By Randy Zellers Assistant Chief of Communications
LITTLE ROCK — The printed version of the 2021-22 Arkansas Hunting Guidebook is being produced and should be distributed in August throughout the state, but hunters can get familiar with this year’s season dates and regulations with a digital version, now available at www.agfc.com for download.
One thing most hunters familiar with the guidebook may notice is the notoriously short “New This Year” section that graces Page 4. This section usually has a dozen or so changes hunters should note with references to where they can be found later in the book. Thanks to a new two-year regulations cycle, only one note is mentioned in this section of the book, and it is not a regulation so much as a reference for hunters to know about an ongoing research project in the north portion of the state.
A project tracking mortality rates in white-tailed deer within Arkansas’s chronic wasting disease zone involves tagging and radio-collaring deer and following them throughout their lives to determine the impact the disease is having on the population. The easily visible collars and tags may cause hunters to question if the deer is legal to harvest.
Cory Gray, chief of the AGFC’s Research Division, says collared and tagged deer are legal to take, but asks any hunter who shoots these deer to report the harvest to ensure accurate data collection on this important project.
The only other changes that may impact hunters are simple adjustments of season dates to accommodate the change in calendar days from one year to the next.
Statewide 2021 Deer Season Opening Days:
Archery — Sept. 25
Muzzleloader — Oct. 16
Modern Gun — Nov. 13
Special Youth Modern Gun Hunts — Nov. 6-7 and Jan. 1-2
Private Land Antlerless-only Modern Gun Hunt — Dec. 29-31
Visit www.agfc.com/guidebooks for downloadable versions of all AGFC hunting and fishing regulations guidebooks.
