The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission report almost 15,000 deer checked in on opening day of modern gun season.

As hunters leave camp on opening day, most have just one thing on their minds.

“This season is going to be my season,” said hunter Austin DeMoss.

From the blaze orange dress code to your final harvest numbers, there are plenty of laws hunters have to follow. But the hardest rule to keep in mind is patience.

“A lot of patience,” laughed hunter Bobby Donaldson. “Which sometimes I don’t have a lot of.”

Unfortunately at the DeMoss camp, that patience never paid off.

“This afternoon I didn’t see anything,” said DeMoss. “We usually do better than that.”

Despite the outcome of a slow opener on the family’s leased land, the hunters can always count on one tradition.

“We came back to the camp and got the important part of it done – that’s eating.”

To register your deer, click http://www.agfc.com/hunting/Pages/HuntingCheckingGame.aspx

To see the latest harvest numbers, click https://www.ark.org/agfc/gamecheck/reports.php?do:deerBySex=1