Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

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Hunting

General Wildlife Regulations

The following regulations are from pages 34-37 of the 2008-09 Hunting Guidebook.

Feeding and Baiting Wildlife
Possession of Game Taken Outside Arkansas
Feral Hogs
Importing Wildlife
Captive Wildlife and Importation Permits
Wildlife Rehabilitators
Wildlife Pets
Release of Animals Into the Wild
Endangered Species

You may not hunt wildlife:

  • except during open hunting seasons.
  • from a boat at night.
  • from an aircraft.
  • that is fleeing from floods or fires.
  • using deadfalls, drugs, chemicals, poisons, booby traps or explosives.
  • from a moving motorized land vehicle.
  • from or across the main levee of the Mississippi River and Arkansas River from the Louisiana border to the intersection of state Highway 11 (north of Grady in Lincoln County).
  • using electronic tracking or telemetry equipment to locate wildlife.
  • using computer-assisted hunting equipment.

Feeding and Baiting Wildlife

Baiting is defined as the direct or indirect placing, exposing, depositing, distributing, or scattering of salt, grain, or other feed that could serve as a lure or attraction for wildlife to, on or over any areas where hunters are attempting to take them. It is legal to feed wildlife, with these exceptions:

  • Bears may not be fed or baited for any reason, including photography or viewing, unless it is 30 days before bear season through the end of bear season on private land in bear zones 1, 2, 5 and 5A.  Click for more information.
  • Baiting is not allowed on wildlife management areas.
  • Migratory birds, wild turkeys, waterfowl or crows may not be hunted over bait if the hunter knows, or should reasonably know, the area is baited.
  • For turkeys, an area is considered baited for 10 days following removal of the bait.
  • Hunting deer over bait is prohibited Feb. 1-28.
  • Alligators may not be hunted over bait.

Possession of Game Taken Outside Arkansas

Carcasses of game animals legally taken in other states (except cervid carcasses) may be possessed in Arkansas with documentation of their origin. However, taking game illegally in another state and then transporting it across state lines is a violation of the federal Lacey Act.  For more information concerning carcass importation, click here.

Feral Hogs

Feral hogs are not native to Arkansas. They compete for food with wildlife; damage fields, crops and timber; and can carry diseases that can devastate domestic livestock. Landowners are encouraged to eliminate feral hogs from their property. Feral hogs may be taken on private lands at any time with the landowner’s permission. A hog that has escaped its pen is not considered feral for five days. If the owner notifies adjacent landowners, the hog is not considered feral for 10 more days. The Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission has strict regulations regarding movement of live feral hogs. See Page 71 of the 2008-09 Hunting Guidebook for information about shooting feral hogs on WMAs.

Importing Wildlife

It is illegal to import native or exotic wildlife into Arkansas without an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Wildlife Importation Permit. Permits will not be issued to import the following wildlife:Members of the cervid family, including white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer, mule deer or elk; raccoons; bats; skunks; coyotes that originate or have lived in Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming or Canada; gray and red foxes that originate or have lived in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin, Wyoming or Canada; and rodents captured in the wild from Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah or Wyoming.

Captive Wildlife and Importation Permits

Regulations concerning hunting captive wildlife, breeding of wildlife and importing or permit requirements are available from the Wildlife Management Division at (800) 364-4263, extension 6359; www.agfc.com or any of the offices listed on Page 4.Owners of mountain lions in Arkansas must have obtained a Wildlife Breeder/Dealer permit by June 30, 2006. Owners of lions, tigers and bears must possess a permit from their county sheriff or AGFC unless exempt by state law. No new permits will be issued for ownership of mountain lions, African lions, bears or tigers in Arkansas.

Wildlife Rehabilitators

Individuals or organizations who have in their care sick, injured, orphaned or impaired native wildlife (other than migratory birds) must first obtain a Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit from the AGFC. Rehabilitators handling migratory birds must obtain a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service migratory bird permit. Further information about this permit is available from the Wildlife Management Division at  (800) 364-4263, extension 6359 or  www.agfc.com.

Wildlife Pets

As a general rule, wildlife species make poor pets. However, up to six individual bobcats, coyotes, deer, gray foxes, red foxes, opossums, quail, rabbits, raccoons or squirrels may be kept per household if taken by hand from the wild in Arkansas. Up to six individuals of a species that is neither hunted nor trapped may be kept per household if taken by hand from the wild so long as they are not birds (such as songbirds, hawks and owls), bats, ornate box turtles, alligator snapping turtles, hellbenders, cave-dwelling creatures or endangered species. Once taken, the animal must remain in the owner’s custody, except pets other than white-tailed deer may be turned over to a permitted wildlife rehabilitator for release back into the wild. When game animals are kept as pets, individuals of different sexes must be kept in separate pens or the males must be neutered to prevent reproduction. All wildlife kept as pets must be kept in cages that keep them from escaping and keep other wildlife from entering.

Adult deer originally caught in the wild must be kept in pens that are at least eight feet in height and meet minimum cage size requirements. These animals may not be sold or transferred to a different owner and may only be taken from the state with the permission of the Chief of Wildlife Management.

Individuals may purchase and own up to six per household of captive-born, commercially-obtained native wildlife species, other than deer or elk, from permitted Wildlife Breeder/Dealers and keep them as personal pets. Owners must have proof of legal purchase. If the number of animals possessed exceeds six, the owner must obtain a Wildlife Breeder/Dealer permit. Those who purchased deer or elk as pets prior to June 30, 2005 may keep them in any number provided they have proof of legal ownership and are registered with the Commission by June 30, 2008. Such animals may not be hunted, sold or otherwise distributed.

Release of Animals Into the Wild

Wildlife may not be released into the wild without prior approval of the AGFC with these exceptions: 

  • A licensed Gamebird Shooting Resort may release captive-raised quail, pheasant, chukar or mallards in accordance with the terms of their permit. 
  • A licensed wildlife rehabilitator may release native wildlife other than mountain lions.
  • Raccoons, foxes, coyotes or pen-raised quail used for AKC, UKC and ACHA-sanctioned field trials may be released with the approval of the Chief of Wildlife Management.  
  • Pen-raised quail and pheasants may be taken by holders of a Shoot-to-kill Bird Dog Field Training Permit or a Shoot-to-kill Bird Dog Field Trial Permit.
  • Landowners and commercial wildlife damage control operators may livetrap nuisance wildlife outside the legal harvest season and release to the wild. Traps must be marked with the user’s identification. More information about nuisance wildlife trapping, click here.

Endangered Species

State and federal laws prohibit the importing, transporting, possessing, disturbing or taking of threatened and endangered species or destruction of their habitat. Fines can range up to $100,000. For more information about Arkansas’s threatened and endangered species, visit www.agfc.com. The threatened and endangered species of Arkansas:

MAMMALS: gray bat (Myotis grisescens), Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), Ozark big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii ingens)

BIRDS: ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), least tern (Sterna antillarum), Bachman’s warbler (Vermivora bachmanii), red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis)

REPTILES: American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

FISHES: Ozark cavefish (Amblyopsis rosae), leopard darter (Percina pantherina), pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhyncus albus)

MOLLUSKS: Curtis’ pearly mussel (Epioblasma florentina curtisi), fat pocketbook pearly mussel (Potamilus capax), pink mucket mussel (Lampsilis abrupta), turgid blossom mussel (Epioblasma turgidula), speckled pocketbook mussel (Lampsilis streckeri), Arkansas fatmucket mussel (Lampsilis powelli), Ouachita rock pocketbook mussel (Arkansia wheeleri), winged mapleleaf mussel (Quadrula fragosa), scaleshell mussel (Leptodea leptodon) and Magazine Mountain shagreen land snail (Inflectarius magazinensis)

ARTHROPODS: cave crayfish (Cambarus zophonastes) and (Cambarus aculabrum), American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus)

PLANTS: Geocarpon minimum (no common name), pondberry (Lindera melissifolia), Missouri Bladderpod (Lesquerella filiformis), harperella (Ptilimnium nodosum), eastern prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea) and running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum).