Arkansas’s annual Special Youth Modern Gun Deer Hunt dates are Nov. 2-3 and Jan. 4-5 statewide. AGFC photo.
By Randy Zellers
The first segment of the 2024-25 Arkansas youth deer hunting season runs Nov. 2-3, and many young guns will be celebrating their first deer hunting trip, first deer of the season and the beginning of their conservation journey as a hunter. Make sure they have all the tools for success, including the deer tags they will need to use to check their harvest with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
Hunters aged 6 to 15 will be required to have a set of deer tags loaded to their license account while deer hunting this year. The tags are completely free, and are simply an extension of previous checking requirements to help gauge the number of youth hunters participating in deer hunting and their overall success rate.
“The renewable Youth Customer Identification Number that was used last year was essentially the same thing as deer tags, but it counted all youth hunters applying for any hunts as possible deer hunters,” Kyle Curry, AGFC assistant chief of information technology, said. “By setting up these free Youth Deer Tags, we’re able to get more reliable data on our young hunters and hopefully clarify things for all hunters in the long run, because the process to check a deer will be the same for youths as it is for adult hunters.”
To obtain youth deer tags, your youth hunter will need to have their own account in the AGFC licensing system. Visit www.agfc.com and click “Get a License” on the top right hand corner of the website. Youth licensing options only appear under youth accounts, so if your youth hunter already has an account from previous years, be sure to sign in under their account. If you’ve never set up an account for your new hunter, click the “Create an Account” button to set them up. Their free deer tags will be listed under the Hunting section of the license system and will have the license code #YDT for residents and #YDTN for non-residents.
If you use the AGFC smartphone app, be sure to log out of your name and log into the youth’s account to obtain and use the youth’s deer tags.
Once their deer tags are obtained, youths will check their harvest just like adults. They may use the mobile app, www.agfc.com or call 833-289-2469 to check their deer at the location of harvest, and as long as their deer remains within their immediate vicinity until it is home, it does not need to be tagged with a physical tag. If you are unable to immediately check your deer through one of the three options (app, website or phone), you must place a temporary physical tag on the deer indicating the hunter’s name, customer identification number, date, time, zone or WMA of harvest and the method they used. This paper tag must stay with the deer until it is checked. Hunters have 12 hours after the time of harvest to check their deer.
If a checked deer is going to go to a processor, taxidermist or will be at a deer camp or other location outside of the hunter’s immediate vicinity, the hunter must attach a paper tag to identify it as theirs. This tag should indicate the above data as well as the check confirmation number they receive once they finish checking their deer.
Visit www.agfc.com/deer for more information on deer hunting in Arkansas, including a complete list of season dates and bag limits throughout the state.
Visit https://ar-licensing.
