Page 6 - HuntingGazette.2017

Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas The Sentinel-Record, Saturday, Month 00, 2012 6 – Thursday, August 31, 2017 – El Dorado NEWS-TIMES
Commission completes permit draw for whitetailed deer hunting
By the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has completed the much-anticipated drawing for permits to hunt whitetailed deer on some of the most popular wildlife management areas in the state. Email notifications for all permit holders were distributed by mid-August to inform appli- cants of their status.
The draws for youth hunts and archery hunts were completed early in the day, and muzzleloader permit hunts were wrapped up by late afternoon. Modern gun permit applicants likely received their email notification around bedtime, as the process was com- pleted and confirmed late in the evening.
Notifications for all applicants were delivered; however some may have been caught up in spam folders or buried in other emails. Applicants may check their sta-
Night:
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that chance just to stay hidden for a tournament.”
Most anglers don’t want to fumble around in the dark, looking for that perfect color or style lure, but you really don’t have to. According to Hedrick, you really only need a handful of options for night fishing and big black baits are the go-to lure choices once the sun goes down.
“Everything needs to be black or dark-colored,” Hedrick said. “The mainstays are always a big, Colorado-bladed spinner- bait most anglers call a ‘spider,’
Contributed photo
White tailed deer: Drawing for permits to hunt whitetailed deer on some of the most popular wildlife areas in Arkansas is completed.
charge for the process.
“With this year’s change to
application fees being reduced and collected at the time of appli- cation, the need for the previous $10 processing fee is gone,” said Brad Carner, AGFC chief of wild- life management. “The up-front application fee also reduced the amount of half-hearted applica- tions we received.”
According to Carner, slightly more than 20,000 applications were received last year for all of the deer permit hunts; this year 13,289 applications were received, which helped increase the remaining applicants’ odds of receiving a permit, and eliminated the need for any additional draws for unclaimed spots in each hunt.
“We still have a few hunts that had more permits available than applicants,” Carner said earli- er this month. “We will compile that list and sell those through an online permit sale in the next few weeks.”
them too much.”
Be sure to bring plenty of
water for yourself as well. Eighty-degree nights may feel cool compared to 95-degree days, but it’s still hot enough to work up a sweat when the fish- ing action cranks up.
tus through a desktop or laptop computer. Successful applicants can claim their permits by visiting https://ar-web.s3licensing.com/, choosing “WMA Applications”
a black topwater lure, a big black jig and a big black worm. You need baits that put off a lot of vibration, whether it’s with rattles or large soft-plastic bod- ies, so bass can key in on them.”
Hedrick’s partner France agrees, adding a black buzzbait to his lineup.
“It’s actually a little easier to catch fish on a buzzbait at night,” France said. “You can’t really see the strike as well, so you don’t set the hook too soon when you see a fish follow the bait.”
Caring for fish is just as crit- ical at night as it is during the daytime. Water doesn’t cool as quickly as air temperatures, and those bass are still swimming in bathwater temperatures, so if
and clicking the “WMA Permits” tab. Select your permit and finish by clicking “Complete Purchase.” Although the final command indicates a purchase, there is no
you’re planning to release the fish later, you have to keep your livewells churning.
“We add ice to the livewells just like daytime tournaments,” Hedrick said. “We try our best to get our fish calmed down and cool to prevent stressing
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