Deadline for captive wildlife permits approaches
May 12, 2021
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansans who have not updated or obtained their permits for owning, breeding or dealing certain captive wildlife species have until July 1 to submit their application. This includes any first-time permittees who may not have all the proper documentation usually required to obtain these permits. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is working with these customers to get them into compliance. Additionally, owners of venomous reptiles also must submit an application for a new Venomous Reptile Permit no later than July 1.
White Oak is white hot for bass
May 12, 2021
CAMDEN — Stephen Tyson Jr. nearly called his shot on the timing when double-digit fish would start to show at Lower White Oak Lake in Ouachita County. He’d been gradually catching bigger and bigger fish on the lake during the last few years, and this March, he finally connected with a true 10-pounder in the recently renovated lake.
Northwest Arkansas nature center opens squirrel season with hunting contest
May 11, 2021
SPRINGDALE — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will host its inaugural Big Squirrel Classic squirrel-hunting derby May 15 at the J.B. and Johnelle Hunt Family Ozark Highlands Nature Center in northwest Arkansas. The squirrel-hunting contest is a free celebration of the opening of squirrel season in The Natural State.
AGFC to host family fishing event in Pine Bluff
May 11, 2021
PINE BLUFF – The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Family and Community Fishing Program will bring the fish and the fun for all ages to Martin Luther King Jr. Park Pond from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturday May 15.
Bears back on the move, AGFC offers advice to be bearwise
May 11, 2021
FAYETTEVILLE — Like many high schoolers and college grads, young Arkansas black bears will be striking out on their own early this summer to find their place in the world. Unfortunately, just like young humans, the bears may find themselves in some sticky situations as they learn the ropes of life without a net for the first time. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission usually sees an uptick in nuisance bear complaints each spring and almost all of the culprits are young males that are looking for new territory.
13-year-old Arkansan on quest to complete Outdoor Skills program
May 5, 2021
MAYFLOWER — Spending time in the outdoors is often its own reward, a recently added program from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission offers extra incentives to building your outdoor skills. Just ask Anthony Long-Irby of Mayflower. He’s collected nearly all the achievements the AGFC’s Outdoor Skills Patch Program has to offer at only 13 years old.
Keep wildlife wild, leave ‘orphans’ alone
May 5, 2021
LITTLE ROCK — Each year, biologists with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission get calls from worried conservation-minded individuals who happen across a young, helpless-looking deer, rabbits and birds that have apparently lost their mother. Moving those animals may be one of the worst things you can do to help it, and in the case of white-tailed deer fawns, taking it home can even land you in trouble with the law.