Bagging the economic impact of deer hunting in Arkansas is as elusive as hitting a 12-point buck.

• Studies are scarce, but an old one ciphered it to be north of $300 million. Give or take.
• That includes retail sales, salaries, sales taxes and state income taxes.

Driving the news: It's deer season, and modern gun season begins Nov. 13.

Why it matters: Hunting and fishing are great ways to attract tourists to the state using its natural resources and beautiful scenery as bait.

• Spending by both in-state residents and out-of-state tourists drives economic activity, especially in rural communities.
• It also helps control the deer population, which is better for their overall conservation. (See story below.)

By the numbers: There are nearly 222,000 hunters living in the state and more than 72,000 people who travel here to hunt. Those numbers aren't exclusive to whitetail deer hunting.

Zoom out: The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearm advocacy group, estimated deer hunting in the U.S. alone to be a $15.7 billion industry.

• A large part of that money goes to the hospitality industry. Lodging accounted for more than $153 million, while food and drink accounted for $1.27 billion.

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Arkansas had the 12th highest harvest of deer in 2019, with 188,151 recorded that year.

• "Harvest" is the term used to describe the legal hunting and killing of game.
• Texas was tops with 846,330 deer harvested.

Context: 2019 is the most recent year full data were available for all 50 states. The year also happened to be an anomaly for Arkansas since the numbers were down for the first time in several years.

• The total reported harvest for the 2020-21 season in Arkansas was 216,835 deer.

Click here for an interactive version of the map above.

Check out this Airbnb at Beaver Lake. It’s a cabin that can accommodate up to 10 guests, so you and your cohort of deer-hunting buddies can all stay together. (There are three bathrooms. Whew.)

The intrigue: This place screams retreat. It has a private pool, Xbox, dartboard, basketball hoop, a 125-foot zip line (!) and an entertainment room where you can enjoy a movie after a day of hunting.

Price: Starts at $219 a night.

See more photos.

Just like people, more deer are moving to NWA.

What's happening: Deer have fewer natural predators than they used to and, ironically, thanks to urban development, feel safer closer to town.

• There is usually plenty of food, and they begin having fawns, so the population grows over time.

Why it matters: More deer means more human-animal interactions (see story below) and as the deer population grows, it impacts their health, says Ralph Meeker, a biologist with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

• There are signs of overpopulation in NWA, he tells Axios: lower weights, declining body condition and fewer surviving fawns.
• NWA has the highest prevalence of urban deer than any other place in Arkansas.
• The biggest threat to a deer is a Chevy, Meeker told Axios.

The intrigue: Cars hit deer about once a day in Fayetteville and two to three times a week in both Rogers and Bentonville, an anecdotal survey of animal control offices in NWA indicates.

Keep reading.

If you drive in Arkansas, your chances of hitting an animal with your car are about 1 in 70, the 12th highest in the U.S.

• Those chances were 1 in 80 just a year ago.

What's happening: November is historically the most dangerous month for a driver to collide with an animal, according to a State Farm study.

• It's whitetail deer mating season, and bucks are chasing does. They're more careless this time of year and more prone to jump into traffic.

Why it matters: One study estimates about 200 people die in the U.S. each year as a result of hitting a deer. Property damage is an estimated $1 billion annually.

What to do: State Farm cautions drivers to slow down, put away the cell phone and be alert, especially this time of year and especially between dusk and dawn.

• If you hit one, check your passengers and dial 911. Don't approach the animal.

Click here for an interactive version of the map above.

Hunters seeing higher prices for ammunition can place at least some blame on the production of electric cars and the U.S. Mint making more coins.

• Chris Metz, CEO of Vista Outdoor Inc., which operates four U.S. ammunition plants, told Axios his company competes with those industries for copper.

Driving the news: Raw material costs aside, Metz said ammunition availability should be better in the not-too-distant future because a plant in Lonoke that makes Remington ammunition is back in high production mode.

• Last year, about 450 people worked there. Now it employs 1,050.
• It's running two and sometimes three shifts a day, six days a week and management is looking to fill another 100 positions.

The intrigue: At about 1 million square feet, the Lonoke location is the third-largest ammunition plant in the world.

• A shortage of ammunition for all calibers is largely due to a rise in demand for firearms, with an estimated 23 million guns sold in the U.S. last year.

Read the full Axios story.

Hunting season for those of you using regular guns is Nov. 13–Dec. 5 and Dec. 26–28.

Archery is allowed Sept. 25 through Feb. 28, 2022, and those hunting with a muzzleloader may do so from Dec. 11–13.

Of note: These are the dates for zones 1, 2 and 6, which encompass NWA. See more details here.