AGFC adjusts fishing and hunting regulations, sets waterfowl season dates

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission at Thursday’s meeting at the University of Arkansas at Monticello unanimously approved a regulations package incorporating more than 200 changes to the AGFC Code of Regulations. Those changes included many modifications to deer hunting limits and seasons as well as the upcoming 2026-27 and 2027-28 Arkansas waterfowl season dates. 

Fine-Tuned Fishing Regs
Tommy Laird, Fisheries Division chief, presented the changes for fishing regulations, which included the following: 

• Establish catch-and-release fishing only for the newly renovated Lake Wilhelmina to reestablish game fish populations.
• Establish a one fish, 15-inch minimum length limit for smallmouth bass in 10 newly designated Smallmouth Bass Blue Ribbon Streams (Buffalo River, Caddo River, Crooked Creek, Current River, Eleven Point River, Illinois River, Kings River, Spring River, War Eagle Creek and White River).
• Allow a temporary exemption to the agency’s drain plug removal requirement for anglers transporting a fish for weight verification for the Legacy Lunker program. 
• Reduce the time an angler must be within hearing or sight of their passive fishing gear (jugs, yo-yos, limblines) to include only daylight hours. The fishing gear may now be unattended from sunset to sunrise.
• Allow owners of recreational netting tackle permits to use snag lines and trotlines under that permit.
• Increase the amount of tackle allowed with Commercial Tackle Tags from 100 feet to 100 yards.
• Allow bowfishing tackle for alligator hunting on private land during the open alligator season.

“These changes aren’t just the results of a few months of ideas; they are the culmination of, in some cases, years of monitoring and research as well as gathering comments from the public,” Laird said. “Two of the regulations changes in fishing this year are the direct result of public comments. The reduction of the time anglers must be within sight of their passive fishing devices to daytime only and the addition of snag lines and trotlines to the recreational netting tackle came from the public. They made great sense without any large impact to the resource, so we moved those forward this year.” 

Laird also highlighted that many of the changes were the elimination of regulations to simplify things for hunters and anglers.

“We were given a mandate to reduce the complexity of our regulations,” Laird said. “We looked at areas where there were already state laws in place to cover the situation, regulations that had become outdated with technology advancements, and regulations that hadn’t seen any citations or warnings in the recent past to identify rules that are unnecessary.”

Different Rules for Deer
Hunting and wildlife management regulations followed suit, with most changes being the elimination of outdated regulations or the combination of many regulations to streamline things for hunters. Luke Naylor, Wildlife Management Division chief, took a moment to praise the efforts of all staff involved in the process, but particularly the efforts of Ralph Meeker, the AGFC’s Deer Program coordinator. 

“Ralph did a lot of work with many staff members and partnering agencies to clarify and simplify our regulations for deer statewide, especially the number of regulations for individual wildlife management areas,” Naylor said. “All these changes may seem daunting, and they are, if you only look at them individually, but the overall consolidation of how people will deer hunt on our WMAs and deer zones will make things uniform and simpler to understand for our hunters. Once people adjust to these new changes, I expect that everyone will agree that this is a positive step in the right direction.”

Notable changes in deer seasons include:

• Adding the early archery buck-only season on Maumelle River WMA, U of A Pine Tree WDA, and all cooperative WMAs owned by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and U.S. Forest Service. 
• Rescheduling the three-day early archery buck-only season to begin the last Saturday in August.
• Adjusting deer seasons and bag limits on most WMAs to be more uniform, with each WMA having a seasonal bag limit of no more than three deer, no more than two of which being bucks. (Hunters may travel to other zones or WMAs to complete their statewide bag limit of six deer, no more than two bucks.)
• Adjusting private land deer zones to have a seasonal limit of four deer. (Again, hunters may complete their six deer statewide bag limit by hunting in another zone or WMA.)
• All deer will count toward a hunter’s seasonal limit as either “antlered bucks” or “antlerless,” regardless of the zone they are harvested from. Button bucks will not count against a hunter’s two-buck seasonal limit. 
• Modern centerfire firearms are now allowed for deer hunting in Private Land Deer Zones 4 and 5.
• Grant and Sevier counties are now listed within the Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone and hunters must follow all CWD regulations concerning transport of deer taken in these counties.
• Dogs pursuing deer, fox or coyote on public land are required to wear collars capable of GPS positioning as well as electronic correction.

Hunting Area Adjustments
The following notable changes involve general WMA rules and regulations:

• Camp Robinson Special Use Area has been redesignated as Lake Conway Wildlife Management Area. (Field trials, archery tournaments and other special events historically held on the SUA will still be allowed through a free permit process, similar to other WMAs throughout the state.)
• J. Perry Mikles Blue Mountain SUA has been redesignated as J. Perry Mikles Lick Creek WMA. (Field trials, archery tournaments and other special events historically held on the SUA will still be allowed through a free permit process, similar to other WMAs throughout the state.)
• Oakwood WMA will be established following completion of a land trade with the USFWS and will have permit hunt opportunities for duck hunting and firearms deer hunting. Archery deer hunting will be open on the new WMA as well. 
• The Queen Wilhelmina State Park – Conservation Area WMA is being established in cooperation with the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism to maintain outdoor recreation opportunities on portions of the state park. 
• All leased land WMAs will now be accessible through one Leased Lands Permit priced at $75, replacing multiple individual permits in the AGFC licensing system.
• Spring archery seasons for turkeys on some permit-hunt WMAs have been closed to protect the unique opportunities provided by special, three-day permit hunts.

Waterfowl-Based Modifications
As presented in the public comment surveys earlier this year, the AGFC has continued to modify access and hunting regulations on a few of its more popular waterfowl hunting-focused WMAs to reduce hunter conflicts and continued complaints about crowding on popular hunting areas. The following changes are a few of the more notable for the upcoming 2026-27 waterfowl hunting season:

• New “non-motorized boat only” access areas will be established on portions of George H. Dunklin Bayou Meto WMA, Dave Donaldson Black River WMA and Shirey Bay Rainey Brake WMA.
• All of Galla Creek WMA will now be “non-motorized boat only” access.
• Waterfowl permit hunt opportunities will be established on all moist-soil units within Ed Gordon Point Remove WMA beginning with the 2027-28 waterfowl season.
• Waterfowl permit hunt opportunities will be established at Prairie Bayou WMA, Buckingham Flats Greentree Reservoir on Bayou Meto WMA and the Wiville West Unit of Rex Hancock Black Swamp WMA.
• A valid Arkansas hunting license and state duck stamp are now required to participate in the light goose conservation order. 
• Non-residents will be prohibited from waterfowl hunting at Dave Donaldson Black River WMA during the first segment of regular duck season (Nov. 21-29, 2026).

Maps of the new non-motorized boat access areas and permit hunt areas will be published on AGFC.com as waterfowl season draws near.

Naylor also noted that a separate regulation to increase the allowed horsepower of surface drive motors on certain WMAs from 37 hp to 40 hp was tabled following public comment and discussion by the Commission in March.

The Commission also finalized the hunting season dates for the 2026-27 waterfowl hunting season as well as preliminary season dates for 2027-2028. 

The 2026-27 Waterfowl Season Hunting Dates are as follows: 

Duck, Coot and Merganser: Nov. 21-29, Dec. 10-23, and Dec. 26, 2026-Jan. 31, 2027

Canada Goose: Sept. 1-Oct. 15, Nov. 21-29, Dec. 10-23, and Dec. 26, 2026-Jan. 31, 2027

White-fronted Goose: Oct. 31-Nov. 8, Nov. 21-29, Dec. 10-23, and Dec. 26, 2026-Jan. 31, 2027

Snow, Blue and Ross’s Goose: Oct. 31-Nov. 8, Nov. 21-29, Dec. 10-23, and Dec. 26, 2026-Jan. 31, 2027

Veteran, Active-Duty Military and Youth Waterfowl Hunt: Feb. 6-7.

The 2027-28 waterfowl seasons will reflect the same timing as 2026-27, with only slight adjustments for calendar creep (dates will correspond with the same days of the week as 2026-27). 

Commissioner Philip Tappan of Little Rock pointed out that the season dates for next year’s waterfowl season should be seen more as placeholders for planning, but the Commission still wanted to revisit the possibility of shifting those dates after the conclusion of this year’s duck season.

Commission Chairman Anne Marie Doramus of Little Rock took a moment to recognize the other commissioners, staff and public who all participated in the regulations change process. 

“We do our regulations every two years, but as soon as we wrap this up, we’re already beginning our next cycle that will be voted on in 2028,” she said. “We receive many emails and phone calls that we take at all hours of the day, and we listen to these people. We evaluate their concerns, and we respond. … A lot of those phone calls we get, if we can’t answer them, we pass them on to [AGFC staff], and y’all are gracious enough to take time out of your very busy day to talk to the public because it’s part of our mission statement, ‘…public understanding and support.’”

A video of the meeting, including other highlighted changes to regulations, is available on the AGFC’s YouTube Channel. A list of all changes passed on Thursday also is available at www.agfc.com/regulations.

In other business, the Commission: 

• Authorized AGFC Director Doug Schoenrock to complete a land purchase of 160 acres adjacent to Rick Evans Grandview Prairie WMA using existing federal Wildlife Restoration Act funds and a matching contribution through the Ross Foundation. [CLICK FOR PRESENTATION]
• Enjoyed a greeting from the University of Arkansas at Monticello by Chancellor Peggy Doss. [CLICK FOR PRESENTATION]
• Heard a report from Alyssa Tomb, a UAM graduate student, on her graduate research on habitat suitability for mallards in Arkansas bottomland hardwoods. [CLICK FOR PRESENTATION]
• Heard an update from AGFC Bear Program Coordinator Spencer Daniels on the 2025 Arkansas Bear Season Harvest and the status of Arkansas’s bear population. [CLICK FOR PRESENTATION]
• Heard an update from Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation President Deke Whitbeck on the many fundraising activities, including the upcoming Into the Wild Banquet on May 7 in northwest Arkansas, the Commissioner’s Cup Youth Bass Tournament May 16 on Lake Hamilton, and the Arkansas Outdoors Hall of Fame Banquet in Little Rock on Aug. 29. [CLICK FOR PRESENTATION]

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CUTLINES:

SPEAKER FOR FISHING REGULATIONS
AGFC Fisheries Chief Tommy Laird presented the regulations changes for fishing and commercial angling at Thursday’s Commission meeting. AGFC photo.

SPEAKER FOR HUNTING REGULATIONS
AGFC Wildlife Management Chief Luke Naylor presented hunting and wildlife-associated regulations changes during the meeting. AGFC photo. 

ANTLERED BUCK
This year saw a slew of changes and eliminations to deer-hunting regulations on AGFC-controlled WMAs to streamline rules for hunters and make it easier to enjoy the hunting experience. AGFC photo. 

MALLARD DUCK
The AGFC has set the 2026-27 waterfowl season dates, as well as made modifications to some waterfowl-focused WMAs to reduce user conflict issues. AGFC photo.

BEAR PRESENTATION
AGFC Bear Program Coordinator Spencer Daniels presented the results of the 2025 bear season harvest and offered a status update on Arkansas’s black bear population. AGFC photo.