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Read from the AGFC 2026-27 Arkansas Hunting Guidebook, the Waterfowl Hunting Guidebook, AGFC harvest reports and AGFC zone maps
Arkansas Hunting
196 public hunting places from the Ozark National Forest to the White River bottoms, a page for each of the 20 private land deer zones and 8 bear zones, 75 counties, 228 base towns, 43 species, all 97 season rows and all 41 license and permit rows. Every date, fee and acreage here comes from AGFC or a federal land manager, checked on November 9, 2026. The photo shows fall color on White Rock Mountain in the Ozarks.
Photo: Marco Becerra (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Arkansas zones and the season pages
Black bear runs in 6 open bear zones with quotas, spring turkey in 5 turkey zones, alligator in three open management zones, and elk by permit in Boone, Carroll, Madison, Newton and Searcy counties. 142 WMA permit hunts were parsed from the WMA listings in the guidebook.
| Season tool | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Season dates | 97 season rows by species |
| Deer zones | 20 private land zones |
| Bear zones | 8 zones, two closed |
| CWD zone | 32 counties, two tiers |
| Turkey zones | 5 spring zones |
| Alligator zones | Zones 1 to 3 open |
| Elk hunting | Five core counties |
| WMA permit hunts | 142 parsed hunts |
| WMA rules | Bags, blinds, baiting |
| Draws and permits | Every window |
| Game | AGFC summary |
|---|---|
| Deer | Six deer, no more than two antlered bucks. |
| Deer by zone | Four deer per private land zone (two antlered max); WMAs three deer (two antlered max). |
| Black bear | Zone 1 quota archery 450, alternative firearms 50, modern gun 50; Zones 6 and 7 closed. |
| Spring turkey | April 5 to May 9, 2027 by zone. |
| Elk | Permits October 5-9 and 26-30. |
| Ducks | Six a day, four mallards. |
Arkansas sets deer seasons by 20 private land deer zones, and every wildlife management area and national wildlife refuge is a zone of its own with its own dates and a three-deer bag. Zone lines follow highways and rivers, so most counties touch two or more deer zones; each county page names every zone it touches. Modern gun season opens November 14 in every zone and closes on a date set zone by zone, dogs are allowed for deer in 11 zones, and Zones 4 and 5 have no alternative firearms season.
All 20 private land deer zones
The eight bear zones
County lists for each zone come from the AGFC zone layers and the 2026-27 guidebook; turkey zone counties were read from AGFC’s zone map. Sources: Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 23; Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 14; Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 29; Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 31; Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 25; Waterfowl Guidebook, PDF p. 3. Checked: the PDF pages were opened again on November 9, 2026.
Arkansas hunting ground on one map
189 places carry a map point, from Bayou Meto on the Grand Prairie to White Rock in the Boston Mountains. Places of 100,000 acres or more get the larger dots; walk-in turkey areas and the leased land and WRICE programs have no single point.
Arkansas public hunting land
Measured on the map layers, the 75 counties hold about 4,182,501 acres of public hunting land: some 2,604,044 acres of national forest, 2,627,654 acres inside AGFC WMA boundaries (forest overlay WMAs included), 376,246 acres of refuges, 215,080 acres of Corps of Engineers land and 89,793 acres along the Buffalo National River. Chicot, Grant and Lincoln counties have no public hunting land on file.
| Land hub | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Wildlife management areas | 136 WMA records |
| National forests | 2 forests, 16 districts, 5 walk-in turkey areas |
| Wildlife refuges | 9 refuges open to hunting |
| Corps lakes | 25 lakes, district rules |
| Access programs | Leased land, WRICE, DMAP |
| Leased land WMAs | 11 leased WMAs |
| WRICE rice fields | Drawn rice field hunts |
| Land map | 189 pins |
A further 50 places allow no hunting: 42 state parks, 6 National Park Service units such as Hot Springs National Park and Pea Ridge, Logan Cave National Wildlife Refuge and Electric Island WMA. The Buffalo National River is the one Park Service unit open to hunting, and only inside the Buffalo National River WMA under its own rules.
Tile acres are the figure on each land record; county acres are measured from GIS polygons and are not official totals. Sources: Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 68; eCFR; eCFR; AGFC Code 05.11 text. Checked: the PDF pages were opened again on November 9, 2026.
The Arkansas harvest at a glance
Hunters checked 185,922 deer in the 2025-26 season, 112,896 of them in November alone, against a high of 216,835 in 2020-21. Spring turkey hunters checked 11,332 birds in 2025, the most of the three springs on file, and bear hunters 445 black bears.
Deer figures are checked deer from AGFC Game Check; the 2025 bar is the 2025-26 season. Sources: AGFC 2025-26 deer report, p. 6; AGFC 2025-26 deer report, p. 18; AGFC 2025 turkey report, p. 18; AGFC 2025 bear harvest report, p. 3. Checked: the PDF pages were opened again on November 9, 2026.
This week on the Arkansas calendar
These counts cover all 97 season rows in the AGFC data. Deer shows the most rows because each private land deer zone carries its own modern gun and alternative firearms lines, while ducks run as one statewide row split into three windows.
Open on November 9, 2026: 18 kinds of game, 19 rows
| Game | Rows open | First window ends | Last window ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coyote | 2 | Dec 31, 2026 | Mar 31, 2027 |
| Crow | 1 | Feb 21, 2027 | Feb 21, 2027 |
| Woodcock | 1 | Dec 21, 2026 | Dec 21, 2026 |
| Rails | 1 | Nov 20, 2026 | Nov 20, 2026 |
| Snipe | 1 | Feb 15, 2027 | Feb 15, 2027 |
| Beaver, nutria | 1 | Mar 31, 2027 | Mar 31, 2027 |
| Black bear | 1 | Nov 30, 2026 | Nov 30, 2026 |
| Bobcat | 1 | Feb 28, 2027 | Feb 28, 2027 |
| Bullfrog | 1 | Dec 31, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Gallinules | 1 | Nov 9, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
| Elk | 1 | Feb 28, 2027 | Feb 28, 2027 |
| Feral hog | 1 | Dec 31, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Fox, muskrat, mink | 1 | Feb 28, 2027 | Feb 28, 2027 |
| Quail | 1 | Feb 7, 2027 | Feb 7, 2027 |
| Rabbit | 1 | Feb 28, 2027 | Feb 28, 2027 |
| Raccoon, opossum, skunk | 1 | Dec 31, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Squirrel | 1 | Feb 28, 2027 | Feb 28, 2027 |
| Deer | 1 | Feb 28, 2027 | Feb 28, 2027 |
Next Arkansas windows to open
| Game | Season | Opens | Closes | Today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black bear | Modern Gun | Nov 14, 2026 | Nov 30, 2026 | |
| River Otter | Hunting | Nov 14, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 | |
| Deer | Modern Gun | Nov 14, 2026 | Dec 6, 2026 | |
| Coot | Coot | Nov 21, 2026 | Nov 29, 2026 | |
| Canada Goose | Regular Canada goose | Nov 21, 2026 | Nov 29, 2026 | |
| Beaver, nutria | Trapping | Nov 21, 2026 | Mar 31, 2027 | |
| Ducks | Regular duck season | Nov 21, 2026 | Nov 29, 2026 | |
| Furbearers | Trapping | Nov 21, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 | |
| Mergansers | Merganser | Nov 21, 2026 | Nov 29, 2026 | |
| Light geese | Light geese (regular) | Nov 21, 2026 | Nov 29, 2026 |
Split seasons count as open only inside one of their windows; WMA and refuge dates are on the land pages. Sources: 2026-27 Arkansas Hunting Guidebook; 2026-27 Waterfowl Hunting Guidebook; AGFC season date sheet. Checked: the PDF pages were opened again on November 9, 2026.
AGFC regions, offices and the 75 counties
AGFC's Wildlife Management Division splits the state into seven regions, from Region 1 around Jonesboro to Region 7 around Mayflower, each with a district office. Every county page names its region, its district office and the nearest of the nine AGFC offices.
Region 1, around Jonesboro
Clay · Craighead · Greene · Jackson · Lawrence · Mississippi · Poinsett · Randolph
Region 2, around Brinkley
Crittenden · Cross · Lee · Lonoke · Monroe · Phillips · Prairie · St. Francis · White · Woodruff
Region 3, around Monticello
Arkansas · Ashley · Bradley · Calhoun · Chicot · Cleveland · Dallas · Desha · Drew · Grant · Jefferson · Lincoln · Ouachita · Union
Region 4, around Perrytown
Clark · Columbia · Hempstead · Hot Spring · Howard · Lafayette · Little River · Miller · Nevada · Pike · Sevier
Region 5, around Fort Smith
Garland · Logan · Montgomery · Perry · Polk · Pulaski · Saline · Scott · Sebastian · Yell
AGFC headquarters sits at 2 Natural Resources Drive in Little Rock ((501) 207-0326), and eight more offices from Mountain Home to Monticello appear on the AGFC Regional Offices page, several of them inside nature centers.
Every county lies at least 99 percent inside one district, so each is listed once. Sources: AGFC map layer; AGFC Regional Offices page. Checked: the PDF pages were opened again on November 9, 2026.
Arkansas species in 43 guides
White-tailed deer in every county, elk by permit in the Buffalo River country, black bear in the Ozarks, Ouachitas and the White River bottoms, spring gobblers in five turkey zones, alligators at night in the south, mallards in flooded timber and rice, and squirrel, rabbit, quail and furbearers on long statewide seasons. Badger, spotted skunk and weasel are closed, and two pages explain why nongame migratory birds and endangered species have no season.
Feral Hog · Squirrel · Rabbit · Quail · American Crow · Bullfrog · Raccoon · Opossum · Striped Skunk · Bobcat · Coyote · Gray Fox · Red Fox · Mink · Muskrat · River Otter · Beaver · Nutria · Badger · Spotted Skunk · Weasel · Teal · Mergansers · American Coot · Canada Goose · White-fronted Goose · Light geese · Mourning Dove · White-winged Dove · Eurasian Collared-Dove · Wilson's Snipe · Common and Purple Gallinule · Virginia Rail · Sora · American Woodcock · Nongame Migratory Birds · Endangered and Threatened Species
Arkansas basics in eight cards
License first
Residents buy the Combination Sportsman's License for $35.50, the Resident Sportsman's for $25 or the Wildlife Conservation License for $10.50; nonresidents pay $410 for the annual all-game license.
Draws by window
Public land elk applications ran May 1 to June 1, 2026 and WMA deer permit hunts June 1 to July 1; WMA turkey permits are applied for January 15 to February 15, 2027.
Orange or chartreuse
At least 400 square inches of hunter orange, chartreuse or blaze camouflage above the waist and a head garment of the same safety colors. Blaze pink is not listed.
Game Check in 12 hours
Deer, turkey and bear go through Game Check online, in the AGFC app or by phone within 12 hours; elk and alligators have their own steps.
Legal light
Most game may be hunted from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset; migratory birds stop at sunset and WMA duck hunts at noon.
CWD zone, 32 counties
Inside the CWD Management Zone any buck is legal and carcasses move by tier; Sevier and Grant counties joined the zone for 2026-27.
Hunter education
Hunters born after 1968 carry a hunter education card unless the license reads HE-VERIFIED; the free Deferred Hunter Education code covers newcomers 16 and older hunting with a mentor.
Parks stay closed
No hunting in the 42 state parks or the national park units, except inside the Buffalo National River WMA and Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area, which are WMA records.
Sources: Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 42; Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 66; Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 52; Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 24; Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 48; Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 26; Hunting Guidebook, PDF p. 45; AGFC Code 05.11 text. Checked: the PDF pages were opened again on November 9, 2026.
Banquets, guides and ranges in Arkansas
From November 9, 2026 the Arkansas calendar holds 46 hunting events, conservation banquets above all, plus 119 dated shooting matches. Processors, taxidermists, guides, stores and AGFC buildings add up to 380 directory rows.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2026 | AGFC Hunter Education Class (Fort Smith) · class | Fort Smith, Sebastian County |
| Nov 10, 2026 | North Central Arkansas Wildlife Habitat Workshop (Batesville) · class | Batesville, Independence County |
| Nov 12, 2026 | Arkansas County DU Sponsor Banquet · banquet | Stuttgart, Arkansas County |
| Nov 13, 2026 | Crittenden County Ducks Unlimited Dinner Banquet · banquet | Crawfordsville, Crittenden County |
| Nov 14, 2026 | AGFC Hunter Education Class (Springdale) · class | Springdale, Benton County |
| Nov 14, 2026 | Northeast Arkansas DU Banquet – Blytheville · banquet | Blytheville, Mississippi County |
| Nov 19, 2026 | Paragould DU Membership Banquet · banquet | Paragould, Greene County |
| Nov 20, 2026 | Arkansas County Strutters NWTF Banquet · banquet | Stuttgart, Arkansas County |
Deer processors
28 processors and custom butchers; call ahead about venison.
Taxidermists
88 shops, 28 of them CWD drop-off points.
Hunting guides
9 guide and preserve listings.
Gun and bow shops
233 stores; local shops listed ahead of the chains.
AGFC offices
22 offices, nature centers and field offices.
Shooting ranges
93 ranges on file, AGFC public ranges and clubs.
Arkansas hunting questions
What must an Arkansas deer hunter wear during gun season?
Hunters and those accompanying hunters in areas where modern gun or alternative firearms deer, bear or elk seasons are open. At least 400 square inches of hunter orange, chartreuse or blaze camouflage above the waist and a head garment of the same safety colors. Blaze pink is not listed.
Where does Arkansas allow elk hunting?
By permit in the core elk counties of Boone, Carroll, Madison, Newton and Searcy, on public land through a resident draw and on private land with a purchased permit. Outside those counties elk may be taken during open deer seasons.
How many Arkansas hunting places have their own page here?
196: 95 wildlife management areas, 30 natural area WMAs, 11 leased land WMAs, 2 national forest records with 16 ranger districts and 5 walk-in turkey areas, 9 refuges, 25 Corps of Engineers lakes, the leased land and WRICE programs and the University of Arkansas Pine Tree demonstration area.
Are Arkansas deer seasons set county by county?
No. AGFC sets them by 20 private land deer zones, and each WMA and refuge is its own zone. Zone lines follow roads and rivers, so a county page lists every zone that reaches it and links the zone pages.
When does modern gun deer season open in Arkansas in 2026?
November 14, 2026 in every private land deer zone. The closing date depends on the zone, and the Christmas modern gun hunt runs December 26 to 28 where the zone allows it.
What is the Arkansas deer limit for one hunter?
Six deer, no more than two antlered bucks. Four deer per private land zone (two antlered max); WMAs three deer (two antlered max).
What does an Arkansas hunting license cost a resident?
$25 for the Resident Sportsman's License, $35.50 for the Combination Sportsman's License with fishing, or $10.50 for the Wildlife Conservation License with one deer tag. Resident turkey and bear tags now come built into these licenses.
Is chronic wasting disease present in Arkansas deer and elk?
CWD first detected in Arkansas in February 2016; detected in or near 32 counties (the CWD Management Zone list). Surveillance in elk since 1998 and deer statewide since 2002.
Can I hunt in an Arkansas state park?
No. AGFC Code 05.11 closes state and national parks to hunting; the exceptions are the Buffalo National River WMA and Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area, which are managed as WMAs.
Every Arkansas section
- Public land196 places
- Land mapEvery pin
- Wildlife management areasAGFC WMAs
- National forestsOzark, Ouachita, St. Francis
- Wildlife refugesNine open refuges
- Corps lakesProject lands
- Access programsLeased land, WRICE
- Counties75 guides
- Base towns228 pages
- Species43 pages
- Season dates97 rows
- Deer zones20 private land zones
- Bear zones8 zones
- CWD zone32 counties
- Turkey zones5 spring zones
- Alligator zonesThree open zones
- Elk huntingCore elk counties
- WMA permit hunts142 parsed hunts
- WMA rulesBags, blinds, hours
- EventsBanquets, field trials
- Event resultsTrials and contests
- Shooting rangesAGFC and club ranges
- Shooting eventsMatches, shoots
- Range gearPacking list
- Hunting servicesFive directories
- License fees41 rows
- Hunting lawsMethods and points
- Draws and permitsApplication windows
- Shooting hours75 county seats
- Youth and veteransAges 6 to 15
- Harvest recordsDeer, turkey, bear
Plan an Arkansas season
Start from a deer zone for its dates, bag and dog rules, from a county for its zones, land and harvest, or from a town for the nearest WMA, ranger district, store and range.
Other photos on this page: robert thigpen (CC BY-SA 2.0); Shutterdog 123 ( Debra Williams) (CC BY 2.0); Thomas Shahan (CC BY 2.0); Mike Norton (CC BY 2.0); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (CC BY 2.0); Noel Pennington (CC BY 2.0); Sharon Mollerus (CC BY 2.0); Noel Pennington (CC BY 2.0); Jasari (CC BY-SA 3.0); MyBiggestFan (CC BY 2.0); David Brossard (CC BY-SA 2.0); Fredlyfish4 (CC BY-SA 4.0); Valis55 (CC BY-SA 3.0); yrjö jyske (CC BY 2.0); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Midwest Region (Public domain); Russ (CC BY 2.0); Gordon (CC BY-SA 2.0); marneejill (CC BY-SA 2.0); Judy Gallagher (CC BY 2.0).