Kansas · Pheasant · 2026–27 Edition
Kansas Pheasant Season 2026–27: Dates & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Youth and Disability | Statewide | Nov 7 – Nov 8 |
| Regular | Statewide | Nov 14 – Jan 31 |
02 — Bag limits
| Daily | 4 roosters (cocks-only) — unchanged since before 2006, per KDWP's own pheasant page |
|---|---|
| Possession | 16, accruing at 4/day over the first four days. NOT read from a primary source: KDWP publishes no bag limits on any of its websites: every relevant page - When to Hunt, the species pages, Hunting Regulations and Migratory Birds - defers to the printed Kansas Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary. Checked again 2026-08-27; the old kdwpt.ks.gov regulation URLs (including 115-25-19, which by its title carries dove season, shooting hours and bag and possession limits) now 404 on the new domain, and the current Summary is not reachable as a PDF from here. Read the printed Summary to close this |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (November 7, 2026) 06:36 — 17:25
Rule: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset — stated on KDWP's own page for all upland game birds, including pheasant, quail, prairie-chicken and turkey. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Kansas sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Pheasant hunters in Kansas need a Kansas hunting license.
Where to hunt public land in Kansas — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does pheasant season open in Kansas?
The earliest 2026–27 opener is November 7, 2026. See the table above for each segment and zone.
When does pheasant season end in Kansas?
The latest 2026–27 closing date is January 31, 2027. Individual segments and zones can close earlier — see the table above.
Can I shoot hen pheasants in Kansas?
See the bag limit table above — most states restrict the daily bag to roosters only, but rules vary and this is worth double-checking against Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks before you hunt.
How many pheasants can you shoot in Kansas per day?
2026–27 bag limits: Daily — 4 roosters (cocks-only) — unchanged since before 2006, per KDWP's own pheasant page. Possession — 16, accruing at 4/day over the first four days. NOT read from a primary source: KDWP publishes no bag limits on any of its websites: every relevant page - When to Hunt, the species pages, Hunting Regulations and Migratory Birds - defers to the printed Kansas Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary. Checked again 2026-08-27; the old kdwpt.ks.gov regulation URLs (including 115-25-19, which by its title carries dove season, shooting hours and bag and possession limits) now 404 on the new domain, and the current Summary is not reachable as a PDF from here. Read the printed Summary to close this. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting pheasant in Kansas?
On opening day (November 7, 2026) legal light runs 06:36 to 17:25. The rule is: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset — stated on KDWP's own page for all upland game birds, including pheasant, quail, prairie-chicken and turkey. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Kansas sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt pheasant on my own land in Kansas without a license?
A Kansas resident, or an immediate family member living with them, is exempt on land they own or lease for agricultural purposes — no minimum acreage applies. Deer still needs its own permit regardless.
Verified · Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks · Last verified 2026-08-13
Publisher's note. Season dates and shooting hours read directly from KDWP's own 'When to Hunt' page, which publishes the season as a recurring day-of-week rule (e.g. 'second Saturday in November through January 31') plus its own pre-computed calendar dates through 2028-29 — a rolling primary source, not a once-a-year PDF. The daily bag (4 cocks) is separately confirmed on KDWP's own pheasant species page (ksoutdoors.gov/outdoor-activities/hunting-in-kansas/what-to-hunt/upland-birds-small-game/pheasant), which states the limit has been unchanged since before 2006. Not confirmed on an official page this round: the possession limit — two independent secondary sources (redcedarland.com, hunterpassport.com) both state 16 (accruing at 4/day over four days), consistent with the daily bag, but this was not found verbatim on a ksoutdoors.gov page. Note for future sessions: ksoutdoors.gov blocks WebFetch and curl (403) even with a browser user-agent, and the regs-summary PDF forces a download instead of rendering — but the site loads normally in a real browser (used here), and the PDF was still not retrievable via curl even after that. Use the browser tool, not WebFetch, for this domain. UPDATE 2026-08-27: this figure was chased again and is still NOT from a primary source, so it is now labelled that way in the data instead of carrying a soft caveat. KDWP publishes no bag limits anywhere on its websites - When to Hunt, the species pages, Hunting Regulations and Migratory Birds each defer to the printed Kansas Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary. The old kdwpt.ks.gov regulation URLs now 404 on the current domain, including 115-25-19, whose title promises exactly what is needed here (dove management unit, hunting season, shooting hours, and bag and possession limits). Cornell LII does not mirror Kansas exempt regulations. The Summary itself was not reachable as a PDF from here; the most recent edition findable was 2025-2026 on the agency's Issuu account, and last season's book is not evidence for this season. One page-turn in a print copy or a working link to the current Summary closes all three Kansas figures at once. ADDENDUM 2026-09-01: an independent second source was found that confirms this figure exactly — but it does NOT change the primary-source status. eregulations.com/kansas/hunting/hunting-bag-limits carries the full table: 'Pheasant 4 cocks per day (4x daily limit in possession)', 'Squirrel 5 per day (20 in possession)', 'Dove (Migratory) 15 per day (3x the daily limit in possession)', 'Dove (Exotic) No limits'. Every value agrees with what this file carries. Why that still does not count as proof: unlike Delaware, where DNREC links eRegulations itself, and South Carolina, where SCDNR does the same, nothing on ksoutdoors.gov points to it — and the page itself writes 'always check the official KDWP resources for the most accurate and up-to-date regulations'. So there are now two independent secondary sources agreeing. Confirming it in the printed KDWP booklet is a one-line job after that. ksoutdoors.gov stayed at 403 on every path on 2026-09-01.