Saline River Chronicle

River otters offer antics for winter wildlife watchers

River otters offer antics for winter wildlife watchers

LITTLE ROCK — Conservation comeback stories often focus on the amazing return of white-tailed deer, the black bear in Arkansas and other game species, but one of The Natural State’s most charismatic critters also came back as a result of proper game management and habitat conservation. Once nearly wiped clean from Arkansas’s streams, the river…

First-time archer proves it’s never too late to start

First-time archer proves it’s never too late to start

PINE BLUFF — Finding a place to start hunting if one doesn’t have family or friends who enjoy an outdoors lifestyle can be intimidating. Thanks to a new program through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Gov. Mike Huckabee Delta Rivers Nature Center, six “adult onset” hunters overcame that hurdle and joined the ranks of…

More rain should spread out waterfowl as season winds down

LITTLE ROCK – Heavy rainfall passing through Arkansas on Wednesday should put flood more waterfowl hunting areas as the duck season hits its final stretch with 14 days to go. Mild springlike temperatures since Sunday could have ducks thinking it’s time to migrate north. This weather pattern comes just as Arkansas Game and Fish Commission…

Upward mallard trend continues in midwinter survey

Upward mallard trend continues in midwinter survey

LITTLE ROCK – The best mallard numbers seen in Arkansas in recent years from last month’s aerial survey estimate continued with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s annual midwinter waterfowl survey released this week. The number of mallards in the Delta region of Arkansas hit a four-year high during aerial observations conducted in December, and that…

Begin new year with new subscription

Begin new year with new subscription

LITTLE ROCK — Start 2023 with fresh information about the Arkansas outdoors by subscribing to Arkansas Wildlife, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission magazine produced right here in The Natural State. Arkansas Wildlife features articles and news about places where you hunt, fish, camp, bird-watch and boat – no doubt you’ll discover some new ideas…

Follow important safety guidelines to enjoy outdoor activities

Follow important safety guidelines to enjoy outdoor activities

LITTLE ROCK — During the cooler months in Arkansas, there are many opportunities for outdoor fun, such as hunting, camping and riding all-terrain vehicles. While enjoying these activities in the Natural State, it’s important to follow safety guidelines to avoid accidents and injuries. Jesse Bocksnick, extension 4-H outdoor skills coordinator for the University of Arkansas…

With deep freeze over, hunters have uninterrupted hunting

With deep freeze over, hunters have uninterrupted hunting

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas waterfowl hunters endured a deep freeze leading into last weekend, and now temperatures will take an upward trend as the state’s 60-day season has reached its midpoint. There are no more splits left in the season as it runs uninterrupted through Jan. 31. Long-range weather forecasts indicate temperatures ranging as high as 68…

State’s December mallard estimate highest since 2018

State’s December mallard estimate highest since 2018

LITTLE ROCK – Despite challenging weather conditions that delayed flights for a week, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission waterfowl staff last week completed its December 2022 aerial waterfowl surveys for the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (Delta), the Arkansas River Valley and southwestern Arkansas, with the report issued this week by Luke Naylor, the AGFC chief…

AGFC, partners offer new experience for birding community

AGFC, partners offer new experience for birding community

LITTLE ROCK — Birders and other wildlife-watching enthusiasts have a great new way to participate in outdoor recreation, thanks to the creation of a special Natural State-specific online gateway to Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s eBird birdwatching system. According to Karen Rowe, AGFC nongame bird program coordinator, the eBird tool has been available for years, but…

Cool water changes complexion of bass, other sport fish

Cool water changes complexion of bass, other sport fish

TEXARKANA — According to Dylan Hann, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission fisheries supervisor for southwest Arkansas, some anglers have called with reports of red dots on the skin of some bass they’ve caught. He stresses that there’s no cause for alarm. “We have seen some bass with these spots ourselves during routine sampling on Dierks…

Long break, more water encouraging for second portion of waterfowl season

Long break, more water encouraging for second portion of waterfowl season

Arkansas’s waterfowl hunting season will resume 30 minutes before sunrise Saturday, Dec. 10, and ducks and geese will have had nearly two weeks of mostly quiet on the Arkansas landscape. With this week’s nasty wet weather and ducks perhaps finding more habitat, this 14-day portion of the waterfowl season will open with more promise than…

Duck season opens with water concerns throughout State

Duck season opens with water concerns throughout State

LITTLE ROCK – An abnormally dry late summer and fall figure to play a part in the nine-day opening section of Arkansas’s 60-day duck season, which starts statewide Saturday morning, 30 minutes before sunrise. Several of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s public hunting areas have had good amount of available food and cover for migrating waterfowl,…

Arkansas youth hunters take more than 9,000 deer in two-day hunt

Arkansas youth hunters take more than 9,000 deer in two-day hunt

LITTLE ROCK — According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s online harvest totals, hunters aged 6 to 15 checked 9,153 deer during last weekend’s annual youth modern gun deer hunt. Ralph Meeker, AGFC deer program coordinator, says the first youth weekend typically results in a harvest between 8,000 and 11,000 deer statewide. “This year’s…