The 5th Arkansas Duck Derby Beckons

Exciting prizes, including a boat, an engraved shotgun, and an African safari, are up for grabs during the 5th annual Arkansas Duck Derby. The upcoming premier competitive duck hunting tournament will start with a morning hunt on Friday, January 5, 2024, followed by a derby banquet in the evening. The Conway Regional Health Foundation organizes the tourney and banquet as part of its effort to provide financial support to the Conway Regional Hospital. 

The competitive duck hunt will occur on private land and is open to all hunting enthusiasts. Interested parties can register as a team comprising four team members. 

On the morning of the tournament, each registered team will be paired with seasoned hunters and landowners from the Conway region. There’s no species limitation, and all duck species, including mallards, wood ducks, redheads, scaups, canvasbacks, and black ducks, are eligible. 

The participating teams must check their harvest at the University of Central Arkansas HPER Center before the evening banquet. There are no catch limits, and each team can harvest as many ducks as possible. However, the Duck Derby uses a point-based scoring system instead of the catch size to determine tourney winners. 

Each duck species is assigned a point value after the hunt to give every team in the tournament a fair opportunity. During the evening banquet, a dice roll will assign point values to each duck species. The team with the highest cumulative points will be declared the winner. 

 Arkansas Duck Derby Banquet 

The 2024 Arkansas Duck Derby banquet organized by the Conway Regional Foundation will be held at the HPER Center at the University of Central Arkansas starting at 6 p.m. Attendants will be treated to a sumptuous feast from Ol’ Bart’s Southern Eatery and live music. The 5th Arkansas Duck Derby winners will be announced and honored during the banquet, including a raffle and a silent auction. 

Lucky winners will bag exciting prizes, including an African Safari, a 2023 Polaris Ranger, and a bourbon-tasting dinner. Other prizes include an engraved Benelli Montefeltro shotgun, a suite at the St. Louis Cardinals game, and an Ambush boat by Legendcraft.  

Tickets to the evening banquet cost $50, and the proceeds will provide financial support to Conway Regional. Interested businesses and individuals are welcome to sponsor the event. The Arkansas Duck Derby offers sponsorship opportunities that range from $100 to $20,000. Each sponsorship level carries various benefits, including brand recognition, concert tickets, and a chance to include promotional items in the Hunter gift bags.