Hunting with dogs is a time-honored tradition and sport that is still alive and well in many regions of the United States. Just as the pursued game varies by geographic region, so do the regulations and restrictions vary by state. In Kansas, the Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism (KDWPT) must balance sport hunting against the conflicting presence of furbearer trapping, which accounts for the take of tens of thousands of predators and other animals whose population would otherwise adversely affect the populations of upland game birds such as quail and pheasant.
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Explicit permits are required for participants of trials on public lands, or commercial training on private lands.
The Kansas Hunting Dog Club obtains permission from more than 14 different landowners in the northeast Topeka region, for instance, for various field trials and training activities they coordinate for the benefit of their active members. Field trials are a crucial method of measuring proven ability of sporting dog breeds, such as bird dogs, retrievers, and hounds. In addition, it is an enthusiastically attended sporting competition in its own right.
The running of furbearers without take or kill is permitted from March through the end of the first week of November. Valid targets for running include bobcats, opossums, raccoons, red foxes, and gray foxes.
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The use of dogs while hunting turkey is permissible during the fall season only. Pursuit or take by dog is explicitly prohibited during the spring turkey season. In winter, it is permissible to use dogs for pursuit and take of furbearers for the duration of their legal hunting season. Interfering with or releasing trapped or ensnared animals is illegal. Hunters intending to make use of dogs while hunting on private lands should be certain to verify the presence of trappers on the same property, or lack thereof.
Regardless, hunters should intimately familiarize themselves with the designs of all legal trapping devices and how to release their dogs from them quickly and efficiently, in the event that they’re encountered in the field. The KDWPT’s annual Hunting and Harvest Regulations Summary provides a detailed and illustrated step-by-step instruction for disengaging three of the most widely used traps and snares to assist those who take dogs into hunting areas and encounter them.
Kansas has a strong trapping community that makes it crucial for hunters who use dogs to educate themselves thoroughly and be alert in the field. Community training and education for the dissemination of knowledge gained through experience is an asset not to be taken lightly. Local sporting dog clubs are valuable repositories in this regard.
This article is for information only. Please check current regulations before hunting.
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