Updated on September 7, 2026. Confirm every fee, draw deadline, and hunter-education rule on the AGFC hunting license descriptions and fees page before you put a card in the reader. This is the field readout, not the proclamation.
| Who this is for | Resident and nonresident deer hunters in Arkansas (whitetail only; elk is a different hunt). |
|---|---|
| Buy it here | AGFC license cart · AGFC licensing hub · vendors, regional offices, or 833-345-0325. |
| Hunter education | Required if you were born after 1968. Arkansas honors other states’ cards. Under 16 can hunt with a licensed adult 21 or older. Deferred Hunter Education (DHE) is the adult workaround. |
| What you actually buy | One hunting license that includes the deer tags. There is no separate Arkansas “deer stamp” for a normal hunt. Residents: Conservation (one deer) or Sportsman’s (six tags). Nonresidents: annual all-game, or a 3-day / 1-day trip license. Cost band last checked on AGFC: resident tens of dollars, nonresident annual in the $400s. |
| OTC vs draw | The deer license itself is over the counter. What still draws: permit hunts on popular WMAs. A draw application is not a deer license. |
| License year | Hunting licenses expire June 30. A May purchase only covers you through that June 30. |
| Antlerless / bonus | Tags come with the license. Statewide bag and zone antler rules live on the Arkansas hunting guide, not in the cart. |
| WMA / public extras | A hunting license covers AGFC-owned WMA access. Leased-lands WMAs need the extra Leased Lands Permit. Some WMA hunts still require a drawn permit. National wildlife refuges run their own permits. |
| Youth / apprentice | Under 16: no hunting license, but you still need the free youth deer tags to check a deer. DHE lets a 16-or-older hunter without hunter ed go with a qualified adult. |
| Where to hunt next | Arkansas deer hunting guide · Ozark National Forest · Ouachita National Forest |
Buy the Arkansas tag before you cross the line
I have watched people roll south from West Plains with a Missouri permit in the console and assume the Ozarks are one woods. They are not. You need an Arkansas hunting license to hang a deer on Arkansas dirt — including Ozark National Forest, Ouachita, and every AGFC WMA.
The national walkthrough lives at how to get a hunting license. This page is only Arkansas’s cart. Seasons, baiting, dogs, and where to sit live on the Arkansas deer hunting guide.
Step 1: Hunter education
If you were born after 1968, Arkansas wants a hunter-education certificate before you hunt on your own. That is AGFC’s cutoff, not Michigan’s 1960 line. Free instructor-led classes still exist. Online courses exist too. If you already passed hunter ed in another state, Arkansas recognizes it — bring the card or the number. Do not assume a gas-station vendor can “look you up.” Details: AGFC hunter education.
Kids under 16 who have not finished the course may hunt if a licensed hunter at least 21 years old is right there. If you are 16 or older without hunter ed, the free Deferred Hunter Education code (DHE) lets you hunt for one year, renewable, under a licensed hunter 21 or older who is hunter-ed certified or was born on or before December 31, 1968. DHE is not a solo-hunt pass.
Step 2: Resident or not
Residency is not a cabin on Greers Ferry and a Texas driver’s license. AGFC’s licensing FAQ is blunt: a resident physically inhabits a bona fide residence in Arkansas for at least 60 days and declares full-time residency. Owning land here while you live somewhere else does not make you a resident. Student and active-duty exceptions are on that same FAQ. I do not guess them at the counter.
Nonresident deer hunting is still over the counter. That is why a lot of us hunt Arkansas instead of drawing Iowa. The price is the shock, not the availability. Last checked September 7, 2026 on the AGFC fee sheet: nonresident annual all-game (NBG) is $410 with six deer tags; a 3-day license is $225; a 1-day is $100. Those numbers move. Confirm them the week you buy. If you are coming from out of state, read planning an out-of-state deer hunt before you book a cabin around the opener.
Step 3: What goes in the cart
Arkansas does not sell a standalone “deer license.” You buy a hunting license and the deer tags are already on it. Last checked on that same AGFC fee sheet:
- Resident Wildlife Conservation License (HNT) — $10.50. One deer tag.
- Resident Sportsman’s License (RS) — $25. Six deer tags, plus turkey and bear tags. This is what most resident deer hunters actually want.
- Combination Sportsman’s (CS) — $35.50. Sportsman’s hunting plus sport fishing.
- Nonresident Annual All Game (NBG) — $410, six deer tags. Bear, turkey, elk, and alligator are extra permits on top.
- Nonresident 3-day (AG3) or 1-day (AG1) — $225 / $100. Trip licenses. Six tags, but only for the dates you buy.
Youth 6–15 do not buy a hunting license. They do need the free Resident Youth Game Tags (YGT) or Nonresident Youth Deer Tag (YDTN) on their AGFC profile before they can check a deer. Buy online, at a vendor, at a regional office, or by phone. Save a PDF or a screenshot. Do not hunt off an email you cannot open in a holler’s dead zone.
Step 4: When it goes on sale
Hunting licenses expire June 30. The next license year is on the cart around July 1. If you wait until the Friday before the modern-gun opener, you will still get a resident or nonresident deer license in a normal year.
What does have a clock: WMA deer hunt permits. For 2026–27, AGFC opened applications June 1 and closed them July 1 at 11:59 p.m. Leftover permits opened July 22. Each hunt type (youth, archery, alternative firearms, modern gun) is one application. The processing fee last checked on the WMA deer hunt permits page is $5, nonrefundable, per hunt type. Drawing the permit does not replace the hunting license.
How you carry it, tag it, and report it
Paper, PDF, the AGFC app, or the plastic card are all legal if they are the current year. I screenshot the license and keep a paper tag I can fill out with gloves on. Two legal paths, both from the AGFC deer-specific regulations page: check immediately in the app, on the website, or at 833-289-2469 before you move it and skip the paper tag; or tag the ear or antler, then check within 12 hours. Evidence of sex stays on until it is checked. You may quarter in the field if the head stays within arm’s reach of all four quarters. Mechanics: how to tag a deer.
CWD rules are not a license, but they will ruin the drive home. You cannot haul an intact CWD-zone deer into a clean county. Do not drive a whole Newton County carcass to a Missouri processor because the shop is cheaper. Symptoms and testing: CWD in deer and how to get your deer tested for CWD.
Public land: the license is the same, the extras are not
Ozark National Forest, Ouachita National Forest, and AGFC-owned WMAs take the same Arkansas hunting license. There is no Forest Service hunting fee. What a WMA actually is lives on wildlife management areas. The general how-to is on hunting national forest land.
Three extras wreck a public-land Saturday if you skip them. Leased Lands Permit (LLP), last checked $75, now covers the whole leased-lands list (Big Timber, Casey Jones, Cedar Mountain, Cherokee, Jim Kress, Gum Flats, Howard County, Jack Mountain, Lafayette County, Lake Greeson, and Provo). Youths under 16 do not need it. Official list: AGFC leased land permits. Timber-company public access is a different animal than a national forest: deer hunting timber company land in the South. Drawn WMA hunts on Fort Chaffee, Freddie Black Choctaw Island, and other popular areas still run through the June–July draw; a Sportsman’s License is not that permit. National wildlife refuges are not on the AGFC cart. Dale Bumpers White River NWR sells public-use and quota deer permits on its own RecAccess site.
As of July 1, 2026, hikers 16 or older without an Arkansas hunting or fishing license need the AGFC-Owned WMA/Lake Conservation Permit (WMC, last checked $10.50) on AGFC-owned areas. A hunting license already covers that access. Do not double-pay. Baiting, dogs, hunter orange, and Sunday hunting live on the Arkansas hunting guide. The one license add-on that belongs here: nonresidents who hunt deer with dogs need the Nonresident Hunting Dog Owner’s Permit (NDP, last checked $100) on top of a valid nonresident deer license.
Youth and first-timers
Youth modern-gun weekends are statewide. Only hunters 6 to 15 may harvest deer on those days, and the kid still needs the free youth tags on their own Customer ID. If they have not finished hunter ed, the adult 21 or older stays at their side. DHE is how an adult who missed hunter ed still goes — it is not a second license.
Common ways this goes wrong
- Buying the Conservation License and then shooting a second deer because “Sportsman’s is only a few more dollars.”
- A Missouri or Oklahoma license on Arkansas dirt because the national forest “feels like the same woods.”
- Skipping the Leased Lands Permit on Big Timber or Cherokee.
- Treating a WMA draw application as the hunting license, or showing up at Fort Chaffee without the permit.
- No hunter-ed card, born after 1968, and no DHE.
- Moving a CWD-zone carcass across a county or state line because the processor is cheaper at home.
- Checking the deer 18 hours later because cell service died and nobody hit sync on the app.
Where to hunt once the tag is in the truck
Start with the Arkansas deer hunting guide for seasons, bags, baiting, dogs, and the public-land list. Hills: Ozark National Forest or Ouachita. The two-state hill hunt is on deer hunting in the Ozarks. Missouri’s opener is a different license (Missouri deer hunting). Oklahoma’s Ouachita spillover is a different agency: Oklahoma deer hunting. Michigan is the other OTC cart people actually compare: how to get a Michigan deer hunting license. For woods people skip when White Rock is slammed, look at where to hunt.
Parent hub: how to get licensed · deer hunting · hunting by state.
FAQ
Can a nonresident buy an Arkansas deer license over the counter? Yes. Annual, 3-day, or 1-day. Confirm the current price on the AGFC fee sheet. Some WMA hunts and all elk hunts still draw.
Do I need hunter education? If you were born after 1968, yes, unless you are under 16 with a qualifying adult or hunting on a valid DHE under supervision.
Does a Missouri license work on Ozark National Forest? No. Ozark-St. Francis is Arkansas. Ouachita on the Oklahoma side is a different license again.
Do I need a separate license for a WMA? Not for AGFC-owned WMAs if you already hold a hunting license. Leased-lands WMAs need the Leased Lands Permit. Permit-only hunts and refuges need their own permits.
Where do I check a deer? AGFC app, the license site, or 833-289-2469, within 12 hours — or immediately before you move it if you skip the paper tag.