Deer biologists in all four Great Plains states want to see more does in the annual harvest, so they're issuing more permits this fall -- good news for hunters looking for extra venison. Photo by Mike Blair.

As the 2008 deer season unfolds across the Great Plains, familiar themes dominate. Biologists in the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas are talking about most of the same things that they've highlighted in recent seasons: harvests at or near record highs and winters for the most part mild, so that deer came through in good shape.

In certain areas throughout the region, populations are above management goals set by state biologists, so game departments are asking hunters to take more antlerless deer in these locations. And while seasons are with few exceptions virtually the same as they've been in recent years, one significant change looming on the horizon could influence the course of Great Plains deer hunting more than just about anything else.

First, we'll look at the top hunting areas in each state, and then talk about those familiar themes -- and how the conversation could change in big ways.

KANSAS
"Last year was the same, pretty much, as the past four or five years," said Lloyd Fox, of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. "We had a little bit higher harvest, but nothing too significant."

As you look at the units Fox provided as having high hunter success rates, he offered a caveat as the 2008 season approaches. "Management unit nos. 1, 2, 17 and 18 traditionally have good success rates, but these are very low-deer-density areas. Hunters in these units may have to do some work to find deer."

He noted that hunters around the Sunflower State are being more diligent -- and resorting to more high tech -- in the quest for deer. And those labors are offering new insights into Kansas' whitetail population. "We are starting to get reports of deer in poor physical condition," he explained. "We're working some cases in that regard, and hunters are finding those deer through the use of trail cameras during pre-season scouting. Trail cameras are more popular than ever, and they are providing landowners, hunters and us biologists with more detailed observation data than ever.

"At this point it's difficult to say whether these cases reflect a potential problem, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Anytime you are generating more data than ever, you're going to see more elements of the overall population than ever."

One part of the Kansas deer world that Fox enthusiastically discussed was the land in management units nos. 5, 13 and 15, which include the Arkansas River drainage. "Our deer are doing very well along the Arkansas River," he said. "Unit 13 not only has high hunter success rates, but it also has a high deer population. Unit 5 and Unit 7 are outstanding, and the only reason Unit 15 is not higher in success is because there are so many hunters there."

Kansas' season framework has changed for 2008. Three different seasons have already opened by the time October arrives, and one of them is already over -- the new youth/ disabled hunter firearms season, which ran from Sept. 13-21. The muzzleloader season, which had been Kansas' first for deer for some time, opened Sept. 22 and will close Oct. 5. Archery season opened Sept. 22 and runs through Dec. 31, as usual.

"Archery season is concurrent with our muzzleloader and modern firearms seasons," Fox noted, "so bowhunters must wear blaze orange if they hunt during those seasons." Regular firearms season is Dec. 3-14 this year, and extra antlerless hunting will run Jan. 1-4, 2009, with an extra time in the northern parts of units nos. 7 and 8 in north-central Kansas. Check the state's Web site for the exact dates.