60 Days of Ducks – AGFC Approves Arkansas Duck Season Dates

The Arkansas duck season will again cover 60 days. It’s the 19th consecutive year the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has approved a 60-day hunting season for waterfowl. The vote came during the Commission’s monthly meeting.

AGFC Waterfowl Program Coordinator Luke Naylor presented the Commission with the late migratory season proposals. Naylor summarized a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report that said despite an early spring over most of the waterfowl breeding population and habitat survey area, habitat conditions during the 2015 survey were similar to or poorer than last year. “With the exception of portions of southern Saskatchewan and central latitudes of eastern Canada, in many areas the decline in habitat conditions was due to average to below-average annual precipitation,” Naylor explained. 

Naylor noted that Arkansas again had the highest mallard harvest in the nation with just more than 530,000 mallards harvested in the 2014-15 season. The next highest mallard harvest in the nation was in Missouri with just more than 254,800. No other state in the Mississippi Flyway harvested more than 200,000 mallards. During the 2013-14 waterfowl season, Arkansas hunters harvested almost 423,000 mallards.  

2015-16 Duck Season Dates

Nov. 21 – Nov. 29

Dec. 10 – Dec. 23

Dec. 26 – Jan. 31

Youth Hunt: Dec. 5 and Feb. 6

Northwest Canada goose zone season

Sept. 19-28

Statewide Canada goose season

Sept. 1-15, Nov. 18-Dec. 4 and Dec. 6-Jan. 31

White-fronted, snow, blue and Ross’s goose seasons

Nov. 18-Dec. 4 and Dec. 6-Jan. 31 (daily bag limit increased from two to three)

Light goose conservation order

Oct. 10-Nov. 17, Feb. 1-5 and Feb. 7-April 25

The 2015-16 Arkansas duck season bag limits are six ducks consisting of six ducks of: no more than: four mallards (two hens), three wood ducks, two pintails, two redheads, one black duck, two canvasbacks, one mottled duck or three scaup.

The Commission also heard a proposal to ban simulated wing movement decoys on Bayou Meto and Dave Donaldson Black River wildlife management areas. If approved, the ban would be in effect from the first day of regular duck season to the last day of the last segment of the regular duck season. The commission will vote on the proposed ban at its Sept. 24 meeting. Send comments on the proposed ban to AskAGFC@agfc.ar.gov