Drawing a nonresident deer tag for Kansas is like striking gold for some whitetail and mule deer hunters. So what would it be like to receive two buck tags in Kansas for 2016? This crazy event happened to three thousand nonresidents recently and that extra tag in their mailbox might have been a huge surprise. These slight mistakes seems to be a recurring theme for state agencies in 2016. Earlier this year Arizona did something similar with their spring turkey and bison draw, as well as an error some users experienced when purchasing their hunting license.
A printing error at a hunting license fulfillment service that is contracted to print and mail all of the 21,225 successful permits had a major error in terms of hunting tags… the service printed and mailed 3,260 duplicate nonresident buck tags! This is a major issue because you are only allowed to take one antlered buck per year in Kansas.
Photo credit: Stephen Spurlock
The permit packet should have only included an either-sex permit, a carcass tag and a whitetail antlerless-only permit and another carcass tag. Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) officials are trying to remind hunters that under the state law, only one set of permits is valid and the duplicate tags cannot be used or transferred to another hunter.
The state was quick to respond to this issue and is making an effort to ensure everyone got their correct tag and that holders of duplicate tags turn the extra tag in. Duplicate tag holders may be contacted by officials about their extra tag. These duplicate tags might not seem like a problem at first… but there are always bad eggs that might make this an excuse to poach a second buck or give the extra tag to a friend.
Hunters who received duplicate permits and carcass tags are asked to return the duplicate set to:
KDWPT Licensing Section512 SE 25th Ave.Pratt, KS 67124
Draw results for nonresidents were released May 13 and all nonresidents should have received the tags and/or refunds already. You can also check your draw results here.
