Over a quarter-million people are expected to be in the woods throughout the state this weekend, as modern gun deer season begins Saturday. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Spokesman Steve “Wildman” Wilson says deer populations are expected to be larger in the southern part of the state.
“Arkansas's has got a real diverse habitat. Most of your deer [will be] down in south Arkansas where your clear-cuts and a lot of public land,” Wilson says. “The deer are doing very well down in south Arkansas. We've got a good acorn crop down in south Arkansas as well, which will mean good healthy deer. Up in the northern part, around the Ozarks and Ouachitas we've had a little bit more of a spotty a corn production, so the deer won't be quite as plentiful up there, but we're still looking for a good deer harvest. We're estimating killing over 200,000 deer this year total.”
While that may sound like a lot, Wilson says it's only a small percentage of the deer population in the state.
“Our estimated population [is] somewhere between 750,000, maybe a million deer,” Wilson explains. “So when you harvest a couple hundred-thousand that's a small percentage, and they rebound very quickly. Deer usually have twins, sometimes triplets so biologists tell us that you can actually up to 40% of a deer herd every year, and as long as you have a good habitat, which we do here in Arkansas, it will be replenished within one year.”
Wilson says over 65,000 deer have already been harvested so far this season.
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