For a map of Gene Rush/Buffalo River WMA, contact the AGFC at the address given above, or download the Gene Rush WMA map.

HOBBS SMA
Owned by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, 11,644-acre Hobbs State Management Area is open to turkey hunting except for the approximately 2,400 acres of Beaver Lake State Park, which lies along the shore of the lake of the same name.

Hobbs SMA is located in the southeast corner of Benton County, with a very slight spillover into Madison County. As is the case with nearby Madison County WMA, Hobbs has a good turkey population, but is more accessible and is therefore more heavily hunted than Madison County WMA. It’s also considerably closer to the large population center of the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers-Bentonville corridor, and that may have an effect as well.

Hobbs SMA is bisected by Arkansas Highway 12 east of Rogers, and several gravel roads off the highway provide interior access. Camping is available in the state-park section of Hobbs SMA, but all weapons must be unloaded and cased at all times in the campground. Camping too is available at nearby Prairie Creek Campground on the lake; similar firearms restrictions apply. No camping is allowed on the management area proper. Commercial lodging is available in Rogers, only a few miles west.

As of this writing, the AGFC has no downloadable map available for Hobbs SMA, but the agency’s Arkansas Outdoor Atlas, available at any regional office or online, can help you get around on the area. The cost is $15 for walk-in sales or $18 by mail.

PINEY CREEKS WMA
Refer to the discussion of White Rock WMA earlier in this article, and you’ll have a pretty good idea what to expect on Piney Creeks WMA. This is also a Forest Service/Game and Fish Commission cooperative management area, but Piney Creeks is not quite as big -- “only” 200,000 acres to White Rock’s 280,000.

Highway 7 north of Russellville bisects this huge area, and a good road network provides access to the interior of each half. Developed campgrounds are numerous and include Brock Creek, Bayou Bluff, Haw Creek Falls, Long Pool, and Richland Creek.

Piney Creeks WMA contains two officially designated wilderness areas: Richland Creek Wilderness and Hurricane Wilderness. The same Ozark National Forest map that covers White Roc WMA also has Piney Creeks WMA. Refer to the White Rock WMA discussion above for ordering information.

Many spring turkey seasons have come and gone since I watched that first-ever longbeard walk by near Lake Wedington, and although the turkey season is still closed in the Wedington Unit, there’s once again a viable turkey population there. I expect that within a few more years, turkey hunting will be legal on that particular chunk of public land.

I know full well that the one particular gobbler that so long ago set my life in the outdoors on this track has long since departed those hills and hollows; no turkey lives that long. But when the turkey population there grows enough and there’s an open season, I’m going to go there and look for him. In my mind’s eye, he’s still as alive as he was on the day that he nearly stepped on my feet.