All posts in Outdoors

The following is a press release from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission: SUMPTER, Ark. – Anglers and boaters in south Arkansas now have convenient access to the Saline River just south of Warren thanks to the completion of an improved concrete boat ramp by Bradley County and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The…

LITTLE ROCK — Duck hunters will find a significant boost in acreage and fields available this season for private rice field hunting through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Waterfowl Rice Incentive Conservation Enhancement program. The number of fields available for drawn permits with WRICE has increased from 69 last season to 78 this year,…

AMITY, Ark. – The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has confirmed a mountain lion sighting near Amity in Clark County. The sighting was reported by a hunter who captured the animal on a game camera. AGFC biologists have investigated the sighting and determined that it is credible.  Mountain lions – also known as pumas and…

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission expects more than 33,000 deer to be harvested and checked this Saturday and Sunday during opening weekend of Arkansas’s modern gun deer season if the harvest is consistent with recent years. Although extra staff are being contracted to handle a large volume of calls expected to…

JONESBORO – The Arkansas State University College of Agriculture Meat Market will partner with Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry (AHFH) to produce and distribute shelf snack sticks for school children across the state in efforts to battle food insecurity. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, nearly 17 percent of Arkansas households were food insecure…

LITTLE ROCK — An expanded partnership between the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Wildlife Services Program should streamline the response to public reports of the occasional wild animal that poses a threat to people, livestock and property. A new nuisance wildlife hotline, 833-345-0315,…

Anglers interested in hooking into an epic-sized trophy fish like the one in the photo above can apply for a 2024 Alligator Gar Trophy tag from now until the end of 2023. Many Arkansas anglers travel all the way to the Gulf of Mexico each year in search of trophy fish like tarpon and sailfish.…

LITTLE ROCK – When you are getting ready for the hunt, a small but potentially important item in your gear should be the 2023-24 Hunting Guidebook of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and there’s more than one way to carry it. The guidebook is a summary of the AGFC’s hunting regulations. It also has things like…

PINE BLUFF — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Gov. Mike Huckabee Delta Rivers Nature Center will again host its annual Wetlands and Wildlife Festival from noon to 5 p.m., Oct. 28. This family-friendly celebration of conservation is a great way to enjoy an afternoon with family and friends learning about all the outdoors has…

LITTLE ROCK — Growing recreational shooting sports is the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s target in the coming years under Director Austin Booth, and much is underway to make that come to fruition. Booth expanded the AGFC’s focus on recreational shooting sports with the creation of a Shooting Sports Division in July, headed up by Chief…

LITTLE ROCK — Biologists and staff from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will host a live Arkansas Deer Update on the AGFC YouTube channel beginning at 6 p.m. Oct. 19 for hunters heading into the meat of deer season. Ralph Meeker, the AGFC’s Deer Program coordinator, will kick off the event with an overview of Arkansas’s…

LITTLE ROCK — With cooler weather on the horizon and archery deer season underway, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wants to remind all hunters to help monitor chronic wasting disease in the state by using one of the AGFC’s free CWD testing locations. All resident hunters who submit a sample for testing also will…

LITTLE ROCK — On Oct. 1, the green and white 4-H flag was raised at the U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters in Washington, D.C., where it will fly through Oct. 7 to celebrate National 4-H Week. In Arkansas, 4-H members, volunteers, leaders and staff are highlighting the program’s impact on youth in all 75 of…

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Director Austin Booth gave Commissioners the first reading of two regulations changes concerning Arkansas hunting and fishing licenses at a special virtual meeting held Thursday.  The first regulation change proposed was an extension to the recently passed Resident Natural State Lifetime Combination License and Permit available to…

LITTLE ROCK – The 2023 Arkansas Alligator Season drew to a close at sunrise Monday, and, when the smoke on the water cleared, hunters had tallied 202 legally harvested alligators, swamping the old record of 174 taken in 2020.  AGFC Biologist Mark Barbee, who works out of the Monticello Regional Office and has coordinated the…

LITTLE ROCK — A hot, dry summer has left Arkansas lakes and rivers lower than usual for the arrival of fall, and the weather has brought water hazards closer to the surface. Recreational boaters and anglers need to be extra vigilant these days. Jeremy Risley, the AGFC’s Black Bass Program coordinator, was working on Beaver…

MONTICELLO — The National Bobwhite and Grassland Initiative recently awarded Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Biologist David Luker the 2023 Arkansas Firebird Award. The award is presented annually to a biologist in each nominating state who goes above and beyond to improve habitat for northern bobwhites and other grassland species through the use of prescribed…

The Drew County Fair hosted its trap shooting contest on September 23, 2023, at the Drew County fairgrounds. Among the participants from grades 9 to 12, the winners were as follows: Alex Wardlaw secured the first place, Mason Wardlaw came in second, and William Leslie clinched the third-place position.

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’s archery deer season opens Saturday, Sept. 23, and hunters are busy making those last-minute preparations for success. Double-check your license purchase and electronic game tags on the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s new mobile app or website before you hit the field so things run smoothly when you seal the deal…

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas duck hunters will get their first shot at some early birds this Friday when the early teal season opens at sunrise. The early teal season is open Sept. 15-30, so hunters can have an opportunity to harvest some of these small ducks that typically migrate before the rest of the crowd.…

LITTLE ROCK — According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s recently released “2023 Hunting Incident Report,” Arkansas hunters last year reported the fewest number of hunting accidents requiring medical attention since 2010. Sixteen incidents were recorded, including two resulting in fatalities. “With nearly 307,000 licensed hunters in the woods last year, that’s one serious…