Southeast Arkansas led the state during the opening weekend of Arkansas’ 2026 alligator hunting season, with Alligator Management Zone 3 accounting for 90 of 150 statewide harvests Sept. 18–21, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and KVOM reported.
Zone 3 covers Southeast Arkansas along the Mississippi River from the Louisiana line north to Monroe County. Of the 90 Zone 3 gators, 81 were taken on private land and nine on public-land hunts. Public opportunities in the zone 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).
Elsewhere, Zone 1 (Southwest Arkansas) produced 56 harvests and Zone 2 four. Millwood Lake’s public quota filled on the opener and is closed for the final weekend; other public areas remain open. The second and final weekend runs sunset Sept. 25 through 30 minutes before sunrise Sept. 28, or earlier if a zone quota is reached.
AGFC said the 2026 season is on pace that could challenge the 205-alligator state record set in 2025. Arkansas began protecting alligators in 1961, restocked about 2,800 animals from Louisiana starting in 1972, and opened the modern hunt in 2007.
Sources: AGFC — Arkansas alligator hunters harvest 150 in first weekend (Sept. 22, 2026); KVOM — Southeast Arkansas leads state in alligator harvest (Sept. 23, 2026).
