Kansas Youth Hunting Opportunities

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) The Nature Conservancy (TNC) are joining forces to provide young Kansas hunters and supervising adults with opportunities to hunt white-tailed deer during the regular firearm deer season, which opens on December 2nd and runs through the 13th. For the youth deer hunt, more than 4,500 acres of the Smoky Valley Ranch property owned by TNC are being opened to a limited number of deer hunters during the season through KDWP’s Special Hunts on Private Lands program.

All youth 16 years old and younger and an accompanying mentor will be permitted to harvest one whitetail antlerless deer each during their assigned access period. All appropriate hunting licenses and tags are required, and participating youth who are 16 must also possess a valid hunting license. Six hunts are available, each allowing access to one youth-mentor pair. Hunts will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Interested hunters should contact KDWP’s Fisheries and Wildlife Division at 620-672-0791 to register. This is a great opportunity for a high-quality youth hunt in Kansas!

Youth Hunting at Texas Wildlife Management Areas

Texas WMAs offer youth hunting

Hundreds of kids and adults headed out to various Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife management areas (WMA) this past weekend to do a little hunting. It was the first weekends for youth-only waterfowl and youth-only (gun) deer hunts. Even with the heavy rain and flooding that closed a few WMAs located in East Texas, those sites hosted youth hunters with good success.

The Justin Hurst WMA near Lake Jackson had 84 hunters killed about 1.5 birds each on Saturday. Ducks harvested were primarily bluewings and shovelers. Only 12 hunters showed up the second day and each of that youth bagged about a bird each, but they got some valuable experience in the field. Continue reading Youth Hunting at Texas Wildlife Management Areas