Barton County, Kansas · 19,857 acres
Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area Hunting 2026: Species & Access
Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area covers 19,857 acres near Great Bend in Barton County. The wildlife area sits inside a 41,000-acre natural sink — the largest wetland in the interior United States — ranked among the most important shorebird and waterfowl stopover sites in the Western Hemisphere on the Central Flyway. Five managed pools, separated by dikes and canals, hold the actual huntable water.
01 — What you can hunt here
| Species | Notes |
|---|---|
| Waterfowl | The main draw — blue-winged teal and other ducks pass through in huge numbers among roughly 320 recorded bird species. In-water propeller-driven and hand-powered boats are allowed in Pools 2, 3 and 4 during waterfowl season. |
| Pheasant | Usually good hunting along the marsh margins. |
| Snipe and rail | Good hunting in the shallow marsh margins. |
| Quail and deer | Present in fair numbers, secondary to the waterfowl and upland-bird draw. |
02 — Access rules specific to this WMA
- A standard Kansas hunting license covers access — no separate area permit for hunting itself.
- Hunters must check in and check out online at ksoutdoors.com/checkin using their licensing login credentials.
- Trapping requires its own free special permit, available at the area office.
- Pools 1 and 5 are closed to all human activity year-round, not just during specific seasons.
03 — Where this WMA differs from the statewide rules
- Whenever whooping cranes are present, the pool they're using closes to all hunting, and the surrounding goose hunting zones close to crane and light-goose hunting specifically — a closure that can appear with little notice and moves with the birds.
04 — Facilities
Camping: Not specified as available on the wildlife area itself. No shooting range on-site.
Built primarily as a birding and waterfowl destination inside a globally significant wetland — infrastructure leans toward viewing and access roads along the dike system rather than hunter-specific facilities.
05 — Where to go next
Cheyenne Bottoms is the name that carries beyond Kansas hunting circles entirely, and the whooping crane closure rule is the thing that makes it different from every other WMA in this silo: an endangered species showing up can close a pool to hunting on short notice, moving as the birds move. Three of the five pools (1 and 5 permanently, plus whichever pool has cranes) are effectively off-limits at any given time, which cuts into the huntable water more than the 19,857-acre headline number suggests — check the online check-in system and current crane reports before planning a hunt, not just the season dates.
Kansas hunting license costs and permits →
Verified · Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks · Last verified 2026-08-09
Publisher's note. Read from KDWP, retrieved 2026-08-09. Review due 2027-08-01. WMA-specific rules and closures can change between seasons — confirm before you hunt.