I moved here from AZ about 3ys ago and being a red state, was hoping to find a lot of shooting activities, but not that much in NWA has presented itself. Seems like you have to travel 100 miles to Ft.Smith or Harrison. Lots of river/lake fishing around here as well as bike/hike trails.
The area is pretty urban from Fayetteville all the way up to Bella Vista and the Mo line, then it turns rural. Just about anywhere East or West of the urban corridor is still fairly Rural, but because of all the new transplants from places with more $$$, land prices are quite high (3) 200k 1/4ac places next to my sold for 400+ in the last 2 yrs). Check out the Pea Ridge or Tontitown to Siloam Springs areas but wherever you look be aware of tornado potential - I think the hilly areas may be less prone than the open rolling farmland... Mo is pretty rural and much cheaper, but everything is a bit of a drive on narrow hilly roads to get to town, but your probably used to that - best opportunity to have your own private range.
There is a practical shooting group out on the west edge of Centerton at the Lonesome Oak facility (storage units w/private gun range out back)- they meet once a month. No decent outdoor ranges (over 100yd) - A 100yd public range at Hobbs state park that I hear can be dangerous to frequent, a 400+/- range out in Berryville (pay by the hour), a 100yd private range for Bella Vista residents and a couple 25yd indoor facilities...
There are a few local gun shows, the one at the fair ground is about the best then the Springdale show or Washington County monthly show... but none are as good as the ones I went to in AZ - and those were not as good as the ones I went to in OH/KY(but that was a long time ago so maybe theyre all the same now). NO outdoor public flea markets that I can find (indoor junk stores are called flea markets around here-WTF?).
I haven't been able to find any local or even on-line groups to meetup with like-minded people. It's hard to say if you will find that at work but I'm not in that crowd.