Southeast Arkansas Alligator Management Zone 3 led the state on opening weekend of the 2026 alligator season. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission figures cited by KVOM show hunters harvested 150 alligators statewide Sept. 18–21, with 90 from Zone 3 — about 60% of the opening-weekend total. Of those 90, 81 were taken on private land and nine on public hunts.
Zone 3 runs the Mississippi River corridor of Southeast Arkansas from the Louisiana line north toward Monroe County. Public opportunities include the Lower Arkansas River Wetland Complex near Arkansas Post, Yellow Lake at Pine Bluff Arsenal, and the Delta Wetland Complex (Lake Chicot, Wilson Brake, Lake Wallace, Lake Enterprise, and Grand Lake).
The second and final weekend is Sept. 25–28 (ends 30 minutes before sunrise Sept. 28, or earlier if a quota fills). Millwood Lake in Southwest Arkansas already closed after filling its nine-alligator public quota; other public areas remain open for the final weekend unless AGFC closes them.
Sources: KVOM — Southeast Arkansas leads state in alligator harvest (Sept. 23, 2026) · AGFC.
