Turkey numbers up for hunting season in Arkansas
Youth turkey hunt is Saturday, April 8 and Sunday, April 9 at Fort Chaffee Wildlife Management Area
Turkey reproduction has improved in Arkansas, and the spring season is expected to be better this year, state wildlife experts report.
Turkey hunters have some good news to look forward to this season. According to recent interviews featured in the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, reproductive rates have seen slow improvements over the last three years.
Hunters may not see an abundance of adult, male gobblers however, as the harvest increase is not likely to be seen this year for adult hunters, said Brian Infield, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologist at the Fort Chaffee Wildlife Management Area office in Fort Smith.
He said young hunters can bag a jake, or a young male turkey as part of their limit of two, but adults can’t shoot a juvenile male. A turkey is considered an adult after two years, Infield said.
Meanwhile, last year’s estimates of turkeys gathered through the annual turkey and quail population survey indicate the highest reproductive success since 2012 and 2013, the commission reports.
So 2-year-old gobblers may be more abundant in 2024.
Summer 2022 was drier than normal, and the less rainy conditions were good for young turkeys.
Hens should produce two poults, or baby turkeys, a year, said Jeremy Wood, the AGFC turkey program coordinator. Good weather helps, he said.
“If a hen is only successfully rearing one poult, she’s only replacing herself in the population,” Wood states. “We want that number to be closer to two poults per hen each year, and we saw that in some regions of the state last year.”
The Delta and Gulf Coastal Plain saw the best poult-per-hen ratios last year, 2022, followed by The Ozarks region, and the Ouachitas region. Dry conditions coinciding with peak hatching times likely were responsible for the increase, according to the survey.
“Turkey poults can’t thermoregulate (maintain their body temperature) during the first few weeks after hatching, so good weather conditions are essential to brood survival,” Wood stated.
To hunt turkey a license is required and a permit for the first three days of the season. A voluntary turkey stamp can also be purchased. Licenses are available at outdoor stores and commission offices.
More: 5 things to know for turkey hunting in Arkansas this season
The bag limit is two legal turkeys, no jakes, or young males, or hens on private land and one legal turkey on public lands. An adult male gobbler is considered a legal turkey.
The Fort Chaffee Wildlife Management area will be open for firearm hunting Saturday, April 8 and Sunday, April 9 for the youth hunt and the April 17 to May 7 period. The area is located in Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties that is located southeast of Fort Smith. Gates open at 4:30 a.m.
There is 38,000 acres of public hunting land at Lake Greeson in southwest Arkansas.
Turkey season starts April 8-9 in Arkansas with a statewide youth hunt before the regular turkey season April 17-.May 7 in Sebastian County, included in Zone 1, and April 17-25 in areas of the state considered Zone 2 which includes mostly the eastern part of the state but also Benton and Washington counties in the northwest.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission office in Fort Smith is at 8401 Massard Road, and call 833-356-0871 for information.
