Permit-based waterfowl hunt drawings available at AGFC.com

LITTLE ROCK — Applications for the first permit-based hunts of the 2024-25 Arkansas duck season will be available at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14-11:59 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17.

Although most public hunting opportunities in Arkansas are open on a first-come, first-served basis, hunters looking for a chance at a prime duck hunting spot with minimal competition have the opportunity to lock down guaranteed space at a few locations throughout the state through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s online draw system.

All waterfowl permit applications are accepted from 3 p.m. Thursday-11:59 p.m. Sunday one week before the weekend you intend to hunt. Successful applicants will receive a notification of their draw results the Monday before their hunt to allow them the full work week to prepare. Hunters who draw a permit will be assigned their hole location and are able to bring three friends, boosting their hunting party’s number to four per hunt.

WRICE Returns
The Waterfowl Rice Incentive Conservation Enhancement Program has provided a boost for migrating ducks and geese in the past five years, and it’s also offered a hunting opportunity for hunters seeking a privately owned rice field hunt. The program is funded by the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program in the 2018 Farm Bill that was extended for 2024.

The AGFC has leased more than 4,000 acres of harvested rice fields to ensure waste rice was left undisturbed and fields were flooded during the bulk of winter for migrating waterfowl. In addition to the duck energy provided by the waste grain and flooded habitat, the program offers hunters the rare opportunity to apply for a hunt on privately owned rice fields for a single $5 application fee. The program has 64 fields available for public draw this year, but the total number of blinds available each week will depend upon water conditions. Only surface water may be used to flood the fields, so the number of fields with huntable water may vary from week to week. David Graves, private land biologist for the AGFC who coordinates the program, said, “Thirty-six of the fields will be available for opening weekend. More will come online as water levels rise and waterfowl begin to use the areas.”

Visit www.agfc.com/waterfowlpermithunts to learn more about the WRICE Program and get an overview of the hunting locations for 2024-25.

Raft Creek Redux
Hunters familiar with Steve N. Wilson Raft Creek Bottoms know how well it can draw ducks with thousands of acres of moist-soil habitat available to hunt. Since its creation, Raft Creek WMA has always maintained some sort of draw during the busiest days of the week to ensure high-quality hunting for those who get a permit. This year, hunters will see a change in the draw and hunt procedure, opting away from open hunting by permit holders and going back to designated hunting locations on Saturday and Sunday permit hunts. Complaints about trying to draw permits for weekend hunts only to be faced with the same competition for prime locations as other WMAs led to the reinstatement of the drawn location system. Hunters will now apply for the specific hole they want on the WMA through the AGFC’s licensing system. Those who draw a spot will be able to bring three additional hunters, but all hunters must remain within 150 yards of the marked hole location.

“We reworked the layout of a few of the traditional holes to get more hunting opportunities when water levels allow,” Cayce Guy, wildlife biologist for the AGFC, said. “And we revamped the boat lane names to simplify things. Instead of having boat lanes A through J, we now have only a few lanes, all with names based on the hunt unit they’re in.”

For hunters who still prefer to set up in areas between marked locations, Tuesday and Thursday hunting will follow the same rules as always, with hunters picking up a permit the morning of the hunt at the boat ramp and setting up where they want with no limit to party size or total number of hunters on the WMA.

The area’s mobility-impaired blind, youth blind and Magellan Tract also are won through a special online draw, but these areas follow the drawn permit system on Tuesday and Thursday as well as the weekend. The youth blind is available only to hunters 15 and younger, and must be applied for through the youth hunter’s account on the AGFC licensing system.

Feeling Froggy
Duck hunting at Frog Bayou WMA will enter the permit system for the first time this year with the recent expansion of the property and continued work on moist-soil habitat in this duck area west of Ozark Lake WMA and the Arkansas River. Two designated fields will be available for a daily draw Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Each of these fields hugs the newly established waterfowl rest area on the WMA’s west flank. The remaining 13 fields will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, but anyone pursuing ducks on these areas must still go online to the AGFC licensing system to pick up a free Frog Bayou Open Hunting Unit Permit (FBOHP) before hunting.

“Right now, vegetation is still pretty sparse for hunters to find adequate cover in many of the newly established units, but the two drawn locations should offer some good hunting while we continue improvements on the property,” Brett Leach, AGFC Waterfowl Program Coordinator, said. “The free permit will help us measure hunting pressure and give us the ability to work with hunters as we develop this rare west Arkansas duck-hunting opportunity.”

Two for Youth
Young hunters don’t have to wait for the Special Youth Waterfowl Hunt on Feb. 8-9 to have a spot all their own. In addition to the Special Youth Blind at Raft Creek WMA, special youth blinds are available on a section in the southwest corner of Sheffield Nelson Dagmar WMA and on the west unit of Freddie Black Choctaw Island WMA. As with Raft Creek, only youths 15 and younger may apply for these hunts, and they must do so through the AGFC licensing system using their own account. Unlike the Raft Creek youth location, youths who draw one of these blinds may hunt for the entire weekend they draw, including after the noon cutoff time most other WMAs adhere to. Adults can join the youths, too. Up to four hunters may hunt from the blind, with at least one being a mentor and no more than one mentor per youth hunter.
Both of these locations also have opportunities for non-youth hunters to draw each Wednesday. Wednesday hunts end at noon, and are available for any hunter to apply the week before their hunt.

Cypress Bayou Steady
The Red Cut Slough tract at Cypress Bayou WMA is the final waterfowl hunting opportunity by draw in the AGFC’s stable, and it’s the closest to The Natural State’s capital city. Draw procedures here are unchanged from last year, with Saturday and Sunday hunting only available through the online permit system. Tuesday and Thursday hunting here follows the same rules as Raft Creek, with hunters filling out a paper permit at the WMA entrance and hunting where they want on the WMA.

Visit www.agfc.com/waterfowldraw for a list of all permit hunts, including drawing dates as well as a history of how many people applied for each location to help inform your future selections. Each application requires a $5 processing fee, but hunters who win their draw do not need to pay any additional money to claim their permit.

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CUTLINES:

PINTAILS
Rice fields and moist-soil habitat in AGFC’s permit-based system attract a variety of waterfowl like northern pintails. AGFC photo by Mike Wintroath. 

PIT BLIND
Some locations in the AGFC waterfowl draws are equipped with pit blinds and above-ground skid blinds, ready to hunt. AGFC photo by Randy Zellers.

YOUTHS
A few areas in the waterfowl permit system are reserved for hunters under 16 and their mentor to learn the ropes. Photo courtesy Roger Mangham, The Nature Conservancy. 

HUNTER WITH DOG
Willow brakes can offer some overhead cover for hunters at Raft Creek. AGFC photo by Jim Harris.