HORATIO HUNTER:
Bow hunter has a great season.
Horatio, Arkansas, hunter Liz Bowman had a winning hunting season last fall. She not only harvested a 12-foot alligator but she also got a 12-point buck.
“My husband says I’m the luckiest hunter out there,” she said.
Bowman, a fifth-grade social studies teacher at Horatio Elementary School, is sitting this hunting season out because she’s expecting her third child. She received notoriety in the fall of 2019 for the 12-footer she harvested during Arkansas’ brief alligator hunting season.
Bowman was one of about 100 Arkansas hunters to receive a 2019 gator permit. Her permit allowed her to tag one gator no smaller than 4 feet long.
During the 2019 deer season, Bowman harvested a 12-point buck with double drop tines. She entered the buck earlier this year at Arkansas Big Buck Classic in Little Rock, and it scored a gross Boone & Crockett (non-typical) of 160 3/8.
“I ended up winning Big Buck of Sevier County for the second time, and I had the third-highest gross score in ladies division,” she said.
Bowman’s buck was a main frame 10-point with two drop tines, which made it a 12-point. Awards are based on gross score and total antler growth and spread.
“I didn’t realize how big it was until I got close to it,” she said.
She received a plaque, a gift card and other prizes for her buck.
She previously won Big Buck of Sevier County in 2016.
“I am very fortunate to have such a successful hunting year,” Bowman said. “It has opened the door to so many hunting conversations with my students. I really enjoy getting to hear their individual hunting stories.”
Bowman has hunted since she was a child, and she now loves sharing the experience with her own daughters.
She said hunting is a good example of how native culture traditions continue today and it ties in to her students’ social studies lessons.
She also uses hunting as an incentive for the students to do well. She has even been known to carry an alligator head to class as a reward for students’ good work.
This year’s Arkansas hunting season was the weekend of Sept. 18 through 21 and Sept. 25 through 28.
The drawing for Arkansas’ 2020-21 public-land alligator season was held this past summer and 38 hunters drew permits.
However, as a result of the new quota-hunt system, anyone with access to private land in the southern half of the state also had an opportunity to go on an alligator hunt.
Hunters who own or have permission to hunt on private land have been able to hunt through a quota-based system similar to bear hunting and private-land elk hunting in the state, said Randy Zellers, assistant chief of communications for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
Hunters could participate in the alligator hunt on private land they have permission to hunt until the quota has been met in that zone.
The change allowed more people with possible nuisance alligator issues a chance to remove those alligators or allow another hunter to do so.
The number of permits and quotas are set based on how many alligators need to be removed to keep the population at a sustainable level that minimizes nuisance issues.
Hunting is only allowed at night. Only one alligator per hunter is allowed to be harvested. The alligators must be over 4 feet long.
“I am very fortunate to have
such a successful hunting year. It has opened the door to so many hunting conversations with my students. I really enjoy getting to hear their individual hunting stories.”
—Liz Bowman