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.
Bokker deals with the ups and downs of water at Raft Creek
Aug. 21, 2020
GEORGETOWN – It’s been an interesting summer around the Steve N. Wilson Raft Creek Bottoms Wildlife Management Area. In June, with the White and Cache rivers running over their banks, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission habitat biologist Jacob Bokker and his crew couldn’t get into the oversaturated bottoms to get to their moist-soil preparation for the upcoming waterfowl season.
Special Canada goose hunting season opens Sept. 1
Aug. 19, 2020
LITTLE ROCK – With the Sept. 5 opening day of dove season only a few weeks away, it’s hard to think about this being a good time to chase waterfowl, but hunters looking for early Canada goose action will be able to break out the decoys and chase localCanada geese earlier than even dove hunters this year.
More than 3,800 acres added to waterfowl hunting opportunity in Arkansas
Aug. 12, 2020
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will offer an additional 3,828 acres of prime waterfowl hunting opportunity during the 2020-21 waterfowl season, thanks to the expansion of the Waterfowl Rice Incentive Conservation Easement Program. The program allows rice producers to enroll fields to increase waterfowl habitat near popular public waterfowl-hunting areas and to offer limited public hunting opportunities on private rice fields through an online drawing.
Harvest Information Program registration sees changes in Arkansas
Aug. 12, 2020
LITTLE ROCK — Beginning this year all hunters who wish to pursue doves, ducks, geese and other migratory birds in Arkansas will need to register for the Harvest Information Program either online at agfc.com, through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission smartphone app or at an AGFC regional office, nature center or shooting range. In an effort to improve the quality of data being submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arkansas HIP registration will no longer be offered at license vendors such as sporting goods stores.
Director, biologists mull changes needed in flooded Hurricane Lake WMA
July 22, 2020
BALD KNOB – Kayakers would have found the South Unit of Henry Gray Hurricane Lake Wildlife Management Area inviting in June. In fact, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Wildlife Management Division biologists had placed blue markers on trees that would be easily recognizable to paddlers who use the AGFC’s water trails around the state.
AGFC sets Veteran/Active Duty Military Waterfowl Hunt, Arkansas waterfowl season dates clarified
July 16, 2020
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission unanimously approved the addition of the veteran’s/active duty military waterfowl hunt to Arkansas’s youth waterfowl hunt days during today’s regularly scheduled meeting. This is the second consecutive year the Commission has approved the option since it was made available by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.