Number crunchers at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission are fretting because nonresident duck hunters didn't visit Arkansas this season.
Nonresident waterfowl related permit sales are down about $500,000 from 2018-19. It was a major topic during the commission's monthly work meeting Wednesday in Little Rock.
Specifically, the commission sold 11.47% fewer nonresident duck stamps than it did in 2018-19. Revenue from nonresident waterfowl related licenses are down about 12%. The number of nonresident wildlife management area hunting permits are down 47% since 2015. That indicates a significant decline of nonresidents hunting on public land.
That is partly by design. To create a better duck hunting experience on wildlife management areas for Arkansas residents, the commission has enacted two significant regulations since 2017.
For nearly three decades, Arkansas has enjoyed a 60-day duck season that is divided into three segments in November, December and January. A number of nonresident duck hunters hunted all 60 days. They bought property near popular wildlife management areas, especially Bayou Meto WMA.
A core group of nonresidents are believed to have operated guide services catering primarily to other nonresident duck hunters. Conversations I had with hunters from South Carolina and Georgia over the years reinforced my belief that a strong East Coast commercial component was in play whenever the commission tried to close guiding loopholes.
Resident guides also operated in WMAs, catering primarily to nonresident hunters. It is illegal to guide for money on Arkansas wildlife management areas, but it is difficult to prove.
Arkansas hunters resented the wild west nature of hunting on WMAs. Conflicts were common, and the WMAs, especially Bayou Meto, developed reputations as being unsafe and not family friendly.
For the 2017-18 season, the commission passed a regulation that limited nonresident duck hunters to 30 days on wildlife management areas. However, they could pick their days, so there was no noticeable difference in traffic or activity.
For the 2019-20 season, the commission passed a new regulation that maintained the 30-day nonresident limitation, but with specific 10-day blocks within each segment of the duck season.
Spencer Griffith, marketing director for the Game and Fish Commission, said the commission's messaging might have made nonresident duck hunters feel unwelcome.
Commissioner Joe Morgan of Little Rock disagrees. Although Arkansas led the nation in the number of mallards killed during the 2018-19 duck season, hunters generally reported having a very poor season.
Also, the state was very dry for the first two segments of the 2019-20 duck season. WMAs had little water and provided limited duck hunting opportunities. Morgan said nonresidents probably stayed away in response to poor hunting in 2018-19 coupled with poor hunting conditions for the first two-thirds of the season.
No matter what kind of game you hunt, whenever a state limits nonresident access in any way, nonresidents believe they are getting a raw deal. However, it is premature to assign a significant dip in revenue to a 50% reduction of hunting opportunities on a handful of properties, especially when AGFC surveys show that 83% of nonresidents hunt ducks on private land.
Clearly, nonresidents also did not hunt on private land this season. That is attributable to poor hunting.
Many hunters are very skeptical of the AGFC's duck harvest reports, as well as its data collection methodology. Many have contacted me to say they don't believe that we kill as many mallards as the AGFC says we do because their experiences don't support those numbers.
If you are seeing and killing ducks, you are having a fine season. If you're not, it's natural to believe nobody else is, either. At the same time, Arkansans have said they enjoy hunting at Bayou Meto more than before because the hunting environment is friendlier and more relaxed.
Like any other business, duck hunting is subject to the principles of supply and demand, and product quality. When ducks are plentiful again, hunting quality will improve and nonresident hunters will return.
Sports on 01/19/2020