Turkey Season Summary - Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

2 0 0 6 - 0 7 H A R V E S T S U M M A R I E S2006-07Fall harvest summaryFall firearms turkeyseasons are availableonly where populationsmay support them. Photocourtesy of the NWTF.Unlike many Southeastern states, Arkansashunters may enjoy a limited fall turkeyhunting season. Spring turkey hunting is moreof a tradition in Arkansas, but some huntersenjoy fall hunting immensely. According to themost recent information, only a few thousandArkansans specificallypursue turkeysin fall with firearms.While even fewerspecifically pursueturkeys with archeryequipment becauseof the extreme difficultyof the hunt, many bowhunters pursuingdeer become “incidental” turkey hunters whenbirds approach their stands.Fall gun turkey seasonArkansas has a very conservative fall gunturkey season. Under the Strategic Wild TurkeyManagement Plan (available at agfc.com), onlyMany bowhunters pursuing deerbecome “incidental” turkey hunterswhen birds approach their stands.turkey zones with a spring harvest greater than0.5 turkeys per square mile of forest are open tofall gun turkey hunting. In fall 2006, zones 2, 3,6, 7 and 17 met this criterion and were open tohunting Oct. 23-29, 2006, with a limit of oneturkey (either sex).A checked harvestof 297 turkeys wasrecorded, down 32percent from 437checked in 2005.(The record fallgun season harvestwas 3,137 in 1987when seasons ran throughout October.) IzardCounty led the state with 28 turkeys checked(Figure 1), followed by Sharp (24), Randolph(23), Fulton (20) and Garland (14) counties.Most of these counties are in the eastern Ozarks,which typically leads the state in spring harvest.On public hunting areas, Mount MagazineWildlife Management Area led the state with8 2 0 0 6 - 0 7 T U R K E Y S E A S O N S U M M A R Y