Build some habitat for the holidays
Dec. 21, 2022
LITTLE ROCK — Once the wrapping paper has been thrown away and the last drop of eggnog has been consumed, few people have a use for that evergreen tree that graced their home during the holiday season. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has a new job for those leftover trees: fish habitat.
Night hunter’s poaching results in seven-year suspension
Dec. 21, 2022
BALD KNOB — Night hunting and hunting out of season can be some of the toughest crimes for wildlife officers to catch, often requiring many nights patrolling areas of poaching activity. One such patrol on Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge in August 2020 led to the arrest and successful prosecution of one of the worst cases of illegal hunting many officers of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission have seen in years.
AGFC, partners remove defunct Saline River crossing for angler, fish access
Dec. 21, 2022
DIERKS — According to Tim Burnley, Stream Habitat Program supervisor for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, many manmade low-water crossings, bridges and dams can impede the movements of fish to spawning areas, especially smaller fish species. Thanks to a partnership with Weyerhaeuser, one such dilapidated low-water crossing was removed to help promote fish movement and improve safety for recreational floaters and anglers in southwest Arkansas.
Wildlife officers join ‘Shop With a Cop’
Dec. 21, 2022
TEXARKANA — Each December, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife officers join with other law enforcement agencies to help underprivileged and at-risk children in Arkansas. This year, officers from Lafayette and Miller counties paired with over 160 kids for a shopping spree called “Shop With a Cop” leading up to Christmas.
South Arkansas bear hunt highlights 2022 harvest
Dec. 21, 2022
LITTLE ROCK — With a shortened three-day hunt window, hunters in south Arkansas’s much-anticipated bear season took full advantage of their December hunt, totalling 28 bears harvested in newly opened Bear Zone 4 from Dec. 10-12. Bear hunters in other portions of the state saw success as well.
Arkansas Wildlife Weekly Fishing Report
Dec. 15, 2022
Frank Williams landed some nice smallmouth bass while fishing Bull Shoals Lake with veteran guide Del Colvin recently. Bull Shoals produces plenty of opportunity for smallmouth bass, he says. Photo provided by Del Colvin.
Arkansas Wildlife Weekly Waterfowl Report
Dec. 14, 2022
Mallards find a slough near Five Oaks Hunting Club in Arknasas County during the 2021-22 season. There should be more areas like this on the Arkansas Delta landscape after the last few days of rainfall. Photo by Mike Wintroath, AGFC.