July 18, 2018
Randy Zellers Assistant Chief of Communications
LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will sell all leftover permits to participate in special deer permit hunts on Arkansas wildlife management areas beginning at 8 a.m., July 23.
The AGFC offers many excellent opportunities to hunt deer on wildlife management areas throughout the state. Some WMAs, however, have become so popular or have so little room to breathe that hunts must be managed to maintain healthy wildlife populations and high-quality hunting experiences. For these hunts, the AGFC has a special draw process that people may enter each year. The application fee is $5 and applications are taken from June 1-July 1 each year.
While most hunts are completely filled, some still have a few permits left because hunters did not initially apply for them.
AGFC Chief of Wildlife Management Brad Carner says that although these hunts were not the most highly sought, they still offer hunters a very good chance at bagging a deer. Some wildlife management areas that have excellent success rates often fly under the radar because all the attention is placed on one or two standout areas. In some cases, very good WMAs are left as a fallback option, in case hunters don’t draw the more popular hunts.
“A lot of hunters put all their eggs in one basket, picking areas because of their reputation, but during leftover permit sales, we often see some of the less popular draws get scooped up quickly,” Carner said. “U of A Pine Tree is one of these popular second-chance hunts because it runs during Thanksgiving. A person can try to draw an opening day hunt during the regular draw period, then grab a leftover Thanksgiving hunt here to stretch out their season.”
Each permit will be sold for $5. Each hunter may purchase one permit for each of the remaining WMA permit hunts. There is no limit to the amount of permits a person may buy, but many of the hunts are on the same days, so hunters should pay attention to the hunt dates as well as the location before purchasing.
Click here for more details and a list of remaining permits