2026 upland bird forecast says pheasant numbers dropped in every region this year. Heavy rain hit during the peak hatch, and then a hot, dry late summer hurt the hens that tried again. KDWP expects tougher hunting and a smaller harvest, with the best areas in the Smoky Hills and the Southern High Plains. The good news is quail are up statewide, so a mixed bag is not out of the question.

In other words, bring a good dog, good boots, and low expectations. I bring all three to most things.

A Little History

Kansas released 3,000 ring-necks in 84 counties in spring 1906, and the first statewide season ran December 1-15, 1917. KDWP says the state usually ranks in the top 3 or 4 pheasant states in the country. Not bad for birds that started out as newcomers.

From My Back Porch in Topeka

Bow season for deer keeps me busy this time of year, and the fishing poles haven’t quite gone in the shed yet. But the pheasant opener is its own holiday in Kansas. If you want to know more about how we live out here, read about Golden T Cross Farm, or see what I’ve learned this fall about chickens and Kansas frost. The pugs will be napping either way.

Rules can change, so check KDWP’s pheasant page before you head out. Be safe, wear your orange, and tell me how the opener goes.

Sources

KDWP sources (checked October 28, 2026):

• KDWP: Pheasant
• KDWP: 2026 Upland Bird Forecast
• KDWP: When to Hunt
• KDWP: Hunter Education
• KDWP: Where to Hunt (WIHA)
• KDWP: Deer (license requirements)

Kansas Pheasant and Quail Season FAQ