Arkansas Game And Fish Opportunities

Opportunities for Arkansas game and fish provide the watcher, photographer, hunter or fisher with a myriad of choices throughout the year. The visitor to Arkansas will immediately appreciate the scenic beauty of the state, while the long time resident understands the intricacies of the ecosystem  that makes up Arkansas's natural diversity. Arkansans who take advantage of the innumerable possibilities to pursue the game animals and fish can literally stock their freezers and feed their families year round with meat and fish from the woods and waterways that cover the state.

Every patch of woods in Arkansas holds abundant wildlife including even the patches of trees and fields in urban areas. Many times deer are seen running across the road, coyotes near parks, and every kind of small fur bearing creature that inhabits the state can be found in the city limits of Fort Smith, where the web master lives.

Those who love to fish (like the web master) are never without opportunities to ply waters twelve months per year for multiple species. Virtually every lake, river, stream, creek, pond and puddle contains fish that will eagerly satisfy the angler willing to just take the time to wet a hook. Some of the top professional fishermen and women in the U.S. come from the Natural State of Arkansas. One of the best bass fishing spots in the River Valley is the small Carol Cross Park Lake on Free Ferry Road in Fort Smith. Any body of water is a potential honey hole.

Arkansas game and fish activities are nowhere observed more obviously than in the fall of the year, when hunters head to the woodsto hunt the state's favorite game animal, the whitetail deer. With bow, black powder and gun seasons, opportunities are plentiful to patiently seek out the trophy bucks populating Arkansas woodlands. Or for those introducing their kids to the outdoors and to hunting, the plentiful smaller deer make for a great first hunt.

Arkansas also boasts significant populations of elk, bear, and smaller game such as squirrels and rabbits for the small game lovers in the state, in addition to excellent duck hunting in the Arkansas and Mississippi delta regions. Varmint hunting for coyotes and other woodland critters is also productive, and wild feral hogs now populate the state in large numbers. They make for some significant hunting opportunities during any season and they may be taken without limit, providing the savvy hunter with plentiful opportunities for some of the best pork that can be eaten.

Rivers in the natural state are plentiful, and the most famous is the mighty Arkansas river that every year provides tons of catfish, bass, crappie, white bass and more. The big river winds its way across the state, entering at Fort Smith and flowing southeast diagonally across the state to its confluence with the Mississippi River near Dumas, Arkansas.  The river ranges from a muddy, rocky waterway at Fort Smith, to a waterway whose backwater areas near the Mississippi river in the south look like the Everglades. In the southern part of the river there are also plentiful alligators to add to the excitement of fishing the lilly pad strewn backwaters. 34,000 acre Lake Dardanelle is part of the Arkansas River systems and is a lake so productive it is a regular stop for Bassmaster and other professional tournament organizations.

Another river that is a claim to Arkansas fame is the beautiful white river whose  cold, clear waters flow from the dam below Bull Shoals reservoir. An astounding 90 miles of the White below Bull Shoals is desgnated as trout water. With over a million rainbow trout stocked each year and big  brown trout that reproduce in the productive waters, the White River is considered a world class trout river with people from all across the U.S. and abroad visiting every year to ply its waters.

Vast public lands in the form of nearly 3 million acres making up three national forests provide free hunting opportunities for anyone who wants to hunt. No need to scrounge for a little piece of land or beg or pay land owners. Arkansas has plenty of open, wild acreage that provides world class hunting. These national forests also provide campgrounds, float trip opportunities on their sundry small rivers, and excellent fishing.

You can probably tell, I'm a little prejudiced toward the state from which I am a native. Born and raised in the state, I have never had the desire to roam trying to find more fertile ground. Arkansas game and fish opporunities are so abundant that if I never was able to leave the state to hunt or fish elsewhere, I would not feel that I had missed anything.

Further check out the web site. And if you're from another state, come visit us. You'll find yourself welcome into this lush natural state by some of the friendliest people in the nation. Come give Arkansas a look. You'll be glad you did.