Next spring’s turkey season in Kansas will run from April 14 to May 31. Wildlife and Parks commissioners set those dates at a public hearing last week.

The season will be 10 days longer than in recent years, reflecting a thriving wild turkey population. In addition to the regular season, a special season for youth and disabled hunters was approved for April 9-11.

Any hunter 16 and younger, and any person with a permit to hunt from a vehicle or a disability assistance permit, may hunt during that special season.

Kansas is divided into four turkey management units. Permit quotas approved for each of those units are:

Unit 1 (northwest and northcentral) — unlimited permits, one per hunter.

Unit 2 (east) — unlimited permits and unlimited second turkey game tags, one of each per hunter.

Unit 3 (southcentral) — unlimited permits and unlimited turkey game tags, one of each per hunter.

Unit 4 (westcentral and southwest) — 200 permits, including 25 for the youth/disabled season. Unit 4 permits will be distributed by drawing with an application deadline of Feb. 20.

Wildlife and Parks staff expect that 35,000 permits and 8,000 turkey game tags will be issued in 2004. About 215,000 recreational days of hunting are anticipated for the season, which will generate a significant economic boost for businesses providing goods and services for hunters.

In other action, the Wildlife and Parks Commission:

l removed Glen Elder Stilling Basin from the list of waters where a trout permit is needed from Oct. 15 through April 15. Trout are no longer stocked at that location.

l established a fee of $21 for nonresident game tags for deer and turkey, effective Jan. 1. Currently, residents and nonresidents pay $11 for the game tags. The game tag fee for Kansas residents will remain $11.