I'm not looking for anyone to reveal a hot spot or anything like that, would just appreciate some basic information.

Getting ready to start lining up deer hunts for next fall and looking at these two states. Past western hunts have always been to Wyoming. Nothing against WY, but want to hunt two or more western states this fall; muley or whitetail. This will be do it yourself, unguided, public land.

How tough is it to get license ?

Is there plenty of public land available for a non resident willing to do some research ?

Any pros or cons would be appreciated.

Thanks !

Many of the really good areas require you to draw for a license.....would suggest to contact one of the services that will either do this for you or help you do it yourself. They also know where you can get what are "landowner's permits" that let you avoid having to draw a license...not cheap but many of the good areas require you to build up preference points which can take years.

Steiny, Kansas is a great place to hunt deer. The tags for non-res are a bit high, but we have millions of acres of public and walk-in areas. You will need to do some homework to find out which unit to hunt. Write the Kansas Dept of Wildlife and Parks in Pratt and have them provide you with the walk-in maps as well as the info on harvest numbers and areas. The mulies are all out west, of course, and the draw can be hard. They are adopting a preferrence point system next year similar to Colorado, so if not next year, maybe 2004.

Give it a try.

Many hot spots have already been revealed, but there is a lot of public land west of the Mississippi. Some of the state fish/game departments publish statistics on hunter success, worth looking into. BLM maps show public land, the rest depends on geography and vegetation. I've only gone with a guide once and rarely come home with an empty cooler.

larrys -
Got any idea what my odds of drawing a rifle whitetail tag are ?
Do they have the state cut up into areas you draw for, or is the license statewide ?
How much $$ is non res tag ?
I will be doing some research with Kansas dept. of wildlife.
Thanks !

Steiny, here is the link. www.kdwp.state.ks.us/ It will answer most of the questions. Yes there are units for the draw. I don't know the odds of drawing, but I think they are pretty good. Be sure to ask for the walk-in maps. These are areas where the landowners want (or don't mind) hunters to have access to their land, but they don't want to deal with the hunters directly. So the state set up a program where the landowner can register the land and post it for walk-in only hunts and you do not need to get permission, or schedule. Just show up, walk in and hunt. The maps are drawn up by county, so some counties will have more and some less. If there is a town near, the chamber or commerce is always willing to help. One time a while back, I went into a diner in one of the small towns and put up a small note about needing a place to hunt coyotes and got 20 calls in a week. Most said to feel free to hunt deer and birds at the same time if I wanted. Most of the Kansas farmers are still the old types that trust you and if you can help them, you are more than welcome.

The landowner where I hunt now "leases" me his entire 1800 acres for the grand fee of walking some of the fences and fixing them if they need it once a year. He tells everyone that they can not hunt because it is leased to this "city fella" for a huge price. We've had this arrangement for 11 years now. Yep, I've had to herd some cattle that got out on occaision and drive the pickup to the grain elevator to pick him up, but that is a small price to pay. He lets me hunt turkeys as well.

Good luck.

Thanks larrys !
I'll keep researching, sounds positive thus far.