While you’re scouting for gobblers over the next two weeks, triple your pleasure by turning it into a camping and fishing adventure.
If you drew a permit for a controlled turkey hunt on an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife management area, camping and fishing opportunities are part of the package. Camping is allowed on WMAs, and many that don’t have fishing opportunities have them nearby.
Also, mild weather in April makes for a delightful camping experience, and warm days are great for wade fishing or fishing from a canoe or kayak.
McIlroy Madison WMA
My favorite WMA for turkey hunting is McIlroy Madison County WMA north of Huntsville. The area does not have developed campgrounds, but you can enjoy primitive car camping in a multitude of openings carved from the oak/hickory forests.
Preparation is key for an enjoyable visit. The WMA is a long drive from groceries and restaurants in Huntsville, Berryville and Eureka Springs, so you’ll need to bring plenty. A bear-proof cooler secured with padlocks will keep your food safe from critters. Lash it to a tree with a chain or cable to keep a bear from rolling it around and damaging the contents.
If you have a camper, you can power a refrigerator with a generator or, better, an inverter. We don’t recommend this in bear country, however. Bears have a keen sense of smell, and they can tear into a flimsily built camper to get to aromatic foods in the fridge. They will demolish a camper’s interior while they’re at it. That’s especially bad if it happens at night while you’re inside.
If you want amenities, you can camp nearby at Withrow Springs State Park. Its campground has about 25 sites with water and electric hookups. A bathhouse offers hot showers and flush toilets. Huntsville is only about 6 miles away, so there are dining options if you don’t want to cook at camp.
I have done it both ways. I camped at Withrow Springs for a controlled deer hunt at the WMA in November 2016. I had the entire place to myself, and despite intense cold and snow, it was a very pleasant experience in my teardrop camper.
In April, you can wade fish for Kentucky bass, smallmouth bass and Ozark bass in War Eagle Creek, which borders the south end of the park. There is public access. With a canoe or kayak, you can go as far as you want if you have a shuttle to meet you at your terminus. You can spend a enjoyable afternoon wade fishing near the park, and you’ll catch enough to make the effort worthwhile.
Kings River abuts the Madison County WMA. Public access is available at Rockhouse and Marble. You can wade fish either area. You can also put in at Marble and float to Rockhouse if there’s enough water.
The WMA supports an excellent turkey population. Be in the woods at dawn to locate a roosting gobbler and formulate a plan to get him. I killed a mature gobbler on a controlled hunt here in 2016. It was one of my most exciting hunts and one of my most treasured memories. Remember that turkey hunting at Madison County WMA requires a permit.
Hurricane Creek Wilderness Areas
If you really want to rough it, consider a walk-in hunt to a designated wilderness area in the Ozark or Ouachita national forests.
My favorites are the Hurricane Creek Wilderness Area in Johnson County and the Caney Creek Wilderness Area in southeastern Polk County. There is nothing easy about these hunts, but the potential rewards are worth the effort.
Hurricane Creek encompasses about 15,000 acres of extremely rugged, mountainous terrain. Enter at the gated boundary near the Chancel settlement. From there, you’ll walk about a half mile to the Valley of Light. It’s about the only level ground for camping on the area. This requires a waist-deep crossing of Hurricane Creek. A road traverses the valley to a pair of private inholdings. This entails multiple creek crossings of increasing difficulty because the creek gets progressively wider in the interior.
I have enjoyed superb smallmouth bass fishing in Hurricane Creek since 1988. For this purpose I carry a multi-piece Eagle Claw spinning outfit or a fly rod. Bass and sunfish eagerly take popping bugs, crawfish imitators and small topwater plugs. A clear Zara Puppy is my favorite.
Camping is delightful in the valley, but you are limited to what little you can carry. A game cart enables me to carry luxuries like a two-burner propane stove and a small table. A cooler is too heavy and too bulky, so food is limited to the freeze-dried variety. A purifier gives an unlimited supply of potable water from the creek for drinking and cooking.
Hurricane Creek is subject to flash flooding. It rises and falls swiftly, but a multi-day rain event will trap you there for days. Plan accordingly, and do not attempt to ford the creek in high water.
This area does not support a high-density turkey population, but turkeys are there if you are willing to work for them. They typically run the ridges overlooking the Valley of Light. Reaching them requires a steep climb up broken terrain. Part of your scouting will be finding a safe, quick route to the ridgetops. Carry a compass and a GPS because it is very easy to get lost.
One of my favorite places to hunt is around the Sexton Cemetery. It’s a very long walk with multiple creek crossings, but it is delightful to hunt in the shade of mature beech trees.
Caney Creek Wilderness Area
Caney Creek Wilderness Area is very similar to the Hurricane Creek Wilderness Area. Caney Creek flows through the center, and like Hurricane Creek, it gets deeper and wider the farther you go. It supports smallmouth bass and sunfish in the interior.
You can only access Caney Creek Wilderness on foot or horseback. Unlike Hurricane Creek Wilderness, there are no interior roads, only a trail that largely clings to a steep hillside. It also passes through a forest of mature beech trees, making for a very pleasant hike. Because the trail is so narrow and steep, you’re limited to what you can carry on your back.
Because it is so remote, Caney Creek Wilderness does not get much hunting pressure. It also has a low-density turkey population, but if you strike a gobbler, you can probably work him without competition from other hunters.
This also is bear country. A bear wrecked my camp the last time I hunted there. It took half the morning to recover all of my cooking gear. Bring plenty of rope so you can suspend your stuff from a tree. Wash your cooking gear thoroughly to reduce odors and camp well away from your kitchen area.
If you kill a gobbler in an Arkansas wilderness area, feel free to indulge in a victory lap. You have truly made the big leagues.