Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Check turkeys the right way
Arkansas’s turkey season is open and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has a few helpful tips to keep new hunters chasing longbeards instead of asking when it’s time to head to the house.
The first step to any successful hunt is to make sure you have a valid hunting license. Youth hunters aren’t required to purchase a license, but they will need a customer identification number to check their turkey once it is killed.
By logging into the Game and Fish licensing website, a profile can be set up for youth hunters to get their free youth number in a matter of minutes. If a profile is already set up, an adult can link a youth hunter’s profile to his account, but any turkeys he kills harvest must be checked to them. Be sure to enter the harvest information under the right profile.
Remember, a turkey must be tagged before moving it if it has not been checked. Bird must be checked within 12 hours of harvest. Once it is checked, the tag is no longer needed. If a hunter is able to check the bird in the field, he can forgo tagging it altogether. If it’s not possible to check the bird on-site, it’s a good idea to have a blank tag like those available on page 23 of the 2023-24 Arkansas Hunting Guidebook.
The best route to check a turkey is through the Game and Fish smartphone app. Even if there is no cellphone signal, hunters can still check their bird and it will complete the process when a signal is reached. The Game and Fish website has all the information hunters need to download the app.