Recent changes made by The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) should make deer hunting season simplier for hunters as they head into the woods this coming fall.
The updates were part of a broader package of more than 200 regulation changes approved during a meeting last week by AGFC officials at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
Among the changes, deer season structures on Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) will be similar statewide. Each WMA will have a seasonal bag limit of no more than three deer, with no more than two bucks. Hunters can still reach the statewide seasonal limit of six deer by hunting in multiple zones or WMAs.
On private land, seasonal limits will be set at four deer, with hunters again allowed to reach the six-deer statewide limit by hunting in different zones.
Another key change standardizes how harvested deer are counted. All deer will now count toward a hunter’s seasonal total as either antlered bucks or antlerless deer, regardless of where they are taken. Button bucks will not count toward the two buck limit.
A new rule will require dogs used to pursue deer, fox or coyote on public land to wear collars equipped with GPS tracking and electronic correction capabilities.
Also a 3 day early archery buck-only season will be added on several WMAs, including Maumelle River WMA, U of A Pine Tree Wildlife Demonstration Area near Forest City and cooperative WMAs managed with the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and U.S. Forest Service. That three-day season will now begin on the last Saturday in August.
The commission also approved allowing modern centerfire firearms for deer hunting in Private Land Deer Zones 4 and 5 in eastern Arkansas.
In addition, Grant and Sevier counties have been added to the state’s Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone, meaning hunters must follow transport and handling regulations for deer harvested in those areas.
A list of all changes to deer season in Arkanas is available at https://www.agfc.com/regulations/.
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