Arkansas Youth turkey hunt tops seven-year slump

Arkansas Youth turkey hunt tops seven-year slump

LITTLE ROCK — Excellent weather and receptive birds welcomed Arkansas’s youth hunters last weekend, and the young guns did not disappoint. According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s online checking system, hunters aged 6-15 harvested 1,068 turkeys during last weekend’s two-day youth hunt, the first time the harvest has exceeded 1,000 since 2016. The…

Celebrating the animals that call Bradley County home this National Wildlife Week 2023

Celebrating the animals that call Bradley County home this National Wildlife Week 2023

WARREN, Ark. – This week, the nation is celebrating National Wildlife Week, an annual event dedicated to raising awareness about wildlife conservation efforts and the importance of protecting our natural habitats. This year’s theme is “Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation,” highlighting the critical role that partnerships play in preserving our country’s wildlife and natural resources. From…

Arkansas Wildlife Federation contest connects youth to the outdoors through art

Arkansas Wildlife Federation contest connects youth to the outdoors through art

LITTLE ROCK – Once again, the Arkansas Wildlife Federation and Creative Ideas have come together to promote wildlife education through the arts in the annual Wildlife of Arkansas Student Art Contest. For the 2023 contest, students from kindergarten through 12th grade will submit artwork online through a portal on the AWF website, www.arwild.org. Top photo:…

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…

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…

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…

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…

AGFC sets table for future Monticello monsters

AGFC sets table for future Monticello monsters

MONTICELLO — Hatchery staff and biologists from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worked together to load more than one-quarter of a million forage fish into the rising waters of Lake Monticello in October. Approximately 180,000 fathead minnows, 111,900 golden shiners, 78,840 bluegill, and 82,056 redear sunfish were stocked.…

Celebrate conservation with the AGFC at the Wetlands and Wildlife Festival

Celebrate conservation with the AGFC at the Wetlands and Wildlife Festival

PINE BLUFF — The Gov. Mike Huckabee Delta Rivers Nature Center will again host its annual Wetlands and Wildlife Festival from noon to 5 p.m., Oct. 29. This family-friendly celebration of conservation is a great way to enjoy an afternoon with family and friends learning about all the outdoors has to offer. Formerly called “Boo…