By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Andy Hansen’s customers of Coyote Club guide service in Marion, return year after year until they become like family, he said.

He has a bunkhouse on Santa Fe St. in Marion, just west of city hall, for hunters who frequent his guide service.

The business operates as a club.

“I do deer hunts, turkey hunts, upland bird hunts, which is pheasant and quail,” Hansen said.

Occasionally he guides hunters for antelope and other wildlife.

“We’re mainly in Marion County,” Hansen said. “I do a little bit of hunting out in western Kansas, but 95% of it’s done here in Marion County.”

His busiest time is November, when deer season is at its heaviest and bird season is heavy as well.

“We mainly do archery,” Hansen said. “A lot of our clients are mostly upper-skill clients.”

He started Coyote Club with Luke King in 2005 to raise money for archery.

“We’ve been at it a few years,” he said. “We do some fundraising, and we do charity hunts.”

Wounded Warriors disability hunts and Stride for Life in Kansas City have been recipients of money raised by charity hunts.

Guide service is a passion for Hansen.

“It’s not work. It’s just what I do,” he said.

He enjoys the camaraderie.

“My daughters, they’ve grown up around this,” he said.

Some clients have brought their families for more than 15 years. The attachment between the families is so close his daughters sometimes spend beachfront vacations with clients.

“You get to share these experiences with people,” he said. “You build relationships over a lot of years.”

He’s guided muzzleloader hunts as well.

Already his reservations are pretty full.

“I’ve got four or five openings because some of my guys didn’t draw tags,” he said. “That’s the nice thing; it sort of takes care of itself. We don’t have to go digging for a lot of people. These guys are pretty routine.”

On Oct. 7, he will guide an antelope hunt in western Kansas.

He’s one of a handful of hunting guides in the county. Jeff Soyez started a guide service a year and a half ago, and Rocky Hett has done guiding over the years.

Kansas hunting seasons this year are:

• Archery deer — Sept. 12 to Dec. 31.
• Muzzleloader deer — Sept. 12 to 25.
• Pre-rut whitetail antlerless deer — Oct. 8 to 10.
• Firearm deer — Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.
• Mourning and whitewing dove — Sept. 1 to Nov. 20.
• Rail — Sept. 1 to Nov. 9.
• Turkey — Oct. 1 to Nov. 10.
• Pheasant and quail — Nov. 12 to Jan. 31, 2023.

Antelope seasons depend on the location.