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Arkansas hunters have until April 10 to submit their application for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Triple Trophy Award.

To qualify for the award, a hunter must harvest three deer: one with archery equipment, one with muzzleloading equipment and one with a modern firearm. Complete and submit the application by April 10. The qualifying hunters will receive a patch and a certificate suitable for framing.

According to arkadelphian.com, deer harvested with straight-walled rifles count toward the hunter’s modern gun harvest number for award consideration. Only guns loaded through the muzzle are considered for the muzzleloading firearm portion of the award.

Arkansas expanded its Alternative Firearms Deer Season to include straight-walled rifles to help hunters who may have been too intimidated to use muzzleloaders and archery equipment to enjoy more days in the deer stand.

The AGFC’s deer team, however, still wants to recognize hunters who put in the extra effort to harvest deer with powder-and-projectile combinations and challenging themselves with true muzzleloaders.

“We have many hunters who have really worked hard over the years to achieve this goal, and we do want to protect the integrity of their accomplishments,” AGFC Deer Management Assistance Program Coordinator Jeremy Brown said.

The Triple Trophy Program was created in 1984 to encourage harvest of does to help balance the deer herd. Since hunters can only legally harvest two bucks, a third checked deer has to be a doe.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission says that while deer were being restored to Arkansas, does were protected to promote rapid population growth. But Arkansas’s herd now approaches 1 million deer and some management practices must shift from quantity to quality. To keep Arkansas’s deer herd healthy and balanced, does must be harvested. Reducing the ratio of does-to-bucks lowers competition for resources and encourages antler growth as well as overall health of the deer population.

Click here to apply.