Arkansas Wildlife

Host Trey Reid welcomes Dr. Craig Harper (University of Tennessee), Ronnie Ritter (Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry), and Arkansas Game and Fish Commissions Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) coordinator Jeremy Brown, to discuss deer management. Brown explains DMAP’s free, site-specific data, habitat guidance, and herd-balancing recommendations for large private lands, noting the program’s 25-year Arkansas milestone and the need to reduce deer densities in some areas. Dr. Harper out...

Host Trey Reid talks with AGFC Conservation Support Division Chief Cory Gray and Wildlife Health Biologist A.J. Riggs about chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Arkansas. They discuss the two new counties for the 2026-2027 season (Grant and Sevier) and how the detections will effects hunters this season. They summarize a five-year research project (2020–2025) in Newton county with the University of Georgia, SCWDS, and Colorado State University, concluding CWD can drive deer population declines, w...

Host Trey Reid talks with Jessica Feltz of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Conservation Support Division about how social science informs hunting, fishing, and conservation decisions. Feltz explains the “three-legged stool” of conservation—species, habitat, and people—and why understanding human behavior is essential for effective management. She describes tools like facilitated public meetings, interviews, focus groups, and scientifically designed surveys, including the biennial regu...

Host Trey Reid talks with Deke Whitbeck, president of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, about how the 501(c)(3) nonprofit supports the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission through fundraising and public engagement. They preview the 35th Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame banquet on August 29 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, which draws roughly 1,500–2,000 attendees and includes an online silent auction. They also discuss support for the Generation Conservation Summit, a new Le...

AGFC’s Trey Reid talks with southeast Arkansas district fisheries supervisor Ryan Mozisek about Lake Monticello’s rapid rebound after the city drained it in 2019 to fix levee issues. They cover major habitat work starting in 2020 (brush piles, pallet A-frames, Georgia and porcupine cubes, and nearly 2,000 trees cut for structure), ongoing additions like mossback trophy trees, and the lake’s slow refill due to a small watershed and drought conditions. Ryan shares how stocking forage and bass h...