Thousands of hunters will hit the deer woods Saturday for Arkansas’ annual modern gun season.
Hunting, especially deer hunting, gives the state and region an economic boost every fall as hunters spend several hundred dollars apiece on supplies before heading out to match wits with wily whitetails.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the economic impact of hunting in Arkansas at more than $789 million a year.
An estimated 350,000 hunters will take to the woods for the modern gun hunt alone, according to the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. The average hunter in Arkansas will spend about $23 each of the 22 days hunting and total $2,108 throughout the year.
Hunters spend more than $375 million annually on guns and equipment in Arkansas and more than $230 million on licenses, leasing hunting land, membership dues and related activities.
Larry Aggus, longtime coowner of South Town Sporting Goods in Fayetteville, said he’s been steadily selling ammunition, hunting clothes, blinds and tree stands and camping gear this fall. Hunting habits have changed in recent years because earlier season bow and black powder hunts have become more popular, diluting the impact of moderngun season to some degree.
“The season has become so strung out that the big part of our season is over, but there’s still a bump for gun season,” Aggus said. “Forty or 50 years ago, we didn’t have archery and black powder seasons and people would line up out the door for licenses.”
An Arkansas resident hunting license with one modern gun deer tag costs $10.50. A license with six deer tags, covering bow, black powder and modern gun seasons, costs $25.
Butch Springer, owner of Mountain Man Supplies and Pawn in Fayetteville, said his deer hunting business picks up in late summer, when hunters begin preparing for fall deer hunts, and runs through the holidays.
“The first cool morning that we have in late August iswhen it starts,” Springer said.
“And, if you haven’t got it by hunting season, you ask for it for Christmas.”
Springer said he and his buddies hunt deer with every weapon allowed.
“If they had a sharp stick season, we’d be out there for the sharp stick season,” Springer said. “We want to be out there for all of them because we just like being out there in the woods.”
The economy has had some affect on the amount of money hunters are spending.
Bill Adams, owner of Ozark Armory, a gun shop in Springdale, said he usually sees a bump in hunting rifle sales before gun deer season, but not this year. Instead, hunters are hanging on to the rifles they have and maybe adding a few accessories like a new scope or sling.
“It’s because of this sucky economy,” Adams said.
Sporting goods dealers are also seeing more competition from large retailers like Academy Sports and Outdoors and Cabela’s. Academy opened a store in Rogers last year and Cabela’s plans to open a 100,000-square-foot store adjacent to Pinnacle Hills Promenade in the summer.
Construction is expected to begin early next year.
Cabela’s is the world’s largest retailer of outdoors merchandise and a direct marketer of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor merchandise.
The company reported in October total revenue, which comprises retail, direct and financial services revenue, increased 5.5 percent year over year to $678.6 million.
The economy also seems to be keeping hunters from spending on transportation this year, said Kenny Dover, general sales manager at Rainbow Cycle and Marine in Rogers.
Rainbow usually sees an upswing in ATV sales each fall, but fewer hunters have been looking for wheels this year and last, Dover said. Those who are buying seem to be moving away from traditional ATVs and gravitating toward the side-by-side models.
“The side-by-sides are more versatile than a regular ATV.
You can take it to the woods, then bring it home to use around the yard or farm,”Dover said. “That makes it a little easier to justify the cost.”
Money spent by hunters is spread throughout the community.
It may be $400 for a Marlin .30-30 deer rifl e and $20 for a box of ammunition at a gun shop. Or, it could be a $100 deer stand, $70 for a 150-quart cooler, $10 for deer scent lure, $15 for a deer call or camp chair, a $100 pair of hunting boots, $25 for an air mattress or $60 for a sleeping bag at an outdoor outfi tter.
Then there’s food and beer for camp and gasoline to get to the woods and back. And, hunters will often gather at one of the area’s small country stores for breakfast, a plate lunch or burger.
Ozark Custom Butchering in West Fork, for example, charges $80 to process a deer, according to owner Gayle Redmon. The company processes 700 to 800 a year.
“It’s however you want it cut up, bone out or bone in,” Redmon said. “The only thing we charge extra for is breakfast sausage and summer sausage.”
The extra charge is for spices and other cooking ingredients, Redmon said.
The deer herd in Arkansas is in the 1 million range and, according to the Game & Fish Commission, the statewide kill last season totaled 186,166.
Last year, hunters killed 4,072 deer in Washington County, 3,497 in Benton County and 3,034 in Madison County.
Modern gun season has always been, and still is, the more traditional hunting season in Arkansas. It’s more of a social outing where families and hunting buddies hit the woods together, oftencamping out for several days.
Jerol Skinner of Fayetteville hunts hard during early archery and black powder seasons, usually alone or with one of his daughters. But, during modern gun season, Skinner plans to camp with longtime friends. His brother Wade is coming from Cabot.
Skinner, who already has a doe in the freezer from muzzleloader season, said he loves spending all day in the woods hunting because of the solitude, the beautiful fall colors and the scenery.
He also likes the camaraderie of deer camp, which coincides with the modern gun hunt.
“We get to come together with friends and family that we don’t spend days at a time with and we get to have those moments that are just unique to camp,” Skinner said.
“You’re not going to fi nd them anywhere else. Those are moments in time for all of us that are only going to occur in that environment.”
Springer said many people never pick up a rifl e at deer camp.
“In my camp, it’s probably about 70/30 on actual hunters,” Springer said.
“There’s probably 30 percent of them just like to hang out at the camp and cook and eat and listen to the stories. It gives them a chance to get away from their wives and relax.”“We get to come together with friends and family that we don’t spend days at a time with and we get to have those moments that are just unique to camp.” JEROL SKINNER Fayetteville residentBY THE NUMBERS AMERICAN HUNTING 12.5 million: Hunters in the United States 256 million: Days spent afield annually $22.9 billion: Annual hunting-related expenditures 3 million: Average annual whitetail harvest 150 million: Pounds of deer meat $40 billion: Total annual contribution to economy SOURCE: U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE WEB WATCH HUNTING SEASON
Information about season dates, bag limits, licenses and permits and zone
maps for deer hunting can be found online at the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission website agfc.com/hunting/Pages/HuntingDeer.aspx.
Business, Pages 9 on 11/13/2011