Nearly 600 leftover WMA deer hunt permits for Arkansas wildlife management areas will be available for purchase beginning 8 a.m. July 26. These permits cover youth, modern gun, muzzleloader and mobility-impaired hunts that did not have enough applicants for the amount of permits available for the hunt during the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s annual WMA deer permit drawing earlier this month.
Luke Naylor, Chief of Wildlife Management for the AGFC, says leftover permits are rare for the most popular areas but some great hunting is still available at some of the areas featured in leftover permits.
“We issue the amount of permits available for each area based on the harvest needs to keep deer herds healthy, the available habitat and huntable area of the WMA and the historical trends of hunter participation on public land,” Naylor said. “I put in for a WMA each year, and if I don’t draw the one I want, I always look at these leftovers as a good alternative. Archery hunting on many of the more popular hunting areas is open without a drawn permit as well, so I still get an opportunity to hunt the areas I’m most familiar with during the season.”
Each permit will be sold for $5. A hunter may purchase one permit for each of the remaining WMA permit hunts, and there is no limit to the number of permits a person may buy.
The leftover permit sale is on a first-come, first-served basis, and the purchase may be made online (www.agfc.com, click “Buy Licenses/Check Game” on the upper right side of the website). Anyone interested in these leftovers should act quickly. Leftovers for muzzleloader and modern gun hunts usually are claimed within a half an hour of the sale opening.
The following permits will be available for purchase:
Mobility-Impaired Modern Gun Hunts:
Freddie Black Choctaw Island
WMA East Unit, Oct. 15-17 —
40 available
Modern Gun Hunts:
Dr. Lester Sitzes III Bois D’Arc
WMA, Nov. 12-20 — 46 available
U of A Pine Tree WDA, Nov.
12-16 — 99 available
Muzzleloader Hunts:
Dr. Lester Sitzes III Bois D’Arc
WMA, Oct. 15-23 — 88 available
George H. Dunklin Jr. Bayou
Meto WMA, Oct. 15-19 — 176
available
U of A Pine Tree WDA, Oct.
15-19 — 58 available
Youth Modern Gun Hunts:
Dave Donaldson Black River
WMA, Nov. 5-6 — 8 available
Freddie Black Choctaw Island
WMA East Unit, Nov. 26-27 —
12 available
Greer’s Ferry WMA, Jan. 7-8 —
1 available
Harold E. Alexander Spring
River WMA, Nov. 7-8 — 32 available
Hobbs State Park Conservation
Area, Jan. 7-8 — 12 available
Shirey Bay Rainey Brake, Nov.
5-6 — 9 available