Coyote Hunting Kansas, Laws, Regulations, Season, & License Info

Coyote classification & license in Kansas

What is the classification of coyotes in Kansas?

Nongame — and specifically not a furbearer, which KDWP states plainly:

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are not legally classified as furbearers in Kansas, but in many ways, they are monitored and managed as if they were. Coyotes are actually considered nongame, as a result of historic attitudes and the potential for conflict with the livestock industry. They are not afforded the protection of a harvest season like our furbearers.¹

The furbearer list confirms it by omission — “Species legally taken as furbearing animals in Kansas are badger, bobcat, beaver, gray fox, red fox, swift fox, mink, muskrat, opossum, otter, raccoon, striped skunk, and weasel.”² No coyote.

What that classification actually changes is narrower than you might expect, because Kansas then applies much of the furbearer machinery to coyotes anyway:

• It removes the season. Furbearers get a closed season; coyotes are open all year.³
• It does not remove the license. You still need a hunting license to hunt them.⁴
• It does not remove the furharvester rules. A furharvester license is required to trap coyotes, furharvester education is required to trap them off your own land, and the same license you used to take them is the license you need to sell the pelts.^{4 2}

Are coyotes protected in Kansas?

No. No closed season, no bag limit, no possession limit.³ The one thing Kansas does regulate closely is night hunting — see the night vision permit.

Is a hunting license required to hunt coyotes in Kansas?

Yes, and KDWP draws the license line by activity rather than by species:

Coyotes: a furharvester license is required to trap coyotes, and a hunting license is required to hunt them. The same license required to take coyotes is required to sell their pelts.⁴

So: shooting coyotes needs a hunting license; trapping them needs a furharvester license; and whichever you used is the one that lets you sell the hides.

All resident hunters aged 16 through 74 need a resident hunting license unless exempt; non-residents need one regardless of age.⁴ Current resident fees are $25 for a one-year hunting license, $45 for the hunting and fishing combination, $100 for a five-year license, and $15 for a senior annual license at ages 65–74.⁴ The resident furharvester license is $25, the junior furharvester (13–15) is $15, and the non-resident furharvester license is $250.⁴

Hunting your own land is different. Kansas exempts landowners from hunter education on their own ground, and the furharvester education requirement is written as applying to trapping coyotes “on lands other than their own.”^{5 2}

The prices above are resident prices. A non-resident pays more, and may need a different license — see what a non-resident needs.

Is hunter education required?

Yes — anyone born on or after 1 July 1957.

Anyone born on or after July 1, 1957, must complete an approved hunter education course before hunting in Kansas. Anyone under 27 years old must carry their hunter education card while hunting.²

Youth 12–15 who have completed it may hunt unsupervised; those 15 and under may hunt without it under the direct supervision of an adult 18 or older; and anyone 16 or over without it may buy up to two apprentice licenses, valid a year each, hunting under direct supervision.² Hunter education is not required while hunting one’s own land.⁵

A second, separate certificate applies to trapping:

Persons born on or after July 1, 1966, must successfully complete a furharvester education course approved by KDWP to purchase a furharvester license or hunt, run, or trap furbearers or trap coyotes on lands other than their own.⁵

Note the wording — it names trapping coyotes specifically, even though coyotes are not furbearers.

Can a non-resident hunt coyotes in Kansas?

Yes, on a non-resident hunting license, with the same year-round season and no limit.^{4 3} Non-residents can also buy the night vision permit — Kansas does not restrict that season to residents. A non-resident furharvester license is $250 if you intend to trap.⁴

See also is a hunting license required — the license rules there, and the exemptions and add-ons that go with them, apply to you too.

Season, hours & bag limits in Kansas

What is the season for coyote hunting in Kansas?

Open all year: “January 1-December 31 each year,” for both hunting and trapping.³

What is the bag limit for coyotes in Kansas?

None. No daily, season or possession limit.³

What are the legal hunting hours for coyotes in Kansas?

By day, unrestricted. After dark you need the night vision permit and you must be inside one of its segments — see the night vision permit. Without the permit there is no lawful way to hunt coyotes at night in Kansas, because the equipment that would let you see one is what the permit covers.

Can you hunt coyotes during deer or big game season?

Yes by day — but the night season deliberately shuts down over the antlered deer firearm seasons, and this is the single most important scheduling fact on this page.

The night vision season runs “September 1 through March 31 of the following year excluding antlered deer firearm seasons,” which Kansas defines as the first Saturday of September for 23 days, and the Wednesday following Thanksgiving for 12 days.³ That is what produces the three-segment structure below.

The night vision permit season

Can you hunt coyotes at night in Kansas?

Yes — with a permit, in season, and only for coyotes. Kansas created this season in 2020 and extended it in 2025, and it is now one of the more generous night frameworks in the country.

Can you use artificial lights for coyote hunting in Kansas?

Yes, under the same permit that covers night vision and thermal. Kansas does not split them: artificial light, scopes and equipment that amplify visible light, and thermal-imaging scopes and equipment are all authorized together for coyote hunting under a Night Vision Equipment Permit issued by KDWP.⁶

Can you use night vision in Kansas?

Yes, on the same permit.⁶ Kansas is unusual in treating light-amplifying optics and thermal identically rather than carving them apart the way Colorado and Alaska do.

Can you use thermal in Kansas?

Yes, on the same permit.⁶ Kansas is the most straightforward thermal state on this site: one permit, one season, coyotes only.

The season dates are the part to get right. KDWP publishes them three years ahead:³

The gaps are the antlered deer firearm seasons.³ Segment 1 is short and gets shorter each year because it is squeezed between 1 September and the first Saturday in September.

Four restrictions come with the permit:

• Coyotes only. No other species may be taken with this equipment during the season.⁶
• Not on department lands and waters, including WIHA and iWIHA walk-in properties.⁶ This is the restriction most likely to catch a visiting hunter, because WIHA is exactly where a non-resident would otherwise go.
• No vehicles. The equipment may not be used in conjunction with a vehicle.⁶
• You need a hunting license too. The permit is an add-on, not a substitute.⁶

On the fee: the permit has been reported at $2.50 since it was introduced.⁶ KDWP’s current license and permit fee page does not list it among the hunting licenses, furharvester licenses or other permits, so treat that figure as indicative and confirm the price when you buy — it is trivially cheap either way, and the permit rather than the price is the point.

Are there specific weapons restrictions for hunting coyotes at night in Kansas?

No separate night weapons list — what changes at night is the permit, the season segment, the ban on department lands and WIHA, and the vehicle prohibition.⁶

Firearms, ammunition & suppressors in Kansas

Are suppressors allowed for coyote hunting in Kansas?

Yes. Kansas places no wildlife-law restriction on hunting with a suppressor; federal law governs the can itself — ATF Form 4, tax stamp, approval. No additional state hunting permit.

What firearms are allowed or restricted for coyote hunting in Kansas?

No caliber restriction attaches to coyotes. Kansas is open country with long sightlines — a flat-shooting centerfire in .223, .22-250, .204 Ruger or .243 is the standard answer. See the best coyote gun.

Are there any ammunition restrictions?

None for coyotes on private land. Department lands and federal refuges set their own non-toxic requirements — check the specific property.

Can you hunt using a .22 LR or other rimfire cartridge?

Yes, with no caliber restriction. On a Kansas coyote at Kansas distances a rimfire is a marginal tool.

Is there a magazine capacity limit for hunting coyotes in Kansas?

No. Kansas sets no magazine capacity limit and no permit to buy a semi-automatic rifle. A standard AR-15 with a 30-round magazine is lawful — which matters if you cross the state line into Colorado, where the same rifle and magazine is a misdemeanour.

Calls, decoys, bait & dogs in Kansas

Are electronic calls allowed for coyote hunting in Kansas?

Yes, with no restriction on coyotes. Kansas is one of the country’s strongest predator-calling states — KDWP notes that coyotes “are also the most common quarry of predator callers.”¹

Are decoys allowed for coyote hunting in Kansas?

Yes, including motion decoys.

Is baiting allowed for coyote hunting in Kansas?

Yes for coyotes on private land. Kansas’s baiting prohibitions are written for big game rather than for nongame species, and no coyote-specific bait restriction applies.

Department lands and WIHA properties impose their own rules and commonly prohibit baiting — and since the night vision permit is void on those properties anyway, the two restrictions tend to bite together.⁶

Can you use dogs to hunt coyotes in Kansas?

Yes, and Kansas has a strong running-dog tradition. Note the distinction the regulations draw between running furbearers and taking them: legal hours for running furbearers are 24 hours a day, a furharvester license is required to run them, and during the running season furbearers may not be killed and it is unlawful to possess a firearm or other hunting or trapping equipment while pursuing them.

That framework governs furbearers. Coyotes are not furbearers,¹ so running coyotes with dogs sits outside it — but if your dogs are working mixed country where they may strike a bobcat or fox, the furbearer rules are the ones you will be judged by. Carry the furharvester license.

Private property, vehicles & public land access in Kansas

Is it legal to shoot coyotes on private property (e.g. in your backyard) in Kansas?

On rural private land with permission, yes — and Kansas is overwhelmingly a private-land state, so permission is the whole game. Landowners hunting their own ground are exempt from hunter education.⁵

In town, municipal discharge ordinances govern and generally prohibit it.

Can you hunt coyotes from a motorized vehicle in Kansas?

No — and specifically, the night vision permit is void if you use the equipment in conjunction with a vehicle.⁶ That prohibition is one of the four conditions attached to the permit, so a truck-mounted thermal scan is not merely a separate offence, it takes you outside the permit that made the night hunt lawful in the first place.

Can you hunt coyotes on public land in Kansas?

Yes by day, on department lands and on the Walk-In Hunting Access (WIHA) program, which opens a large amount of private ground to public foot access and is the main reason a non-resident can hunt Kansas at all without knowing a landowner.

At night, no. The night vision permit expressly does not authorize the equipment on department lands and waters, including WIHA and iWIHA.⁶ Night hunting in Kansas is a private-permission activity.

Is it legal to trap or snare coyotes in Kansas?

Yes, with a furharvester license — $25 resident, $250 non-resident — and, if you were born on or after 1 July 1966, furharvester education before you may trap coyotes on land other than your own.^{4 5}

KDWP recommends the Best Management Practices for trapping developed by the Furbearer Resources Technical Work Group, which include species-specific trap selection guidance for coyotes.²

Is it legal to poison coyotes in Kansas?

Not as a private individual. Predator toxicants are restricted-use pesticides confined to authorized agency programs — the cyanide guns and strychnine-laced carcasses in KDWP’s own account of coyote history are firmly in the past tense.¹ Contact KDWP or USDA Wildlife Services for depredation help.

Are there protected areas or additional local restrictions in Kansas?

Yes. Department lands and waters, and WIHA/iWIHA properties, which are closed to the night vision equipment and carry their own posted rules.⁶ Municipal discharge ordinances. And federal refuges and Corps of Engineers property, each with its own regime.

After the shot: pelts, bounties & contests in Kansas

Are there regulations for possessing or transporting dead coyotes or pelts across state lines?

Coyotes are the easy case — no tag, no seal, no check-in, unlike bobcat and otter, which Kansas tags. Nothing restricts taking a coyote or its pelt out of state.

Can you sell coyote pelts, and do you need a fur handler’s license?

You can sell them, and the license you need is the one you already used:

The same license required to take coyotes is required to sell their pelts.⁴

So a hunting license covers selling the coyotes you shot; a furharvester license covers selling the ones you trapped. Buying pelts to resell is different and needs a Fur Dealer Permit — $100 resident, $400 non-resident, purchased from KDWP’s Pratt office.⁴

Kansas is a genuine fur state: coyotes “have usually ranked second or third annually in total value of pelts harvested in Kansas.”¹

Is there a coyote bounty program in Kansas?

No. Kansas paid bounties historically — KDWP lists them among the things coyotes have survived — but there is no state bounty today and KDWP pays nothing for a coyote.¹

Are coyote contests legal in Kansas, or can I hunt in Kansas for an out-of-state contest?

Yes to both. Kansas has not banned predator hunting contests, and tournaments run through the winter.

One planning point: the night vision permit season is cut around the antlered deer firearm seasons, so a contest scheduled in early September or the first half of December may fall in a gap when the equipment is unlawful.³ Check the segment dates against the contest dates.

Coyotes in Kansas

Are there coyotes in Kansas? How many, and where?

Yes, in every county. KDWP describes the range as running “throughout Kansas from woodlots in the east, through the grasslands of the Flinthills, to the intensively-managed agricultural landscape in the west.”¹

Kansas is one of the few states that publishes a real harvest figure, and it is a large one:

In recent times, about 15,000 have been harvested each year by licensed furharvesters, with perhaps another 60,000 to 70,000 taken by hunting license holders.¹

That is roughly 75,000 to 85,000 coyotes a year — an order of magnitude more than any mountain-west state on this site, and a good indication of the density you can expect. Home ranges average 8 to 15 square miles.¹

Are Kansas coyotes dangerous to people or pets?

To people, very rarely. To poultry and livestock they are a real problem, though KDWP notes they are “often blamed for the depredations of free-ranging domestic dogs.”¹ Unattended small pets on the urban fringe are at risk.

When is coyote mating season in Kansas, and when do pups arrive?

Coyotes usually mate in February or March, and pups are usually born in a den or hollow in April or May. Four to seven pups are common, but as many as 17 may be born when food is especially abundant.¹

Late winter is the peak, and in Kansas it lines up perfectly with the long third segment of the night vision season, which runs to 31 March.³

When are coyotes most active in Kansas?

First and last light, and heavily at night — which is why the permit season matters so much here. KDWP notes the winter diet leans on carrion including livestock and deer, so a gut pile or a dead cow is a reliable draw in January.¹ For the full breakdown of season, weather and moon phase, see when to hunt coyotes.

What’s changing in Kansas

• 2025 — the night vision season was extended. It originally ran 1 January to 31 March. KDWP consulted the public in early 2025 and the Commission extended it to 1 September – 31 March, excluding the antlered deer firearm seasons, which is what created the current three-segment structure.³ Most write-ups still quote the old January-to-March dates.
• 2020 — the season was created. Kansas first authorized artificial light, light-amplifying optics and thermal imaging for coyote hunting under a Night Vision Equipment Permit, coyotes only, off department lands, and not in conjunction with a vehicle.⁶
• May 2026 — Senate Bill 364 restored KDWP’s authority to offer a discounted 10-year senior license and expanded eligibility for the children’s lifetime license; kids’ licenses are now available up to age 15, and the 10-year senior license is expected no earlier than November 2026.⁴

These answers get re-checked before they go stale. The verification date at the top of the page is the record of when that last happened, not decoration.

Anything else worth noting about coyote hunting in Kansas

Kansas is, on the numbers, one of the two or three best coyote states in the country: 75,000-plus taken a year, no season, no limit, a cheap license, a huge walk-in access program, and a purpose-built night season with thermal.

Four things to get right:

Buy the night vision permit before you go out after dark. It is an add-on to your hunting license and it covers light, night vision and thermal in one.

Check which segment you are in. The season is cut around the antlered deer firearm seasons, and early September and early December are the gaps.

Do not run the thermal on WIHA. The permit is void on department lands and waters and on walk-in properties — night hunting in Kansas needs private permission.

Get the furharvester license if you trap, or if your dogs might strike a bobcat. It is $25, and it is also what lets you sell trapped pelts.

Is it legal to own a coyote as a pet in Kansas?

No. Kansas does not permit keeping coyotes as pets and KDWP does not issue permits for it. Contact the department before assuming any exception applies.

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