Kansas Quail Hunting Season: Dates, Limits, Licenses, and Where to Hunt
October 31, 2026
Quail hunting season in Kansas gives you 11 weeks of statewide bobwhite and scaled quail hunting, and the opener comes right as harvested crop fields and cold snaps push coveys into tight cover. The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) says Kansas is one of the top three states for pheasant and quail hunting, drawing up to 150,000 hunters a year.
This article covers the dates, limits, licenses, legal gear, shooting hours, and public access options you need before you load the truck. Always confirm final details with KDWP before you head out, since agencies correct their pages and rules can change from year to year.
Quail Hunting Season Dates in Kansas
Kansas runs a short youth window first, then opens the regular season one week later. According to KDWP’s When to Hunt page, the youth pheasant and quail season falls on the first Saturday in November and the day after, which is November 7-8 in 2026.
A 2026-27 small game summary that read dates directly from KDWP lists the regular quail season as running statewide from November 14, 2026 to January 31, 2027. That season is the same across all zones, so you do not need to check unit boundaries as you would for deer.
| Season | Opens | Closes | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Youth and Disability | November 7, 2026 | November 8, 2026 | Statewide |
| Regular | November 14, 2026 | January 31, 2027 | Statewide |
Looking ahead, KDWP also lists the 2027 youth weekend as November 6-7. If you plan trips a year out, the pattern holds: youth first, regular season the following Saturday.
Pro Tip: Late December through January is often the best stretch for cold-weather bird hunting, because coveys bunch together and hold tighter, according to Fish and Game Guide. Opening weekend is crowded, so a January trip can be more productive.
Quail Species You Can Hunt in Kansas
You can hunt two species, and both fall under the same season and limit. Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) is the bird most hunters chase. KDWP says bobwhites live throughout the state, though mainly in the eastern two-thirds.
Scaled quail (Callipepla squamata), also called blue quail, are found in southwest Kansas alongside bobwhites. They run more than they flush, so expect a different kind of hunt than you get in the Flint Hills.
Regional habitat matters. Project Upland notes that southwest Kansas quail numbers swing with drought and rain, while north-central Kansas blends native prairie, shrubs, CRP grass, and ag fields with plenty of public land. Southeast Kansas has far less public ground, so knocking on a landowner’s door before the season can pay off.
Greater prairie-chickens and pheasants share much of this habitat, but they have their own seasons and limits, so do not assume your quail limit covers them. If you also chase roosters, see our pheasant hunting season in Kansas guide.
Quail Bag and Possession Limits in Kansas
The daily limit is 8 birds, counted as a combined total of bobwhite and scaled quail. A 2026-27 upland overview lists 8 per day, singly or in combination, with a possession limit of 32 for both species.
That possession figure is four times the daily limit, which matches the HuntWise Kansas guide. Possession means every bird you have on hand, whether in the field, in your cooler, or at home.
Important Note: One third-party site lists the quail possession limit as 24 rather than 32. Most sources, including those that cite KDWP, give 32, but check the current KDWP regulations summary before you hunt multiple days in a row.
- Daily limit: 8 quail, bobwhite and scaled combined
- Possession limit: 32 quail (four times the daily limit)
- Youth weekend: same 8-bird daily limit
Count birds as you go. On a multi-day trip, the possession limit is where hunters most often slip up, especially when they stay in a rental house with a full freezer.
Licenses and Permits Required to Hunt Quail in Kansas
You need a valid Kansas hunting license. Red Cedar Land Co. lists the fee at $27.50 for residents and $127.50 for nonresidents, though prices can change, so confirm the amount when you buy. Kansas does not require a separate upland bird stamp for quail in the current system.
Hunter education is required for anyone born on or after July 1, 1957, unless an exception applies, according to Hunting Seasons. Youth hunters under 16 have their own license category, and senior licenses cost less.
If you plan to hunt a WIHA tract, no extra fee applies beyond your hunting license. Some limited-access iWIHA properties require you to reserve through the Kansas iSportsman system first.
If you are also planning other fall hunts in the state, our guides to dove hunting season in Kansas and deer hunting season in Kansas cover the permits for those species.
Legal Weapons and Methods for Quail Hunting in Kansas
Quail hunting in Kansas is a shotgun sport, and most hunters walk up birds with a pointing dog or flush them from brush and fence lines. Dive Bomb Industries suggests No. 7.5 or No. 8 shot for quail and recommends blaze orange for visibility in grass and brush.
Plan on a modest, open-choke setup because coveys flush close. Check KDWP’s regulations summary for details on shotgun capacity and any restrictions on non-toxic shot at the specific public area you are hunting.
- Walk-up hunting through native grass, hedgerows, and plum thickets
- Pointing or flushing dogs to locate coveys
- Hunting field edges and CRP strips near harvested grain
- Working draws and recently burned areas where new growth attracts birds
If you hunt with a bow for other species, our bow hunting laws in Kansas article explains what applies there, but standard quail methods stay shotgun-based.
Shooting Hours and Sunday Hunting Rules for Quail in Kansas
Legal shooting hours run from one-half hour before sunrise to sunset, according to Hunting Prime, which verified its 2026-27 dates against KDWP in September 2026. That applies to both pheasant and quail.
The sources I reviewed did not point to any statewide Sunday closure for quail, and Kansas seasons are generally listed as continuous date ranges. Even so, confirm Sunday rules on KDWP’s current regulations page and on any individual wildlife area or WIHA tract before you go.
Pro Tip: Check your local sunrise and sunset times the night before. Shooting hours shift through the season, and a late-January afternoon ends earlier than a mid-November one.
Quail Hunting on Public Land and Hunting Preserves in Kansas
Only about 3 percent of the state is publicly owned, so most public quail hunting happens through the Walk-In Hunting Access program. Hunting Prime reports that about 97 percent of Kansas is privately owned, and that WIHA covers over 1 million acres. Other sources put WIHA at roughly 1.2 million acres across all 105 counties.
WIHA is walk-in only. According to LandsToHunt, there are no vehicles, no camping, and no permanent stands on enrolled land, so park on the county road and walk in. Look for the orange WIHA signs, which list the rules for each tract. You can pull up tracts in the annual WIHA Atlas, which is available online and from license vendors.
| Access Option | What It Offers | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| WIHA Tracts | Over 1 million acres of private land open to hunters | Walk-in only; hunting license required |
| iWIHA | Reserved, limited-access tracts in eastern counties | Reserve through iSportsman |
| State Wildlife Areas | Public ground managed by KDWP | Check area-specific rules |
| Cimarron National Grassland | Federal land open to quail and pheasant hunting | Managed by U.S. Forest Service |
| Hunting Preserves | Released and wild birds, often guided | Longer seasons; fees apply |
Hunting preserves extend your season past January 31. Directory listings show Kansas preserves running from September through March, and Claythorne in McPherson notes that a Kansas hunting license is still required, with a special-rate preserve license available to out-of-state hunters. Preserves are worth a look if you want guaranteed birds or a guided hunt with good dogs.
Opening weekend pressure is real. WIHA tracts near major highways get heavy traffic, so walk deeper into large parcels or hunt midweek. If you plan to combine quail with other upland trips, see our turkey hunting season in Kansas page for spring planning.
Quail season in Kansas comes down to a few dates and rules: November 7-8 for youth, November 14 through January 31 for everyone, 8 birds a day, and shooting hours from half an hour before sunrise to sunset. Buy your license, pull the WIHA Atlas, and verify the details with KDWP before you go. Then pick a brushy draw, let the dog work, and hunt the late-season coveys when the crowds thin out.