Downloadable spring turkey permit applications are available from Wildlife and Parks at www.kdwp.state.ks.us.

The spring turkey season will April 11 to May 31. Turkey permits allow hunters to use either a shotgun or a bow. And this year, hunters have an archery-only season that will run April 1-10.

Hunters will also be able to apply online for resident-only, limited-draw permits in Unit 4 (application deadline Feb. 16).

In addition, youth and disabled hunters may hunt April 6-8. Anyone 16 years and younger and those with disability permits may hunt.

Hunters younger than 16 are not required to have hunter education certification if they are supervised by a person 18 or older, but they must have a turkey permit.

Youths ages 12 through 15 must have hunter education to hunt without adult supervision.

Wild turkeys were reintroduced into Kansas in the 1960s, and the program has been an unqualified success. Today, huntable populations of turkeys exist in nearly every county.

This growth is reflected in a modification of unit boundaries this year.

Because turkey populations in central and northcentral Kansas continue to increase, a boundary change has been approved.

Several counties or portions of counties in central and northcentral Kansas have been moved from Unit 4, where permits are limited, and from Unit 1, where additional turkey game tags are unavailable.

The move was to Unit 3 which has unlimited permits.