SOUTHEAST
Cory Gray, stationed down in Monticello, is the deer project leader for the AGFC, so I queried him about the status of the deer herd not only in the southeast region, but statewide as well. The southeast region, which lies mostly within the GCP, includes such counties as Ashley, Bradley and Drew, where the state’s highest kill normally occurs. Occasionally a really good buck is taken there too.

“At this point nothing we have seen indicates a problem where either numbers or overall health of the herd is concerned.” Cory said. “However, just like in other parts of the state, one thing that probably does effect hunter success has been the rising lease costs. Many clubs, particularly the smaller ones, try to solve that by taking in more members. In those instances hunter success is going to go down, but it’s merely because of the increased pressure.

“There are no major disease problems. We occasionally have spotty dieoffs from EHD, and have even seen a few deer with arterial worms, which causes ‘lumpy jaw disease.’ But overall our deer are in good shape.”

NORTHEAST
Merely thinking about the Arkansas delta, where big bucks supposedly hide behind every tree, makes every trophy hunter’s heart beat just a little faster. Robert Zachary, the AGFC regional supervisor from Jonesboro, says that this region, particularly zones 4 and 5, continues to be in good shape.

“Our conservative harvest strategy has stabilized our deer herd numbers, and I feel that we probably have the healthiest deer herd in the entire state. The short gun season, with a pair of two-day shotgun or muzzleloader seasons along Crowley’s Ridge, have kept kill there low, and in parts of the region our buck:doe ratio is close to being 1:2 . . . or better.”

Naturally the unlimited food source, in addition to the generally older age class of the bucks within this area, are the key factors that make the entire delta the state’s top “trophy” region. If you’ve ever traveled throughout the region you’ve seen the endless row crops that pump nutrition and minerals into the deer that feed on them, and from a quality viewpoint it doesn’t hurt that most of the land there is private. While frustrating to “outsiders,” this combination of food source and limited access virtually guarantees bigger deer.

As did most of the other supervisors I talked to, Robert mentioned that he annually finds a few deer that have died from EHD (more commonly known as “blue tongue”) but considers that to be almost natural mortality.

“In years when we have a hot, dry summer with strong southern winds, the midges which carry the EHD can be bad. In such years, mortality increases, and hunters will from time to time find dead deer. They naturally become alarmed, but for the most part we have seen no reason for concern.”

NORTH-CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST
Bob McAnally, the AGFC regional director from Russellville, has pretty much spent his entire life working and living within the Ozark Mountains. His knowledge of the region is virtually endless.

“There are certainly problems in the Ozarks when compared to other areas, but those are not one-year problems,” Bob stated recently. “If you look at a soil fertility graph, you will see that the farther you get away from the bottomlands along the Arkansas River Valley, the poorer the quality of your food sources become. This naturally hurts fawn production and retainment to some degree, but it’s nothing really unusual.

“The one-buck limit we had for a couple of years seems to have had a positive effect on buck quality within the Ozarks. I have never seen more ‘good’ bucks than I saw during this past season. The zone quota doe harvest has also helped our overall numbers rebound in recent years.

“We’ve seen some EHD,” he continued, “but it has been spotty for the most part. I occasionally find dead deer around water, which is one of the indicators, and we see sloughed hooves now and then on deer which are checked. These are indicators that they have survived the disease in the past.”