Nonresident Arkansas dates

**JABIII** · 08-05-2019, 07:19 AM

Waterfowl hunting dates for nonresidents on Arkansas wildlife management areas available
Staff Report news@harrisondaily.com

LITTLE ROCK — Nonresident waterfowl hunters will be able to hunt some of Arkansas’s most popular public waterfowl-hunting destinations Nov. 23-Dec. 2; Dec. 27-Jan. 5; and Jan. 22-31 this season.

Thanks to the forethought of Commissioners decades ago, Arkansas is blessed with hundreds of thousands of acres of publicly available duck hunting opportunities. Many of these locations offer one-of-a-kind waterfowling experiences. The Natural State’s greentree reservoirs have been the subject of many books, magazine articles, outdoors television episodes and social media posts. A trip to Bayou Meto or Dave Donaldson Black River WMA is a high-point on many waterfowl hunters’ bucket lists.

This popularity comes at a cost. When waterfowl make their way to Arkansas, competition for prime hunting areas can be high.

In response to public comments from resident hunters, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission voted to allow nonresident hunters access to hunt waterfowl on AGFC WMAs only during specific portions of the season. The changes were passed in September of 2018, but Commissioners voted to delay implementation of the change until the 2019-20 season.

The Commission also created a single 5-day Nonresident Waterfowl Hunting Permit that would be valid on all AGFC WMAs in response to public comments received last waterfowl season. Previously, nonresident waterfowl hunters on many of the AGFC’s WMAs were required to purchase a separate permit for each WMA they hunted. If they wanted to change WMAs before their permit expired, they would need to purchase a second permit. The new universal permit enables hunters to move to different WMAs within the 5-day window when the permit is valid.

During the Commission’s May Committee briefings, Ken Reeves of Harrison voiced his concern over the previous system causing nonresidents to pay for hunting days they did not use while enjoying duck hunting in The Natural State.

“I received a phone call from a nonresident who said that the WMA-specific permit required him and his son to pay for multiple WMAs if they decided to move to different areas of the state to find ducks,” Reeves said. “I think it is an undue barrier for them to have to pay twice for hunting our WMAs if they’re trying to make the most of their trip.”

**drewb** · 08-05-2019, 07:56 AM

They never get in the timber good until mid January. So this pretty much limits OOS hunters to the last week. This will be a cluster and cost them millions in revenue.

**LabLuvR** · 08-05-2019, 08:12 AM

Can’t wait to see how much hell small business owners raise. This is stupid for a lot of reasons!

**Phone Man** · 08-05-2019, 08:15 AM

ive had good hunts in WMA's and even better ones other places. Talk to most of the locals and they hate the law. They say it pretty much rules out them hunting on the OOS weekends

**SC85** · 08-05-2019, 02:41 PM

B.S...Stan Jones has more to gain by forcing out of staters to use his guide service. Some of his comments were so absurd,The non-resident staying in the wma longer to socialize and take pics vs residents whom get in and get out... Also the best 30 days given....give me a break. Seriously..First split is usually dry and slow in the woods therefore no "Value" hunting for resident or non resident.

**Steelin' Ducks** · 08-05-2019, 02:48 PM

There’s no ducks in Arkansas anyway..

**Duckman#1** · 08-05-2019, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by Steelin' Ducks

There’s no ducks in Arkansas anyway..

Truth

**Chuck the Duck Slayer** · 08-05-2019, 04:39 PM

Louisiana is where is at

**LabLuvR** · 08-05-2019, 05:12 PM

It's hard to believe the residents bought into this horseshit! They are going to regret it mark my words. They haven't seen crowded until these days roll around.

**beanhunter** · 08-05-2019, 07:01 PM

N/A

**swampknob** · 12-17-2019, 02:08 PM

So what is the consensus on this so far?

**Steelin' Ducks** · 12-17-2019, 02:51 PM

We are seeing more people, in the Federal woods, than ever before. And now they changed the time that you can enter, it’s no longer a race in the wee hours of the morning to cross the line. People are just sitting in the holes all night long. So these new WMA regs are crowding other public lands and will also drive up lease prices.

**Catdaddy** · 12-17-2019, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by Chuck the Duck Slayer

Louisiana is where is at

And Kansas.

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**Strick9** · 12-17-2019, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by Steelin' Ducks

We are seeing more people, in the Federal woods, than ever before. And now they changed the time that you can enter, it’s no longer a race in the wee hours of the morning to cross the line. People are just sitting in the holes all night long. So these new WMA regs are crowding other public lands and will also drive up lease prices.

Its only going to get worse with that mess.

**Maggie Glover** · 12-17-2019, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by Steelin' Ducks

And now they changed the time that you can enter, it’s no longer a race in the wee hours of the morning to cross the line. People are just sitting in the holes all night long. .

Will you please elaborate on this? Are you saying they have changed the access times for the Bayou Meto et. al.? MG

**Catdaddy** · 12-17-2019, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by Maggie Glover

Will you please elaborate on this? Are you saying they have changed the access times for the Bayou Meto et. al.? MG

I think he's talking about the White River.

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**Steelin' Ducks** · 12-17-2019, 08:25 PM

The out-of-state Hunter restriction is only on WMA’s which are your state properties. You can hurt all the federal ground you want, granted each one of them have their own set of rules and regulations and annual permits you have to buy.

**Pee Dee Ducks** · 12-17-2019, 09:07 PM

Access times are still the same on the state owed WMA’s and they implemented the non resident dates this year. They did make changes to the federal lands. On the federal lands such as the White River you can now enter the hunting grounds at 8:00 pm the evening before the hunt. On the opening day of the second split there was just as many trucks at the state owed WMA’s as there ever has been. The overcrowding that the AGFC speaks so much of is not from OOSER’s but from actual residents of the state. During the first split I saw about 80% residents to 20% nonresidents on the WMA they we hunt. The white river had 90% more residents than non. I talked with a warden friend out there and he stated that this past week he’s seen more hunters than he has in the last three years on the WMA he works.