Modern gun deer season opens Saturday. That means a fresh start for hunters chasing a buck or doe.
For some hikers, deer season means a temporary halt to hiking, and that’s too bad. The woods are just gorgeous right now. It’d be a shame to stay home and miss the best month to hike.
No. 1, there are miles of trail to explore where hunting isn’t allowed. No. 2, you’d be hard pressed to fi nd a hunter along a trail where deer hunting is permitted.
State parks such as Devil’s Den, Withrow Springs and Lake Fort Smith don’t allow hunting. All off er great hiking.
Pea Ridge National Military Park, northeast of Rogers, has miles of trail.
Hunting isn’t permitted in the Civil War park.
One state park exception is Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area. This vast 12,000-acre park is the only Arkansas state park where hunting is allowed.
Deer hunts at Hobbs usually take place on dates different than the statewide deer seasons. Trails at Hobbs are closed during these hunts.
Hobbs trails will be closed Saturday through Wednesday for the park’s limited-permit muzzleloader deer season. Trails will close again Dec. 1-5 for the park’s permit-only modern gun deer season.
The Hobbs shooting range is also closed during these hunts. One trail, the one-halfmile Historic Van Winkle Trail, is open during Hobbs deer seasons.
Deer hunting takes place in the Ozark National Forest and the Buffalo River area.
You might find a hunter if you look hard enough.
Most deer hunters don’t hunt along trails where hikers might spook the deer.
They may use a trail to get to a favorite spot, but most don’t hunt beside the trail.
Years ago, my neighbor, Matthew Ross, and I set out to backpack the Ozark Highlands Trail in four different trips to cover all 165 miles.
We started our fi rst hike on opening day of modern gun deer season. The trail went right through the heart of the Ozark National Forest, which is a hotbed of deer hunting.
We saw two hunters during all of opening day.
Both were walking along the trail. We stopped to chit-chat and each was curious about our trip.
The hunters wore blazeorange vests and so did we.
Only ours were attached to our backpacks.
The next deer season, on our third hike, we ran out of water. Deer hunters saved our hides.
A creek we counted on to fill our water bottles was bone dry. We hiked up and down the rocky bed and found nary a drop. We set up our tents that night with no water. Believe me, you get thirsty even if you aren’t.
Next morning we set out, hoping to fi nd water somewhere. We did - at a deer camp along the trail.
These hunters had two galvanized Igloo coolers full of ice cold water. They invited us to drink our fi ll and top off our water bottles. We drank ’til our bellies sloshed.
That was the biggest problem we’ve had hiking during deer season.
The larger fear may be deer themselves. It’s mating season, when bucks have one-track minds and run willy-nilly chasing does. It’s the time when most deervehicle collisions occur.
November is prime hunting time and the best for hiking, too. Here in our corner of the Ozarks, there’s plenty of room for both.
FLIP PUTTHOFF IS OUTDOORS EDITOR FOR NWA MEDIA. FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER AT WWW.
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Outdoor, Pages 6 on 11/08/2012