LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas’s 2022-23 deer season concluded Feb. 28, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s deer program coordinator expects the final harvest totals to finish higher than last year’s 181,379 total, but likely down about 15,000 deer from where the state has averaged during the last decade. “I’d expect around 185,000 deer harvested…
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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…
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
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…
Get more from your ground venison
Arkansas’s deer season is well underway with more than 120,000 deer harvested so far. Freezers across the state are filling with venison steaks, roasts and, of course, ground venison. Typically the loins and the tenderloins are the first cuts cooked up at home or camp, leaving a generous portion of ground venison at the bottom…
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,…
Free CWD testing available for Arkansas deer hunters
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is offering a variety of options to have harvested deer tested for chronic wasting disease for free throughout the 2022-23 deer hunting season. This year, the AGFC will continue its extensive system of drop-off containers throughout the state, as well as its work with taxidermists and…
Collared bear, deer ok to harvest
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas hunters hitting the woods may notice a few deer and bears sporting some new neckwear this fall, but that shouldn’t deter anyone from legally taking that animal. “The collars are part of ongoing research taking place in certain portions of the state,” Cory Gray, AGFC chief of research, said. “In Northwest…
South Arkansas deer hunting open house and virtual meeting address regulation changes, management assistance
LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is encouraging hunters in Ashley, Bradley and Union counties to participate in one of two special meetings this week devoted to deer hunting regulations and deer herd health in south Arkansas following the detection of chronic wasting disease in Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge during the 2021-22…
Public options for dove season
LITTLE ROCK – Dove hunters searching for a place to hunt still have a few days to scout some fields for opening weekend, but the clock is ticking. In case you haven’t been able to find a location through private fields, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission prepares a few locations on public land for…
2022-23 Arkansas Hunting Guidebook available online
The latest edition of the Arkansas Hunting Guidebook is at the printer and will begin to appear in sporting goods stores throughout the state this month. You don’t have to wait to catch up on this year’s regulations. A downloadable version of the guidebook is available now at agfc.com for people who want to take a sneak…
Renew your hunting license and continue supporting wildlife conservation
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas annual hunting licenses expire June 30 each year. If you have not yet renewed your license, all it takes is a few minutes to make sure you’re ready for another year in Arkansas’s great outdoors. A hunting license is more than your ticket to another great year chasing deer, ducks, squirrel…
Arkansas turkey harvest inches up
LITTLE ROCK — Natural State turkey hunters saw an uptick in checked birds during this spring’s three-week turkey hunting season, which ran from April 18 to May 8. Hunters checked 7,578 turkeys, an 8 percent increase from last year’s 7,013-bird total. That number also includes harvest totals from the state’s youth hunters who enjoyed a…
Apply for an Arkansas elk hunting permit beginning May 1
LITTLE ROCK – The application period for Arkansas’s public land elk hunting permits is open from 8 a.m., May 1 until 11:59 p.m. June 1. Hunters interested in pursuing Arkansas’s largest big-game animal can apply beginning May 1 at https://ar-web.s3licensing.com and select the Special Hunt Applications button to begin the process. Eighteen public land elk…
Comment on proposals for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 hunting and fishing seasons
LITTLE ROCK — Commissioners with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission heard proposals for regulations changes during three days of committee and commission meetings held last week at the Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center in Little Rock and the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Now the AGFC would like to present those same…
Shed hunting: Wandering in the woods with purpose
PARON, Ark. – With deer season officially over and turkey season still several weeks away, many hunters are facing the postseason blues and are being forced to catch up on all of the work postponed since last October. Searching for shed antlers offers one last escape from those household chores and can keep hunting skills…
Habitat conditions falling into place for Strong finish to season
Little Rock, Arkansas – With a deep freeze headed toward Arkansas, snow expected to be covering southeast Missouri, and with the recent rainfall that has filled the public hunting areas in state, habitat conditions for duck hunters should this weekend be the best they’ve been all year long. Friday and Saturday morning, waterfowl hunters may…
Dry conditions still prevail with Saturday’s restart of duck season
LITTLE ROCK – Duck season restarts for waterfowl hunters on Saturday, Dec. 11, and those hunters maybe facing worse conditions than when the 60-day season officially opened Nov. 20. “It’s doing nothing but getting drier on the landscape,” Luke Naylor, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission waterfowl program coordinator, said Wednesday. “Conditions may be declining,…
Season continues, hunters still searching for water
Little Rock, Arkansas – Arkansas duck hunters face the same conditions for the second weekend of the 2021-22 season as they did during the first: Little water can be found around the state. Anecdotal reports from around the state the past week indicated that where hunters had water in fields and timber, ducks were there…
Pull the plug on hitchhikers this duck season
LITTLE ROCK – The opening day of duck season is finally within reach, and for some that means a lot of gear shuffling and a last-minute dash to make sure boat motors and equipment are in working order. Biologists with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission urge all hunters and anglers alike to pull the…
Motorists, be on the lookout for deer on highways
Little Rock, Arkansas – Deer are on the move in The Natural State. That means hunters and motorists in Arkansas should keep a watchful eye out, particularly at dawn and dusk. In addition to the increased deer activity, the shortened days place rush hour during the peak times of day when deer are on the…