Turkey-poaching trend troubling Arkansas game wardens
May 3, 2023
LITTLE ROCK — With last year’s increase in turkey reproduction and a strong start to the 2023 spring turkey season, biologists and staff at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission are cautiously optimistic about recent trends in Arkansas’s turkey woods. One trend that still has AGFC game wardens concerned is the continued use of bait by some poachers to illegally shoot their turkeys.
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.
Wildlife officers need details to catch game violators
Oct. 20, 2021
Help AGFC wildlife officers stop night hunting, out of season poaching and other violations with these helpful tips. Quick, accurate information is the biggest boost the average citizen can give them.
Poachers harvest hefty fines from deer garden
Sept. 30, 2021
JONESBORO — With the outdoors as their office, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife officers often work with unusual crime scenes, as poachers often go to extreme lengths to hide their crimes from weather and animals as well as the watchful eyes of neighbors and other hunters. In 2016 Sgt. Jeff Dalton and Cpl. Bret Ditto found one of the most unusual and fertile evidence discoveries of their careers, a literal garden of skulls from illegally poached white-tailed deer.
Arkansas wildlife officers alarmed by increase in turkey hunting violations
June 9, 2021
LITTLE ROCK — With just over 7,000 wild turkeys checked in Arkansas this spring, it’s no secret that hunting was a challenge for many in The Natural State. Some couldn’t play by the rules, resulting in an alarming trend noticed by wildlife officers whose business is catching those who cut corners and prevent honest hunters from seeing increased turkey harvest numbers.
Arkansas turkey season concludes with just over 7,000 birds checked
May 19, 2021
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas hunters harvested and checked 7,010 eastern wild turkeys during the 2021 turkey season, which concluded May 9. While the harvest showed a similar decrease to that of surrounding states, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologists are hopeful for the future.
$5,000 offered for information on Cross County bald eagle shooting
Feb. 25, 2020
CHERRY VALLEY – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission are conducting a joint investigation into the death of a mature bald eagle found in Cross County on Feb. 21.