Arkansas Public

Shed Hunter

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Oct 11, 2011
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4,274
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Henderson County
Anyone on here hunt public in Arkansas? I'll be taking a trip over soon. Looking at both tracts of St. Francis (the sunken lands and the forest) also the White river.

the forest is a back up to my question-can you profitably access the other too at all without a boat?
 

Double L

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Jan 1, 2020
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I coon hunted the white River refuge last Dec. And seen a 140"to 150" 10 point two nights in a row chasing a doe within 200 yards from 1st sighting on the North unit. There was alot of deer hunters camping on the south unit but we only saw hand full of does hunting off the levee. They kill some monsters every year on the refuge.
 

Shed Hunter

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Henderson County
I've seen a lot of big deer coming out of Arkansas. I'd like to run over there and hang some cams then shed hunt it. A kayak would be awesome. I'm sure there's some secret areas in there that are hard to access
 

Grnwing

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Jun 6, 2014
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622
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West TN
You are looking at a ton of land with all of them being very different. I spend a lot of time in November and then Jan and Feb hunting public in Arkansas. I happily pay the $400-$500 every year for AR license to chase river bottom bucks. I have not spent any of that time on the Sunken Lands deer hunting. A good packable stand is a huge asset to have in these areas. The National Forest is a unique area to hunt with it being on Crowley's ridge, with many steep ravines and drainages. The White, well you could spend a lifetime learning those woods and oxbows. There isn't great road access for the WRNWR but a boat will open up a lot of options. I have a huge map of the WRNWR framed hanging on the wall in my man cave, and often look at how much land there is to explore. When hunting those river bottoms you need to be aware of the water levels and when the areas close to deer hunting, and maybe more important, when those areas open back up. The SNF has a decent road system but with both places cell reception is pretty spotty. The SNF does have antler restrictions and finding a buck that exceeds that is very doable. As far as hanging cameras check with the the area managers of each tract. I talked to 2 hunters last year that were out $1500 in cameras that they placed on the NWR and the warden had picked them up. Again, you are looking at a lot of square miles and time scouting is going to be crucial. I would pick one of those areas and start scouting, both WRNWR and SFNF are easy to get turned around and having a good sense of direction is a huge help. Don't be afraid of getting your boots/waders wet, one of the best parts of hunting those river bottoms, is hearing the deer come through the water. Once you spend some time scouting, I would focus on that area and learn how those deer use the areas and the start to apply that knowledge to different areas and you can start to put together some pretty good patterns. When you score, be mindful of the CWD importation regulations on bringing a buck back across state lines and plan accordingly. I keep a saw and a cooler in the truck to debone in the field and clean skull caps.
 

Shed Hunter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
4,274
Location
Henderson County
You are looking at a ton of land with all of them being very different. I spend a lot of time in November and then Jan and Feb hunting public in Arkansas. I happily pay the $400-$500 every year for AR license to chase river bottom bucks. I have not spent any of that time on the Sunken Lands deer hunting. A good packable stand is a huge asset to have in these areas. The National Forest is a unique area to hunt with it being on Crowley's ridge, with many steep ravines and drainages. The White, well you could spend a lifetime learning those woods and oxbows. There isn't great road access for the WRNWR but a boat will open up a lot of options. I have a huge map of the WRNWR framed hanging on the wall in my man cave, and often look at how much land there is to explore. When hunting those river bottoms you need to be aware of the water levels and when the areas close to deer hunting, and maybe more important, when those areas open back up. The SNF has a decent road system but with both places cell reception is pretty spotty. The SNF does have antler restrictions and finding a buck that exceeds that is very doable. As far as hanging cameras check with the the area managers of each tract. I talked to 2 hunters last year that were out $1500 in cameras that they placed on the NWR and the warden had picked them up. Again, you are looking at a lot of square miles and time scouting is going to be crucial. I would pick one of those areas and start scouting, both WRNWR and SFNF are easy to get turned around and having a good sense of direction is a huge help. Don't be afraid of getting your boots/waders wet, one of the best parts of hunting those river bottoms, is hearing the deer come through the water. Once you spend some time scouting, I would focus on that area and learn how those deer use the areas and the start to apply that knowledge to different areas and you can start to put together some pretty good patterns. When you score, be mindful of the CWD importation regulations on bringing a buck back across state lines and plan accordingly. I keep a saw and a cooler in the truck to debone in the field and clean skull caps.
Oh dang. I really don't do much actual hunting unless I have a particularly large target buck. I like running cameras and picking up sheds. No area manager I've talked to has cared in TN or KY but it sounds like they definitely care there which wouldn't be worth it
 

DeerCamp

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Joined
Jul 28, 2020
Messages
3,782
Anyone on here hunt public in Arkansas? I'll be taking a trip over soon. Looking at both tracts of St. Francis (the sunken lands and the forest) also the White river.

the forest is a back up to my question-can you profitably access the other too at all without a boat?
I lived in Arkansas for about 5 years. I actually lived in Stuttgart but never duck hunted even once, go figure.

I can only really comment on 3 places.

Bayou Meto - I've seen some monster deer come out of there, but the mosquitoes can be unbearable in that early Muzzleloader and Archer time frame. Lots of good places for big bucks to hide that people simply don't want to go.

Ozark National Forest - PLENTY of place to roam and gorgeous country. Saw very few other hunters, but the deer population was sparse too. That said, saw several nice younger bucks, just nothing I wanted to pull the trigger on. When I was there, you could not shoot antlerless during the rifle season.

Holland Bottoms - decent during bow season. Some really big deer come in from unhuntable areas that surround it, but once muzzleloader and rifle start, too many people and too much pressure.
 

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