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Deer Season Begins in the Natural State

GREENWOOD (KFSM) – It’s bow season — and for many in Arkansas, that means spending a lot of time in a deer stand. Bow-hunters headed out to the woods Satu...

GREENWOOD (KFSM) – It’s bow season -- and for many in Arkansas, that means spending a lot of time in a deer stand. Bow-hunters headed out to the woods Saturday (Sept. 27) to get that first deer of the season.

“Bow hunting is a little more challenging. Obviously I have to get a little closer than with a rifle or a shotgun. Just the challenge makes it a little more exciting to me,” Will Dawson, who is also the Greenwood Police Chief, said.

“I like jerky, so we make jerky out of deer meat. And of course have some ground up to make chili and stuff, and give some of it away to people in need,” Dawson said.

17-year-old Hunter Thomas Bardrick uses his meat for jerky, hamburgers and steaks.
Bardrick has been hunting for about 10 years and says one of the reasons he does is to put food on his table.

“From a store you don’t know exactly where it came from. You can kind of figure, but from here I know where it came from, what it has been eating, how healthy it is and things like that,” Bardrick said.

Dawson said most hunters will sit in a deer stand for hours, and sometimes, not harvest anything.

“I have gotten bored and I’d start playing around on the phone and that of course has got me in trouble with deer coming in without me hearing them come in,” Dawson said.

But it's not just sitting around -- deer hunting is serious, too.

“There’s a lot of ethics that go into bow hunting,” Dawson said. “If you don’t think you have a good shot, you shouldn’t take it. And you don’t want to wound an animal and it run off and you not find it.”

Safety is also a big concern for hunters.

“If you’re gonna go you need to wear your harness, really,” Tackle Box employee Tyler Adamson said. “Every year somebody I know falls out of a tree.”

"Just to get out there and away from everything is relaxing," Dawson said.

Dawson said deer move around more in the winter in order to stay warm, making them easier targets when it's cold outside.

Hunters can harvest up to four deer and no more than two bucks per season in our area. Bow season ends Feb. 28.
Muzzleloader season begins Oct. 18., and modern gun season starts Nov. 8 in our area.

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