Veterans with service-connected disabilities can now apply for a special two-day deer hunt at Beaver Lake — but applications must be received by 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Beaver Lake Project Office and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will host the hunt Dec. 9–10 in the Wilderness Management Area around Beaver Lake, near Rogers. Only four hunters will be chosen, by random lottery, and those selected will be notified Nov. 9.
To qualify, applicants must provide a DD Form 214 along with either a Veterans Affairs Health Identification Card or a VA summary award letter that describes their service-connected disability.
Selected hunters must have all Arkansas Game and Fish Commission permits and licenses before Dec. 8, and each hunter will receive two deer management tags. Hunters and their assistants must attend a mandatory safety meeting at 9 a.m. Dec. 8 at the Beaver Lake Project Office, 2260 N. 2nd St. in Rogers. After the meeting, ranger staff will take hunters to the Rogers Gun Club shooting range to check their firearms for proper operation and accuracy. Volunteers will provide lunch on both days of the hunt.
Hunters provide their own transportation and their own compliant firearm. Allowed firearms are muzzleloading rifles with a barrel 18 inches or longer and .40 caliber or larger; non-semiautomatic centerfire firearms that fire a straight-walled metallic cartridge .30 caliber or larger; and large-bore air rifles of at least .40 caliber that shoot a single expandable slug, produce at least 400 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle, and are charged from an external tank. Shotguns and semiautomatic rifles are prohibited.
Hunting areas and blinds will be arranged before the hunt, and all participants will be accompanied by park ranger staff or volunteers. On request, staff and volunteers will field dress and quarter harvested game, and commercial meat processing and packaging will be provided free of charge if needed.
Applications can be submitted online or in person at the Beaver Lake Project Office. For more information, contact the hunt coordinator at 479-636-1210.
