The discussion on hunting in Kansas's Unit 17 reveals a mixture of curiosity and confusion about the availability of tags, especially in relation to resident and non-resident hunters. Key clarifications include that resident hunters can purchase tags over the counter, which impacts the visibility of tag data, whereas non-residents face more restrictions and cannot obtain over-the-counter tags. There's also a useful note on species-specific hunting regulations, such as the closure of prairie chicken hunting and navigating permissions on private land near the Arkansas River. Hunters should stay informed about specific unit regulations and consider seeking permission for private land access when public land options are limited.
| species | general Size | trophy potential |
|---|---|---|
| Mule Deer | 150"-170" | 180"+ |
| Whitetail Deer | 130"-150" | 150"+ |
High
Low
Bordering Colorado and in 17 counties all around Garden City, this high plains unit holds whitetail and mule deer on mostly private land.
Mostly wide-open plains, dry farms and irrigated crop fields, the land supports low numbers of deer.
Mostly flat to slightly hilly, this unit borders Colorado and is composed of Hamilton, Kearny and Finney counties and parts of 14 other counties. Rivers include the Arkansas and Pawnee Rivers and North Fork Walnut Creek. Some steep slopes drop off into river bottoms and hold trees. There are a good number of ponds in places but no large bodies of water.
Farm crops cover most of the land in this unit and are mostly dry-farm grains. In the Garden City area many center-pivot-irrigated circular fields are planted in alfalfa, corn and other water-hungry crops. Other than a wide band of prairie hills along the Arkansas River, this area has limited natural deer cover. Many deer bed in weedy Conservation Reserve Program fields that are mostly planted in wheatgrass, which is of limited value to deer. They also bed in unused field corners between circular fields and marshy, weedy lowlands along intermittently running creeks. Sunflowers, teasels, cattails, some sagebrush, yuccas and tall and short grasses grow in uncultivated areas. Trees are uncommon except along running rivers and creeks and are mostly cottonwoods. Cedars and junipers grow in some places, many of them planted in windbreaks on the windswept plains.
There is limited public camping. Ulysses City provides campsites at Fraser Lake, which is a wildlife refuge where no hunting is allowed. Ford County State Fishing Lake has limited camping. Horse Thief Reservoir has a rustic rental cabin and 42 campsites near Dodge City. Private RV parks and campgrounds include RJ’s RV Park in Kansas City, Deerfield Beach Campground in Deerfield, Pine Tree RV Park in Scott City, Ulysses RV and Camper Park in Ulysses, and Gunsmoke RV Park in Dodge City. Motels are in the larger towns, and there are a few bed and breakfasts, including Boot Hill Bed & Breakfast in Dodge City and Fort’s Cedar View on the outskirts of Ulysses. Dodge City has at least 10 motels, including many affiliated with national brands. A unique motel is the Thunderbird, which gets better-than-average ratings.
At one time much of this unit was part of the more than 300,000-acre Kansas National Forest, which was an experiment to plant and grow trees on the prairie. More than a quarter million trees were planted, and almost all of them died before most of the land was deeded to homesteaders. Sandsage Bison Range and Wildlife Area, formerly called Finney County Game Refuge, is 3,670 acres of public land that used to be in the national forest. It’s a mile south of Garden City on the south side of the Arkansas River and is mainly managed for 100 or so bison confined by electric fences. Hunting is allowed on part of the area; hunters take a few mule deer here. Less than a square mile of public land, only 12 acres of it timbered, is open to hunting around Hamilton State Fishing Lake northwest of Syracuse. Many private farm parcels. listed here, are enrolled in the state’s walk-in hunting program, which allows the public to hunt at no fee.