Open Houses Offer Help Leading into 2026-27 Deer Season

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will host two open houses in preparation for deer season to help hunters in Grant and Sevier counties learn more about deer hunting, deer management and recent developments in their areas to be aware of this hunting season. The first open house will be held from 6-8 p.m. Sept. 1 at the Adams Building on the University of Arkansas Cossatot Community College De Queen Campus, 183 College Drive in De Queen. The second open house will be 6-8 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Sheridan REC Center at 1511 S. Rose St. in Sheridan.

Both events will offer a variety of stations in a come-and-go atmosphere.

“We won’t have any formal presentations or lectures, just experts in deer management who will be available to help people get the most out of their deer season,” A.J. Riggs, wildlife health biologist for the AGFC, said.

Landowners interested in joining the AGFC’s Deer Management Assistance Program or learning how to develop their food plot plans for maximum benefit will be able to speak with biologists from the AGFC’s Private Lands Habitat Program and the National Deer Association. Public land hunters also will be able to speak one-on-one with a few of the biologists managing local wildlife management areas.

Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry staff will be available to talk about how to donate deer for needy families in Arkansas. They’ll also talk about their popular snack stick program that delivers valuable protein to elementary school students through backpack programs in underserved communities.

“We have biologists from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation attending the De Queen meeting, as well as representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers to talk about Millwood and Tri-County Lake areas,” Riggs said. “And we’ll have members of the AGFC’s Deer Team who can answer pretty much any other question you may have about Arkansas’s most popular game animal.”

The location for these open houses was influenced by the detection of chronic wasting disease during last year’s deer hunting season. One adult male deer from Sevier County and two adult male deer from Grant County tested positive for the disease after being harvested by hunters.

“Our previous CWD management plan included similar meetings any time the disease was detected in a new county,” Riggs said. “The current plan does not specifically call for these meetings, but out of an abundance of transparency, we wanted to offer resources for hunters in Sevier and Grant counties because these counties have been placed in the CWD Management Zone and we want to help them understand what this means for their deer hunting and transport of game they harvest.”

Riggs says wildlife health professionals will also be available to discuss other diseases and parasites that hunters may have questions about. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease, also known as bluetongue in deer, exhibits periodic outbreaks that hunters may observe at times. This is especially true during droughts when sick deer concentrate near water sources. Recent concerns from New World screwworm sightings in domestic livestock in Texas and New Mexico also may spark questions from hunters about this parasite, and the AGFC will have experts on hand to address those maladies.

“We want to give hunters the ability to ask questions one-on-one about these diseases,” Riggs said. “Again, we’re not going to have any formal presentation, but biologists will be available for the duration of the open house to meet with people and offer resources for them as we go into hunting season.”

No registration is required for either meeting. More details about deer, deer hunting and wildlife health can be found at agfc.com/deer.

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CUTLINES:

DEER
The AGFC will host two open houses focused on deer hunting and deer management in September. AGFC photo.

FOOD PLOT
Expert advice on food plots and becoming a member of the AGFC’s Deer Management Assistance Program will be available at two public open houses hosted by the AGFC. AGFC photo.

HUNTERS
Roughly 290,000 people hunt white-tailed deer in Arkansas. AGFC photo.