Game warden Phil Kirkland saw more deer, like this buck, than hunters on Saturday's opening of pheasant season.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Game warden Phil Kirkland saw more deer, like this nice buck, than hunters on Saturday's opening of pheasant season.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
A rooster pheasant that escaped hunters Saturday morning, Kansas' opening of pheasant season.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Covering his 28th opening of pheasant season as a game warden for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, Phil Kirkland checks hunters Saturday morning. He estimated the number of hunters was down about 90-percent from other years.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Short, dull spurs show this rooster pheasant was hatched this summer. Pheasants had poor reproduction in most of Kansas because of the serious drought.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Scott Shaw, of Dennis, shows how he writes details of past hunts inside his hunting cap. Though numbers were low on Saturday's opening day, Shaw thought they were better than last year.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
The brilliant plumage of a rooster pheasant shot opening morning in central Kansas.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Cory Blaes, of Cherryvale, with a rooster pheasant he shot hunting with about ten friends near Kinsley Saturday morning. Some of his group has hunted the same area for more than 20 years, and refuse to miss opening day despite low bird numbers.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
The brilliant plumage of a rooster pheasant shot opening morning in central Kansas.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Phil Kirkland looks at a flock of turkeys in central Kansas Saturday morning, as he patrols to check pheasant hunters.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Phil Kirkland, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism game warden.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Low bird numbers or not, hunting dogs afield of Saturday's opening of pheasant season were mostly happy.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Hunters work a weed patch near an irrigated field. Pheasant numbers were best in areas where the birds found water this summer.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
A group of hunters work a field on Saturday's opening of pheasant season.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Phillip Fyffe, of Manhattan, leaves a field with a pheasant he shot Saturday morning in central Kansas. Ongoing drought made for far fewer birds in many areas.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Tumble weeds roll down a rural road and dust blows amid Saturday morning's high winds, which made hunting tougher for hunters already facing low pheasant numbers.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Covering his 28th opening of pheasant season as a game warden for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, Phil Kirkland checks hunters Saturday morning. He estimated the number of hunters was down about 90-percent from a few years ago.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
Jacob Saye, of Parsons, checks a pheasant he shot near Kinsley on Saturday's opening of pheasant season. His group of about 11 hunters annually travel to the region from southeast Kansas.
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Michael Pearce / The Wichita Eagle
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