For the second year in a row, the Kansas upland bird hunting outlook appears promising.

Good numbers of birds and more than 1.6 million acres open to public hunting make Kansas a premier destination for hunters pursuing pheasants, quail and prairie chickens.

Kansas also offers some of the longest upland game seasons and most liberal bag limits in the country.

Hunters should be aware that there will be some changes to the upland game seasons this fall.

Notably, the pheasant season will open one week earlier, on Nov. 4, and run through the end of January.

Also, the quail units have been eliminated, and the statewide season will run Nov. 11 through Jan. 21.

Due to a relatively mild winter, pheasant numbers going into the nesting season were the highest recorded in the last 10 years.

However, drought and a late-fall blizzard in western Kansas resulted in an averaged statewide decline in production of more than 20 percent from last year.

Because of poor production, the number of pheasants will be down compared to last year – on average 15-20 percent statewide.

Fortunately, pheasant production was not poor across the entire state, and, in certain areas, the number of birds will be similar or even greater than last year.

Like pheasants, quail numbers going into the nesting season were the highest observed in the last several years due to the relatively mild winter across most of the state.

Quail did not suffer poor production due to differences in nesting times and habitat requirements.

Quail production was actually up 10-20 percent averaged statewide and even greater in some regions.

Quail experienced poor production only in the severely drought-stricken western one-third of the state.

All in all, indications point to the quail season as being one of the best in several years.

Kansas is home to both greater and lesser prairie chickens.

Lesser prairie chickens are found in the western and southwestern part of the state.

In recent years, the lesser prairie chicken population has increased across the majority of its range, offering good hunting opportunities. Greater prairie chicken numbers appear to be declining in the Flint Hills and were down substantially again this spring.

However, because of dry conditions this year, pasture burning wasn’t as widespread in the Flint Hills, so production may have been better than last year.

Greater prairie chicken numbers in the northcentral part of the state were up this spring.

A more detailed forecast, including a regional map, is available online at www.kdwp.state.ks.us.