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Kansas · 2026-27 season year

Kansas Small Game Season 2026-27

Pheasant: November 14, 2026 to January 31, 2027. Quail: November 14, 2026 to January 31, 2027. Every date below was read from Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks’s own published page, linked beside it, on September 19, 2026.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 19, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.
November 14, 2026 to January 31, 2027
Pheasant
published
November 14, 2026 to January 31, 2027
Quail
published
No open season
Grouse
no season
units open year-round per the agency
Rabbit
published
June 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027
Squirrel
published
Statewide
Zone structure
as the agency draws it
Five seasons, one state

Kansas small game seasons, 2026-27

“When does small game season open” is five questions wearing one coat. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks dates ring-necked pheasant, bobwhite quail, greater prairie-chicken, cottontail and jackrabbit, and fox and gray squirrel separately, so each species is below under the agency’s own name for it, with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them.

Pheasant and Quail - Regular

published

Pheasant and Quail - Regular runs November 14, 2026 to January 31, 2027 across all zones.

Kansas pheasant and quail - regular, as published by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideNovember 14, 2026January 31, 2027

Dates read from When to Hunt, KDWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Kansas opens pheasant and quail together on the second Saturday of November and runs both through January 31 statewide. The agency also dates a combined Pheasant and Quail Youth and Disability weekend on the first Saturday of November and the following day.

Bobwhite quail share the pheasant calendar exactly, the second Saturday in November through January 31 of the following year, and the agency's Bobwhite Quail page prints the same 2026 dates and the same youth weekend.

Opening day, the daily limit and the full season calendar are on the Kansas pheasant season page.

Grouse

no season

Kansas has no open grouse season for 2026-27. The Department's upland game birds are pheasant, prairie-chicken and quail, and its Upland Birds and Small Game pages list no ruffed, sharp-tailed or sage grouse; the greater prairie-chicken season is recorded separately in the other seasons below. Source: Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.

Rabbit - Cottontail and Jackrabbit

published
Kansas rabbit - cottontail and jackrabbit, as published by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOpen year-round, per the agency

Dates read from When to Hunt, KDWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

The agency prints one rabbit row for cottontail and jackrabbit together, worded Open Season for Taking Rabbits: January 1 through December 31 each year, so rabbits are open year round in Kansas.

Squirrel

published

Squirrel runs June 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027 across all zones.

Kansas squirrel, as published by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideJune 1, 2026February 28, 2027

Dates read from When to Hunt, KDWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Squirrel season runs June 1 through the end of February each year statewide; the agency's table prints the 2026-2027 instance as June 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027.

Some rows above say “open year-round” rather than carrying a date. That is the agency’s own designation for those units.

The second Saturday in November through January 31 of the following year.
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source
A rooster ring-necked pheasant with a red face, iridescent green head and white neck ring striding through dry pale crop stubble
A rooster in harvested crop stubble in North Dakota. Most pheasant openers land in October and November, once the fields are cut. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Ring-necked pheasant (54120901581)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain
The rest of the calendar

Other Kansas small game seasons the agency names

Beyond the five main species, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks dates 3 further seasons on the same small game pages. They are reproduced here under the agency’s own names, because a hunter reading a calendar needs to know which window a licence or stamp actually covers.

Pheasant and Quail - Youth and Disability

published

Pheasant and Quail - Youth and Disability runs November 7, 2026 to November 8, 2026 across all zones.

Kansas pheasant and quail - youth and disability, as published by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideNovember 7, 2026November 8, 2026

Dates read from When to Hunt, KDWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

One combined youth and disability weekend for both pheasant and quail, the first Saturday in November and the following day, a week before the regular opener.

Greater Prairie-Chicken

published

Greater Prairie-Chicken runs September 15, 2026 to January 31, 2027 across all zones.

Kansas greater prairie-chicken, as published by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Statewide except the Southwest UnitSeptember 15, 2026January 31, 2027Prairie-chicken hunting is not allowed in the Southwest Unit

Dates read from When to Hunt, KDWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

The agency prints the greater prairie-chicken season as September 15 through January 31 annually. Prairie-chicken hunting is not allowed in the Southwest Unit because the lesser prairie-chicken is a species of conservation concern, and the agency states that the lesser prairie-chicken season remains closed.

Mourning and Whitewing Dove

published

Mourning and Whitewing Dove runs September 1, 2026 to November 29, 2026 across all zones.

Kansas mourning and whitewing dove, as published by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideSeptember 1, 2026November 29, 2026

Dates read from When to Hunt, KDWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Dove sits on the same agency When to Hunt page as the small game rows, printed as September 1 to November 29 each year.

Rules

Kansas small game hunting regulations

Season windows are carried here with their source and read date attached. Everything else a hunter is bound by is set by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and its regulations page is linked below.

Current Kansas regulations

Bag and possession limits, legal methods, shooting hours, license and stamp requirements, and youth or special season rules for Kansas are set by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks: current regulations
Close view of an eastern cottontail rabbit in green grass, ears up, dark round eye and white chin catching the light
An eastern cottontail. Rabbit is usually the last small game season to close, running into February in most of the East and Midwest. Photo: Grayson Smith, USFWS. “Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (48935527872)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Small game season dates in other Midwest states

Every state’s pheasant, quail, grouse, rabbit and squirrel dates are on the national small game season page.

A pair of northern bobwhite quail standing together in a carpet of purple violets, the male with a bold white throat and eye stripe, the female buff faced
A bobwhite pair. Quail seasons run from late autumn into winter across the South and Midwest; several western states date scaled, Gambel's and California quail on the same row. Photo: Steve Maslowski, USFWS. “Colinus virginianus USFWS”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, Public domain
Kansas pheasant seasonOpening day, the daily limit and the full Kansas pheasant calendar, read from the same agency.Kansas deer seasonArchery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer dates for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Kansas turkey seasonSpring and fall wild turkey windows for 2026-27, read from the same agency.Kansas duck seasonDuck and goose season dates by zone and flyway, read from the same agency.Kansas fall foliagePeak color and the first grouse and squirrel weeks overlap. Plan the same trip.

Kansas small game season questions

A fox squirrel with a grey back and rust orange belly crouched on a lichen covered branch against bare winter trees and blue sky
A fox squirrel in bare winter woods in Ohio. Squirrel is the earliest small game opener in many states, from mid August or September, and runs to January or February. “Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger vulpinus) (13255025953)” by Andrew C, CC BY 2.0

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 19, 2026. Every season window is republished from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks page linked beside it, read on September 19, 2026; windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. Bag and possession limits, legal methods, shooting hours and licence rules are set by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national small game season guide.