With duck season winding down, Arkansas sportsmen are preparing for turkey hunting and crappie fishing, but deer season continues until the cusp of spring.
Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Texas allow some form of deer hunting well into February. These late seasons provide hunting opportunities for the general public and greater flexibility to manage deer herds. February hunting is allowed in specific zones in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Texas.
Virginia allows antlerless hunting in certain cities for most of March, and in four counties for most of April. Those seasons are intended to reduce deer in heavily populated localities.
In Arkansas, the statewide archery season ends on the last day of February, Dixie's longest statewide deer season.
At least since 1995 -- the last year for which records are available -- archery season in Arkansas ended the last day of February. In 2003-05, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission closed the season on Feb. 15 over concerns that hunters were killing adult bucks that had shed their antlers. That perception was false, and in 2006 the AGFC restored the Feb. 28 closing in response to hunters' requests.
Cory Gray, the AGFC deer project leader since 2005, said hunters probably do kill a few adult bucks that have shed their antlers, but the number is inconsequential.
In 2015, for example, hunters in Arkansas killed 2,816 deer from Jan. 17 to Feb. 28. Of those, 1,457 were does, and 351 were "button" bucks and the remaining 1,008 were antlered bucks. Hunters killed 996 deer in February 2011. The percentages were identical. Even with the remote possibility that all 351 "buttons" were shed adults, Gray said the biological impact is negligible.
"There's no impact from a biological standpoint," Gray said. "In 2013, we killed 1,213 deer in February. That's point-five-seven percent of the total harvest, not even one percent. The same was true in 2012. It's just not a big deal, and it has no impact on the total harvest."
Although it is biologically insignificant, mistakenly shooting a buck that has dropped its antlers is really disappointing.
First, you will probably endure some ribbing, and maybe even criticism from your peers. You might also deprive yourself a chance later at a mature buck that previously wore a set of trophy antlers.
If you are bowhunting, any deer you intend to shoot should be close enough to closely observe the head. If a buck has recently shed its antlers, its pedicles will still be raw and bloody.
"If it's an older-age class buck that's shed, you ought to be able to see red spots," Gray said. "When yearlings lose their antlers, sometimes it's a little harder to see the pedicles."
Some bucks shed early if they are stressed by the cumulative effects of rutting activity and poor nutrition from limited food availability. The pedicles might have healed in such a case, making it harder to identify a shed buck, especially in poor light and thick cover. If you cannot distinguish the animal as one you wish to shoot, restrain yourself and wait for a better opportunity.
"Bowhunters tend to get closest to the game, so they ought to be able to do the most accurate IDs of any hunter group," Gray said.
Although hunters kill relatively few deer late, the die-hards that soldier on to the end cherish the opportunity.
"They don't kill a lot in February, but apparently hunters like to sit in a tree in the month of February," Gray said. They just want to have the ability to get out and enjoy the woods. If that results in them being happy, and if there's no negative impact on the deer herd, then there's no reason not to do it."
Sports on 01/17/2016