Canada’s reduced hunter use unlikely to boost Arkansas waterfowl harvest
Nov. 4, 2020
LITTLE ROCK – Travel restrictions into Canada for non-Canadians due to the coronavirus pandemic have dropped to zero the number of nonresident waterfowl hunters who typically venture to Canada’s prairies and parklands. One would surmise that with no U.S. hunters, many fewer ducks would be harvested during Canada’s waterfowl hunting season – and, well, those surviving ducks would eventually boost the potential harvest in Arkansas, right?
Hurricane Lake WMA die-off attracts attention from congressmen, conservation partners
Nov. 2, 2020
BALD KNOB — United States congressmen French Hill and Bruce Westerman met with representatives from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Ducks Unlimited under an overcast sky at Henry Gray Hurricane Lake Wildlife Management Area last Tuesday to talk about the future of green timber duck hunting in The Natural State.
Dave Donaldson sees improved infrastructure for ducks
Oct. 21, 2020
POCAHONTAS — Dave Donaldson Black River WMA near Pocahontas embodies the public green timber duck hunting Arkansas is known for. And with the help of a current project slated at $1 million, it will be even more attractive to migrating waterfowl in years to come.
Bird banding laboratory celebrates 100 years of science
Oct. 7, 2020
LITTLE ROCK — There’s something about the thrill of harvesting mallards in a greentree reservoir that has put it at the top of many waterfowl hunters’ bucket lists. If one of those birds is sporting a band on its leg, that small piece of aluminum is likely to go into a keepsake box to be handed down to children with stories of Arkansas’s famous flooded timber. But bird bands are much more than mementos or status symbols; they’re one of the first “citizen science” projects ever developed for conservation.
Zachary finds his place at diverse Ed Gordon/Point Remove WMA
Sept. 30, 2020
One of the most diverse regions in all of Arkansas for wildlife is the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Region 7, a vast area of land in the Ozark Highlands and Arkansas River Valley that includes two major wildlife management areas, Ed Gordon/Point Remove WMA and Galla Creek WMA. Alex Zachary is a veteran biologist in Region 7 on Ed Gordon and Galla Creek WMAs. Zachary, who turned 33 late in the summer, began work with the AGFC there in November 2011 as a technician and moved up to his current role as biologist in 2014.
Rain may change outlook for Arkansas dove, teal season openers
Sept. 2, 2020
LITTLE ROCK — Cooler weather and rain may bring mixed emotions for wingshooters looking forward to some September seasons. Cloudbursts brought on the wings of Hurricane Laura have transformed some areas of the state overnight, affecting the prospects for dove hunting and early teal season this year.
Old decoys spark new interest in outdoors
Sept. 2, 2020
PINE BLUFF — It happens every September. Duck hunters across the country begin to feel the need to dig through their gear and make plans for opening day. Sporting goods stores begin moving waterfowl-hunting equipment from storage to their shelves, and hunters are bombarded with the latest realistic decoys promised to make their next season a success. But what happens to the old decoys left behind in the garage? Eric Maynard, assistant chief of education for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, has a solution to the situation — the AGFC decoy adoption center.