AGFC expands permit-based waterfowl hunting opportunities

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT/Edited News Release) - Many late-season hunting hotspots are still waiting on water in the form of rain, but Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) staff have hustled during the last month to pull as much surface water as they could to provide a few opportunities throughout the state for waterfowl hunters during the opening weekend of duck hunting in two weeks. While a few opportunities are materializing on public areas open to hunting without a drawn permit, some of the best options for opening day revolve around permits drawn online, with the first application period beginning Nov. 12.

This year, the AGFC expanded permit-based waterfowl hunting opportunities to a few new locations to increase the quality of hunts for those who draw. Buckingham Flats Greentree Reservoir on George H. Dunklin Jr. Bayou Meto Wildlife Management Area, the Wiville West Tract at Rex Hancock Black Swamp WMA, Prairie Bayou WMA, the new Pat Fitts Oakwood WMA and a portion of St. Francis Sunken Lands WMA are all now managed by permit draws to reduce user conflicts and pressure on these historically wide-open hunting areas. The agency hopes to increase the quality of the hunt for the hunters who draw a permit and prevent overcrowding.

Buckingham Flats Greentree Reservoir will be the first GTR the AGFC is managing with a draw-based permit system this year. (Arkansas Game and Fish Commission) First draw GTR Brett Leach, AGFC Waterfowl Program coordinator, said Buckingham Flats will be the first draw-based permit hunt for waterfowl in a greentree reservoir managed by the AGFC. It will reserve 639 acres of the 33,832-acre WMA specifically for hunting parties that apply for and draw permits.

“It’s going to be a unique opportunity for waterfowl hunters to get out and hunt in a habitat type we previously didn’t have in our permit hunt system,” Leach said. “In addition to providing a place with less hunting pressure, it may not be as intimidating for some hunters who shy away from our more popular GTRs who want to bring their kids out, or if they are new to hunting. It offers a place to go learn the sport without the competition.”

Small but mighty Prairie Bayou WMA and the Wiville West Tract in Rex Hancock WMA are both moist-soil units that tend to hold a few ducks, but their small size leads quickly to crowds when ducks begin to frequent their wetlands. In addition to moving to Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday hunting, an online draw-based permit hunt for the weekend days should help manage some of this pressure, so ducks continue to use these small but vital wetlands for waterfowl. Hunters only have to pick up a permit on-site and fill it out on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the number of hunters isn’t limited.

The AGFC’s WRICE program will open locations that do not have water for hunters to apply for dry field goose hunting. (Arkansas Game and Fish Commission) St. Francis selection A portion of the St. Francis Sunken Lands WMA in Poinsett County also will see permit hunts to help relieve some of the user conflicts that have taken place during the last decade. While most of this 30,574-acre WMA remains open to waterfowl hunting without a drawn permit, a specific 715-acre section around the St. Francis River is now being managed through a drawn permit system. Hunters interested in applying for this area are encouraged to visit it beforehand to get a good lay of the land and what sort of equipment they may need to hunt it; much of the area requires hunting from floating blinds or large boats. Nine permitted locations are available on the area, but like other permit-based hunts, only locations with adequate water will be available for the online draws.

New WRICE variety The lack of moisture isn’t only a public land issue; hundreds of thousands of acres of rice fields throughout the state also are dry, making them relatively unavailable to most duck species that winter in Arkansas. As opening day approaches, only a handful of fields contracted under the Waterfowl Rice Incentive Conservation Enhancement Program will have enough surface water available to flood the field for ducks.

“The problem is much larger than the few locations we manage for permit-based hunts, but we can only control what we can do with these few private fields,” David Graves, WRICE program coordinator for the AGFC, said. “This year, all of the rice fields in the program will be open to one of two draw types — duck draws where we have at least 4 inches of water and goose draws where we have less than 4 inches. Hunters can apply for one of each type and they can still shoot any legal waterfowl at any location if they come in. We’re mainly doing this so people can get out, scout some geese and try to make the best of the dry conditions we’re experiencing.”

WRICE program fields that have less than 4 inches of water will be listed for goose hunting draws, and those with 4 inches or more of water will be entered into the traditional duck hunting drawing. (Arkansas Game and Fish Commission) Graves said many of the WRICE fields still have stubble and waste grain available that white-fronted geese seek, and many hunters during the last decade have discovered the joy of hunting, and eating, these geese.

“We’ve had many reports over the years of specklebellies being a great ‘bonus’ bird for groups hunting the WRICE locations,” Graves said. “We want to open every opportunity we can on these dry fields for hunters to target while we wait on rainfall to fill surface water reservoirs and tailwater ditches enough for landowners to pump these fields.”

Graves said the goose fields will be listed separately at www.agfc.com/license under Specialty Hunts, and hunters can apply for one of each type of WRICE location: duck or goose.

“We’ll update the locations each week before the draws to include as many duck locations as we can when conditions change,” Graves said. “If it has enough water to float a decoy, it will be in the duck draw. If it doesn’t, it will be in the goose draw. We can’t guarantee birds are using them before we put them in the draw, so hunters need to get out and scout a little before they apply to make the best of the situation.”

A complete breakdown of all permit application rules, maps and locations is available at www.agfc.com/hunting/waterfowl/special-waterfowl-permit-hunts.

Hunters may apply for one WMA permit hunt and one of each WRICE permit type (duck and goose) from 3 p.m. Thursday through midnight Sunday each weekend for the hunt period beginning the following Saturday. Permit winners will be notified each Monday immediately following the application window to prepare for their upcoming hunt. Visit www.agfc.om/license to apply.

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AGFC expands permit-based waterfowl hunting opportunities

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