Apply for an opportunity to hunt doves with the AGFC on opening weekend

July 27, 2022

Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has eleven opportunities throughout the state this year for hunters looking to hunt doves during the Labor Day Weekend opener. Four of these managed fields are on AGFC Wildlife Management Areas and seven are privately-owned fields the AGFC has leased from farmers to offer additional opportunities for the public to enjoy the kickoff to hunting season.Applications will be accepted Aug. 1-15 at www.agfc.com.

The permit dove hunts on WMAs are only for opening weekend and only on the following fields:

• Camp Robinson Special Use Area in Faulkner County;
• Shirey Bay Rainey Brake WMA’s Powhatan Field in Lawrence County;
• Black River WMA’s Brookings Field in Clay County; and
• Frog Bayou WMA’s Powerline Field in Crawford County.

Dove hunting is open on a first-come, first-served basis on all other WMA fields and on the fields listed above after opening weekend.

The seven private fields leased for this year’s permit dove hunts are as follows:

• Jefferson County (34 acres of sunflowers)
• Franklin County (40 acres of topsown wheat with some sunflowers)
• Lafayette County (40 acres of sunflowers)
• Fulton County (40 acres of topsown wheat)
• Bradley County (36 acres of topsown wheat)
• Greene County (60 acres of sunflowers)
• Prairie County (60 acres of millet)

Applications require a $5 processing fee. Applicants may choose a particular day and field. Permit winners will be notified after the drawing and will be emailed maps and directions to their fields. No other hunting is allowed on these fields. No scouting or access to the fields will be allowed outside of the hunt days drawn. Hunters may bring one hunting partner with them to enjoy the hunt, but both hunters must hunt together at a designated shooting station within the permitted area.

Many other fields are being prepared on AGFC Wildlife Management Areas for the 2022-23 season, but current drought conditions may affect their availability for the opening weekend of dove season. The availability of these open public fields will be updated at www.agfc.com/dove as final assessments of the seed source on these locations are made within the next few weeks.

New for this year, steel shot is required for all migratory bird hunting (including doves) on the following WMAs: Bell Slough, Beryl Anthony Lower Ouachita, Big Lake, Camp Robinson, Cypress Bayou, Cut-Off Creek, Dave Donaldson Black River, Dr. Lester Sitzes III Bois d’Arc, Earl Buss Bayou DeView, Ed Gordon Point Remove, Frog Bayou, Galla Creek, George H. Dunklin Jr. Bayou Meto, Harris Brake, Henry Gray Hurricane Lake, Petit Jean, Rex Hancock Black Swamp, Seven Devils, Steve N. Wilson Raft Creek Bottoms, Sheffield Nelson Dagmar, Shirey Bay Rainey Brake.

The 2022-23 Arkansas Dove Season is Sept. 3-Oct. 23, 2022 and Dec. 8, 2022-Jan.15, 2023. The daily bag limit for mourning dove and white-winged dove is 15, with a possession limit of 45. There is no daily bag limit or possession limit for Eurasian collared-dove.