Most of Douglas County is included in a new deer management unit designed to increase the whitetail harvest on the Kansas City-to-Topeka corridor.

Unit 19 was created this year with a early firearms season that will run from next Saturday until Oct. 26 and includes an antlerless-only white-tailed archery season from Jan. 5-31.

In all of the state’s other deer management units, firearms deer season will run from Dec. 3-14 and the antlerless-only season from Jan. 1-4.

Unit 19 includes all of Douglas County north of U.S. Highway 56, most of Johnson and Shawnee counties, much of eastern Leavenworth County and the northeast corner of Osage County.

A map of Unit 19 is contained in the state hunting regulations and on the Wildlife and Parks Web site.

Unit 19 will be open to hunters with the following deer permits:

• Unit 9, 10, 11 and 14 whitetail either-sex permit holders during the early firearms season, the regular firearms deer season and the whitetail antlerless-only season.
• Statewide archery permit holders during the regular archery season (Oct. 1 to Dec. 2 and Dec. 15-31) and the special antlerless-only archery season.
• Hunt-Own-Land permits valid in Unit 19, during any season with legal equipment.
• Whitetail antlerless-only permits, during any season with legal equipment.
• Whitetail antlerless-only game tags, during any season with legal equipment.

Hunters may use as many as four whitetail antlerless-only game tags in Unit 19.

Archery hunters are reminded that they must wear blaze orange during the special Oct. 18-26 deer season if they are hunting within the Unit 19 boundaries.