July 12, 2019
Jim Harris Managing Editor Arkansas Wildlife Magazine
LITTLE ROCK – More than 850 permits will be available for purchase beginning 8 a.m., Monday, July 22, for special deer hunts on Arkansas’s wildlife management areas. These permits cover modern gun, muzzleloader, youth and mobility-impaired hunts that weren’t awarded through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s annual WMA deer permit drawing earlier this month.
Each permit will be sold for $5. A hunter may purchase one permit for each of the remaining WMA permit hunts, and there is no limit to the amount of permits a person may buy. However, many of the remaining hunts are on the same days, so hunters should pay attention to the dates as well as the location before purchasing.
Some highly sought-after WMAs were completely filled by the special draw, but there are other WMAs with permits remaining offering a great chance for harvesting a deer. This includes the modern gun hunt at U of A Pine Tree WMA near Forrest City, which has 134 permits unclaimed for the Nov. 9-13 hunt, or the 90 permits still available for the Camp Robinson WMA modern gun hunt Nov. 30-Dec. 1. Modern gun users will have 306 leftover permits for purchase covering four WMAs; youth hunters can pick among 208 permits covering seven WMAs; 44 permits are left for the mobility-impaired hunters at Freddie Black Choctaw Island WMA on Oct. 19-21; and muzzleloader hunters have 310 permits for sale covering seven WMAs.
The leftover permit sale is on a first-come, first-served basis, and the purchase may be made online (www.agfc.com, click “Buy Licenses/Check Game” on the upper right side of the website). AGFC Chief of Wildlife Management Brad Carner says that although these leftover permits are for less-sought hunts, they still offer WMAs with excellent success rates that often fly under the radar because all the attention is placed on one or two standout areas.
“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.
Visit www.agfc.com/en/hunting/big-game/deer/wmadeerpermits to see a list of available permits left.