Conservation comeback stories often focus on the amazing return of white-tailed deer, the black bear in Arkansas and other game species, but one of The Natural State’s most charismatic critters also came back as a result of proper game management and habitat conservation.
YELLVILLE — With more than 110 teams participating in last weekend’s statewide Big Squirrel Challenge, hunters young and old were rekindling the passion of small game hunting throughout Arkansas.
Five more suspected cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer have been discovered in Tensas Parish, the Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (LADDL) reported.
The cedar waxwing is one of Arkansas’s most striking winter residents, although it does not stand out with garish plumage. Instead of sporting raucous colors or flitting about in dizzying displays of hops and jumps, waxwings are some of the sleekest, most elegant-looking birds likely to grac…
Anglers visiting Lake Erling will find a new cleaning station for their boats at AGRED Park and boat ramp — one designed to help fight the spread of aquatic nuisance species such as giant salvinia, a floating aquatic plant native to South America, considered one of the world's worst invasive…
The DeGray Lake and hydropower plant will commemorate their 50th anniversary with open house on Wednesday, January 18.
A February 14 deadline is set for high school students to apply for one of four American Fisheries Society’s Hutton Scholar paid internships that will be available this summer through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
Deer seasons may be winding down in Arkansas, but don’t put away the hunting gear just yet. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is hosting the second annual Big Squirrel Challenge statewide January 13-14.
Arkansas State Parks is introducing Club 52, a rewards program that encourages people to visit all 52 state parks.
A memorandum of understanding has been signed to begin exploration of a trail expansion project in the Mena area.
Arkansas State Parks encourages Arkansans to start the new year on the right foot with First Day Hikes on Sunday, January 1, 2023. Led by America’s State Parks, First Day Hikes encourage everyone to celebrate the new year with time spent outdoors, focusing on healthy habits and lifelong memories.
Birders and other wildlife-watching enthusiasts have a great new way to participate in outdoor recreation, thanks to the creation of a special Natural State-specific online gateway to Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s eBird birdwatching system.
Black carp, which are an invasive fish species in North America, are now known to be established in the wild in parts of the Mississippi River basin.
DIERKS — According to Tim Burnley, Stream Habitat Program supervisor for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, many manmade low-water crossings, bridges and dams can impede the movements of fish to spawning areas, especially smaller fish species.
Anglers interested in hooking into Arkansas’s largest sport fish can apply for a 2023 Alligator Gar Trophy tag until December 31.
Although pelicans can be spotted any time of year in Arkansas, winter is prime time to visit reservoirs and dams along the Arkansas River and see flocks of these huge birds gathering and feeding on shad and other fish that are stunned after being pulled through the gates.
With a shortened three-day hunt window, hunters in South Arkansas’s much-anticipated bear season took full advantage of their December hunt, totaling 28 bears harvested in newly opened Bear Zone 4 from December 10-12.
South Arkansas’ bear-hunting season ended on Monday when the Zone 4 quota of 25 was reached.
Seven more bears were claimed in South Arkansas on Sunday, placing Bear Zone 4 within two bruins of the 25-bear limit only two days into the week-long hunting season.
South Arkansas’ first bear-hunting season in modern times looks like it will be brief.
For the first time in modern history, Arkansas hunters will be able to legally harvest a black bear in Columbia and other South Arkansas counties starting today.
Southwest Arkansas anglers are reporting red dots on the skin of some bass they’ve caught.
When the second segment of waterfowl season opens December 10, hunters are hoping to have more water to spread out in search of mallards and memories.
Waterfowl hunters aren’t the only people watching the skies during the holiday season.
Ten whooping cranes were recently added to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ experimental population, the most since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Earlier this year, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission adopted a notice of intent to modify crappie regulations on Bayou D’Arbonne Lake in Union Parish near Farmerville.
Here are the figures through Friday for the 2022-23 deer harvest in Columbia and some neighboring counties.
The Keep Arkansas Beautiful Commission has started Eats & Clean Streets, a statewide initiative encouraging businesses that offer to-go packaging to get involved in litter prevention efforts.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has concluded a drawdown of Lake Bistineau in Webster, Bossier and Bienville parishes for the purpose of giant salvinia control.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is asking waterfowl hunters heading to the field this weekend to remain vigilant for any concentrations of sick or dead birds they find in the wild that may be the result of avian influenza.
Here are the figures through Wednesday for the 2022-23 deer harvest in Columbia and some neighboring counties
According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s online harvest totals, hunters aged 6 to 15 checked 9,153 deer during the annual youth modern gun deer hunt November 5-6.
MONTICELLO — Hatchery staff and biologists from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worked together to load more than one-quarter of a million forage fish into the rising waters of Lake Monticello in October.
JASPER — Acorn or “akern,” no matter which way you pronounce it, those little nuts falling from oaks during the 2022 Arkansas elk hunt played a pivotal role in hunters fulfilling a lifelong dream last month.
Arkansas’ modern gun deer hunting season starts Saturday morning and runs through December 18.
Deer are on the move in Arkansas. That means hunters and motorists in Arkansas should keep a watchful eye out, particularly at dawn and dusk.
Lake Catherine State Park will be temporarily closed to all recreational activities beginning Thursday, December 1, 2022, through Saturday, March 18, 2023.
The National Veterinary Services Laboratory has confirmed H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), also known as bird flu, in hunter-harvested blue-winged teal in southwest Louisiana. Additionally, several captive birds have died from HPAI in northeast Louisiana.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is offering a variety of options to have harvested deer tested for chronic wasting disease for free throughout the 2022-23 deer hunting season.
Arkansas hunters hitting the woods may notice a few deer and bears sporting some new neckwear this fall, but that shouldn’t deter anyone from legally taking that animal.
New faces will be joining the ranks of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife officers this fall.
Arkansans looking for one of the state’s most exciting hunts wrapped up their efforts last weekend with the conclusion of the 2022 alligator hunting season.
Farmers Bank & Trust hosted its third annual South Arkansas Outdoor Social in Columbia County on September 16-17.
Mercer Bayou in Miller County has been fully reopened to sportsman after it was inspected and treated for giant salvenia.
Arkansas’s deer archery season opens Saturday, and a few enthusiastic bowhunters have already begun chasing deer through special urban bowhunting opportunities throughout the state.
Experienced photographers know that getting an iconic picture takes patience, skill and being at the right place at the right time. A little luck helps, too.
The LSU AgCenter Bob R. Jones-Idlewild Research Station recently hosted members of the National Association of Conservation Districts and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
The American Gamebird Research Education and Development Foundation, under recommendation from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, is conducting a 5-foot drawdown of Lake Erling in Lafayette County to combat the spread of giant salvinia.
MURFREESBORO — Scott Kreykes of Dierks has been visiting Crater of Diamonds State Park for the past four years and has registered more than 80 diamonds.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s report “Waterfowl Population Status, 2022,” released in late August, total duck population estimates in spring 2022 declined 12 percent from the last recorded survey taken in 2019.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission was forced to close all three boat ramps to Mercer Bayou in Miller County near Fouke last weekend in response to the discovery of giant salvinia.
