Arkansas › Hunting seasons › Deer zones
AGFC 2026-27
Arkansas deer zones
All 20 private land deer zones with counties, alternative firearms and modern gun dates, dogs, CWD status and private land harvest.
Photo: Tammo2011 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How Arkansas splits deer hunting into zones
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission sets deer seasons on private land by 20 deer zones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 4A, 5, 5A, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 16A and 17. Each zone has its own four-deer bag split by weapon, its own antler rule and its own alternative firearms and modern gun windows; dogs are allowed for deer in 11 of them. Wildlife management areas and national wildlife refuges are separate zones with their own numbers, so the rules on this page stop at a WMA or refuge boundary.
The zone lines follow highways and rivers, and 60 of the 75 counties touch two or more zones. By the AGFC deer zone layer the 20 zones add up to about 53,190 square miles; Zone 12 is the largest at 10,876 and Zone 5A the smallest at 301.
Modern gun season opens November 14 in every zone. It closes November 22 in Zones 4 and 5, December 6 in Zones 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11, December 13 in Zones 4A, 5A, 14 and 15, December 20 in Zones 9, 12 and 13 and December 28 in Zones 16, 16A and 17, and the statewide Christmas hunt adds December 26 to 28 where the main window ends earlier. Zones 4 and 5 have no alternative firearms season and allow centerfire rifles instead. The whole of Zones 1, 2 and 6 lies in the CWD Management Zone, where any buck is legal.
Zones, dates and rules from the 2026-27 Arkansas Hunting Guidebook; county overlap and area from the AGFC deer zone layer; checked November 9, 2026.
All 20 Arkansas deer zones in one table
Type a county name to see every zone it touches. Counties are listed alphabetically; the last column is private land harvest only.
| Zone | Counties | Alt firearms | Modern gun | Dogs | CWD | Legal buck | Deer 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 | Benton Carroll Madison +1 more | Oct 17–25 Dec 12–14 | Nov 14–Dec 6 Dec 26–28 | No | Whole | Any buck | 7,519 |
| Zone 2 | Baxter Boone Carroll +7 more | Oct 17–25 Dec 12–14 | Nov 14–Dec 6 Dec 26–28 | No | Whole | Any buck | 7,641 |
| Zone 3 | Baxter Boone Fulton +6 more | Oct 17–25 Dec 12–14 | Nov 14–Dec 6 Dec 26–28 | No | 6 co. | 3 points, one side | 16,381 |
| Zone 4 | Clay Craighead Crittenden +10 more | None | Nov 14–22 Dec 26–28 | No | 4 co. | 3 points, one side | 2,203 |
| Zone 4A | Crittenden Lee Monroe +2 more | Oct 17–25 Dec 19–21 | Nov 14–Dec 13 Dec 26–28 | No | No | 3 points, one side | 1,344 |
| Zone 5 | Clay Craighead Cross +3 more | None | Nov 14–22 Dec 26–28 | No | 1 co. | 3 points, one side | 3,448 |
| Zone 5A | Lee Phillips St. Francis | Oct 17–25 Dec 19–21 | Nov 14–Dec 13 Dec 26–28 | No | No | 3 points, one side | 768 |
| Zone 6 | Cleburne Conway Crawford +11 more | Oct 17–25 Dec 12–14 | Nov 14–Dec 6 Dec 26–28 | Yes | Whole | Any buck | 12,667 |
| Zone 7 | Conway Crawford Franklin +7 more | Oct 17–25 Dec 12–14 | Nov 14–Dec 6 Dec 26–28 | Yes | 9 co. | 3 points, one side | 6,485 |
| Zone 8 | Cleburne Conway Faulkner +7 more | Oct 17–25 Dec 12–14 | Nov 14–Dec 6 Dec 26–28 | Yes | 7 co. | 3 points, one side | 9,141 |
| Zone 9 | Arkansas Cross Desha +9 more | Oct 17–25 | Nov 14–Dec 20 Dec 26–28 | No | 1 co. | 3 points, one side | 9,166 |
| Zone 10 | Faulkner Lonoke Perry +2 more | Oct 17–25 Dec 12–14 | Nov 14–Dec 6 Dec 26–28 | Yes | No | 3 points, one side | 3,293 |
| Zone 11 | Garland Howard Logan +8 more | Oct 17–25 Dec 12–14 | Nov 14–Dec 6 Dec 26–28 | Yes | 4 co. | 3 points, one side | 9,528 |
| Zone 12 | Ashley Bradley Calhoun +18 more | Oct 17–25 | Nov 14–Dec 20 Dec 26–28 | Yes | 4 co. | 3 points, one side | 57,152 |
| Zone 13 | Clark Garland Hot Spring +7 more | Oct 17–25 | Nov 14–Dec 20 Dec 26–28 | Yes | 1 co. | 3 points, one side | 14,435 |
| Zone 14 | Hempstead Howard Little River +2 more | Oct 17–25 Dec 19–21 | Nov 14–Dec 13 Dec 26–28 | Yes | 1 co. | 3 points, one side | 3,572 |
| Zone 15 | Hempstead Lafayette Little River +1 more | Oct 17–25 Dec 19–21 | Nov 14–Dec 13 Dec 26–28 | Yes | No | None printed | 2,426 |
| Zone 16 | Arkansas Desha Jefferson +1 more | Oct 17–25 | Nov 14–Dec 28 | No | No | 15-in spread/18-in beam | 1,754 |
| Zone 16A | Ashley Chicot Desha +1 more | Oct 17–25 | Nov 14–Dec 28 | Yes | 1 co. | 15-in spread/18-in beam | 1,205 |
| Zone 17 | Arkansas Chicot Crittenden +4 more | Oct 17–25 | Nov 14–Dec 28 | Yes | 1 co. | 15-in spread/18-in beam | 3,894 |
From the 2026-27 guidebook and AGFC deer report Table 5 (2025-26); checked November 9, 2026.
Deer zones with the biggest 2025-26 harvest
Zone 12 produced the most private land deer in 2025-26, and the ten zones below account for 86% of the 20-zone total. Large zones naturally lead; each zone page divides its count by area for a fairer comparison.
| Zone | Deer | Antlered bucks | Buck share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 12 | 57,152 | 26,144 | 46% |
| Zone 3 | 16,381 | 8,907 | 54% |
| Zone 13 | 14,435 | 6,712 | 46% |
| Zone 6 | 12,667 | 7,087 | 56% |
| Zone 11 | 9,528 | 4,732 | 50% |
| Zone 9 | 9,166 | 4,747 | 52% |
| Zone 8 | 9,141 | 4,666 | 51% |
| Zone 2 | 7,641 | 4,467 | 58% |
| Zone 1 | 7,519 | 4,521 | 60% |
| Zone 7 | 6,485 | 3,566 | 55% |
AGFC deer report 2025-26, Table 5; checked November 9, 2026.
Arkansas deer dog zones and dates
Deer dogs are legal only in Zones 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16A and 17 and only on the printed dates; nonresidents need the Nonresident Hunting Dog Owner's Permit ($100) and may run dogs only in the last nine days of regular modern gun season. AGFC prints the Zone 16A dog dates as November 8 to December 25, although modern gun season there opens November 14.
Zone 6
Nov 14–Dec 6
Zone 7
Nov 14–Dec 6
Zone 8
Nov 14–Dec 6
Zone 10
Nov 14–Dec 6
Zone 11
Nov 14–Dec 6
Zone 12
Nov 14–Dec 20
Zone 13
Nov 14–Dec 20
Zone 14
Nov 14–Dec 13
Zone 15
Nov 14–Dec 13
Zone 16A
Nov 8–Dec 25
Zone 17
Nov 14–Dec 25
Dog dates from each zone entry in the 2026-27 guidebook; checked November 9, 2026.
White-tailed doe standing in light snowPhoto: YellowstoneNPS (Public domain)
White-tailed deer buck in the treesPhoto: USFWS/Southeast (CC BY 2.0)
Two white-tailed bucks sparring in tall grass at golden sunsetPhoto: Shenandoah National Park (Public Domain Mark 1.0)
Arkansas deer zone questions
How many deer zones does Arkansas have?
20 private land deer zones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 4A, 5, 5A, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 16A and 17. WMAs and national wildlife refuges are separate zones.
Do WMAs follow the private land zone rules?
No. Each WMA and refuge is its own zone with its own number; the WMA deer bag is three deer.
How many deer may one hunter take in an Arkansas season?
Six deer per season statewide, no more than two antlered bucks, and four per private land zone.
When does modern gun season open?
November 14, 2026 in every zone; the closing date depends on the zone.
Which zones have no alternative firearms season?
Zones 4 and 5. Centerfire rifles are allowed there during modern gun season.
Which zones allow deer dogs?
Zone 6, Zone 7, Zone 8, Zone 10, Zone 11, Zone 12, Zone 13, Zone 14, Zone 15, Zone 16A and Zone 17.
Is any buck legal in the CWD Management Zone?
Yes. Zones 1, 2 and 6 lie wholly inside it; in other zones the antler rule drops away only in the CWD counties.
How do I know which zone my land is in?
Use the AGFC zone map. Zone lines follow roads and rivers, so many counties hold two or more zones.
Do button bucks count as antlerless?
Yes. They count against the antlerless limit and are checked as button bucks.
From the AGFC sources above; checked November 9, 2026.