LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission recently confirmed that a deer in Conway County and another deer in Stone County have tested positive for chronic wasting disease. Both deer were harvested during the recent alternative firearms season. The Conway County deer was harvested on Ed Gordon Point Remove Wildlife Management Area during the…
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Rising water threatens to close deer hunting in portions of east Arkansas
GEORGETOWN – Hunters heading out for opening weekend of modern gun deer hunting season this weekend are urged to keep a close eye on river gauge readings to ensure the area they are hunting is open. Recent downpours throughout the White River Basin have created a large pulse of water that is expected to exceed…
Record your quail hunting adventures to benefit the birds
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is looking for some input from Arkansas quail hunters about their experiences in The Natural State throughout the season. Much like hunter surveys conducted by die-hard turkey hunters and archery deer hunters, the AGFC Quail Log Book offers a way for bird dog enthusiasts to contribute…
Get a free sausage biscuit at Hardee’s with your hunting license Nov. 6
LITTLE ROCK — Hunters headed to deer camp to get things ready for opening weekend of modern gun deer season may want to make a quick pitstop to fuel up at their local Hardee’s restaurant. All participating Hardee’s restaurants in Arkansas will give a free sausage biscuit to anyone who shows their valid hunting license…
Free youth deer tags available at AGFC.com
LITTLE ROCK — The first segment of the 2024-25 Arkansas youth deer hunting season runs Nov. 2-3, and many young guns will be celebrating their first deer hunting trip, first deer of the season and the beginning of their conservation journey as a hunter. Make sure they have all the tools for success, including the…
Calling All Cooks: Join the Buck Fever Festival Chili Cook-Off on November 2
BANKS, Ark. – The Buck Fever Festival is gearing up for its much-anticipated Venison/HBM Chili Cook-Off this Saturday, November 2, 2024, in Banks, Arkansas. With only four entries so far, festival organizers are calling for more cooks to join the competition and make this a flavorful showdown. Participants can sign up now or even on…
Apply to become an AGFC game warden
LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is accepting applications for its next class of game warden cadets. Applications will be accepted until Oct. 30. Becoming a game warden is much more than just checking hunting and fishing licenses. They respond to calls for help during natural disasters, search-and-rescue efforts and even assist…
Taste of the Wild adds flavor to fall event lineup
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and University of Arkansas Pulaski Tech are melding the sciences of conservation and cooking into a revolutionary exhibition called “Taste of the Wild” at Pulaski Tech’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute beginning at 5 p.m. Oct. 24. The event will…
With wildfire danger up, hunters, campers should forego outdoor burning
LITTLE ROCK — With most of Arkansas at high risk of wildfires, state officials are asking the public to avoid outdoor burning. On Thursday, the Arkansas wildfire map showed 64 counties at high risk, with 11 counties, all in northeastern Arkansas, at moderate risk. County judges have imposed burn bans in most of the high-risk counties. Article by…
Download your copy of the 2024-25 Arkansas Waterfowl Hunting Guidebook
LITTLE ROCK — The printers are rolling full steam ahead and soon 2024-25 Arkansas Waterfowl Hunting Guidebooks will grace the checkout counters of sporting goods stores, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission regional offices and AGFC nature centers throughout the state. Don’t wait to get the latest ducky details, though; download the guidebook today at www.agfc.com. The guidebook may…
Straight talk on straight-walled firearms
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’s first alternative firearms season opens Oct. 19, and many hunters are excited at the increased opportunity to use a rifle with straight-walled ammunition this year instead of their old black-powder muzzleloader. Article courtesy of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Alternative firearms season, created this year to replace traditional muzzleloader season,…
Nostalgic Nativ clothing supports AGFC conservation efforts
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has partnered with Nativ, a leading Arkansas-based outdoor apparel brand, to launch a limited edition collection of apparel benefitting the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation. Article by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The new clothing line, featuring a retro version of the AGFC’s logo, is…
Late summer water levels call for increased boating caution
LITTLE ROCK — For the second year in a row, dry conditions throughout most of The Natural State have led to many lakes and ponds sitting at lower water levels than anglers and boaters experienced throughout spring and early summer. The cooling, lower water of fall can concentrate baitfish and bass, making for great fishing…
20-year-old accident still spreading safety message
LITTLE ROCK — Jacob Cain was 10 years old when he went on an impromptu squirrel hunt near Arkadelphia in November of 2004. His father, Larry Cain, was nearby clearing shooting lanes for deer season. After an hour or so on a tractor, Larry decided to check on the boy. He shouted his son’s name…
Hunters haul 181 alligators in 18th annual hunting season
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas hunters managed the second-highest harvest of alligators on record during the last two weekends in the sloughs and swamps of The Natural State. The 181-alligator harvest falls short of last year’s record effort of 202 alligators checked, but maintains the overall upward trend in what is still a relatively new opportunity…
Coming or Going? Fall Flights Reach Beyond Waterfowl
LITTLE ROCK — Hunters may be consumed with questions of when the ducks will arrive; avid birders know there’s more to migration than mallards. Songbirds, wading birds and a variety of other species constantly flow through The Natural State; many make their fall travel plans well before the temperature clues us humans into the changing…
Wading Birds Flock to Moro Bay State Park
MORO BAY, Ark. – Visitors to Moro Bay State Park were recently treated to an impressive sight as a variety of large wading birds made a stop at the park’s small pond near the entrance. According to a recent announcement from Moro Bay State Park, species spotted included Great Egrets, Wood Storks, a Great Blue…
New program adds 12,000 acres of Arkansas wetlands for waterfowl
LITTLE ROCK — Nearly 12,000 additional acres of wetlands will greet waterfowl in The Natural State this winter, thanks to the successful implementation of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Conservation Incentive Program. The program was funded through special set-aside funds by the Arkansas General Assembly. Throughout spring and summer, AGFC staff worked with private…
Early detection stops two alien invaders in their tracks, Lake Georgia-Pacific boat access reopened
CROSSETT, Ark. — A recent infestation of Lake Georgia-Pacific in Ashley County by aquatic nuisance species has been eliminated thanks to swift decisions and hard work by Georgia-Pacific and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. AGFC staff removed dozens of boatloads of water hyacinth, an invasive species native to the Amazon Basin of South America…
Hunters check 1,231 deer during inaugural early buck hunt
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas bowhunters harvested 1,231 deer during the state’s first statewide early buck hunt earlier this month. The jump-start to deer season was added during the biannual regulations-setting process this spring to offer hunters the opportunity to pursue a buck still “in velvet.” Ralph Meeker, deer program coordinator for the Arkansas Game and…
Commission updated on Private Land Deer Management
MORRILTON — Commissioners with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commision heard an update on the agency’s Deer Management Assistance Program during today’s commission meeting at the Dr. T.W. Hardison Visitor Center at Petit Jean State Park. The program has existed in some form since the 1990s, but was formally named in 2001. It provides customized…