2019 Hunting Guide

Page 1

2019

Hunting Guide Alaska’s emperor geese offer unique opportunity

• Expect high quota for Fortymile caribou

• Drones and hunting don’t mix

• Fish and Game updates moose video

• Suit filed over Kodiak bear hunt permits

• 2018 a slow year for moose hunters

• Duck hunting tips from the trap range

2

Friday, July 12, 2019

HUNTING GUIDE

• Fish and Game FAQs .............................................2 • Hunting emperor geese ......................................3 • 2018 slow for moose hunters .............................4 • Drones, hunting don’t mix ...................................5 • ‘Is This Moose Legal’ video updated ................6 • Military balances training, hunting .................8 • Comprehensive sheep guide..............................10 • Trap range tips for duck hunters ......................11 • Lawsuit over Kodiak bear opportunities ........13 • Fortymile caribou population booming ........16 • Purple Heart hunt on Fort Greely .....................17 • First grouse hunt a learning process ...............21 • Toughest drawing permits to win ....................22 Cover: Emperor goose. Photo courtesy of Milo Burcham

Fish and Game answer hunting FAQs The staff at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office on College Road receives many of the same questions from hunters. Here is a list of frequently asked questions for the 2019 hunting season: 1) What is the fall season for Fortymile caribou for 2019? The RC860 season has changed from 2018, all four zones will open Aug. 11. The resident season from Aug. 11 through the Sept. 30 has a bag limit of one caribou. The nonresident season is Aug. 11 through Sept. 30, bull only. 2) What is the moose season in Unit 20B? The moose season for the remainder of 20B is Sept. 1-15 for residents and Sept. 5-15 for nonresidents. This is a reduction of five days from recent years. It will remain

“one bull” under a harvest ticket. 3) Can I get my harvest tickets online? Yes, at hunt.alaska.gov. Click on the “Get Your Permit/Harvest Ticket” link. After your season is over, you can also report your harvest by clicking on this link. 4) Is my archery/hunter education certification from another state valid in Alaska? Alaska recognizes hunter education from all states, and archery certifications that are endorsed by International Bowhunter Education Program (IBEP) or National Bowhunter Education Foundation (NBEF). The endorsement is usually present on the certification card. 5) Do I need a crossbow certification to hunt with a crossbow? Yes. Beginning July 1, 2018,

all hunters using a crossbow are required to have completed a crossbow certification course prior to hunting. 6) What are the requirements for the youth-only hunts? Children age 10-17 are eligible for youth-only hunts, and they must be accompanied by a resident adult 21 years of age or older. Both the youth and adult must have completed an approved hunter education course. Any animal that is harvested during a youth-only hunt counts toward both the youth’s and adult’s limit for the species being harvested. 7) My 12-year-old son is an Alaska resident. Does he need his own harvest tickets? Yes, starting at age 10 a youth will need his/her own harvest tickets.

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INDEX

3

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

HUNTING GUIDE

Hunting emperor geese an only-in-Alaska experience ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME

F

Most emperor geese nest in the YukonKuskokwim Delta. PHOTO COURTESY MILO BURCHAM Sea on Russia’s Chukotka Peninsula. They migrate a few hundred miles and winter in the Aleutians and along the Alaska Peninsula to the coasts of Kodiak Island. “Their range makes them special in their own right, they are an Alaska bird,� Schamber said. “Very few people have seen them, and hunters in the Lower 48 don’t get to hunt them.� The Smithsonian Birds of North America describes the emperor goose as small, stocky and thick-necked, adding that it is “perhaps the most striking goose in North America.� Averaging about 6 pounds, the bird is about two-thirds the size of the familiar Canada goose. Since 1981, biologists have flown annual spring surveys in southwest Alaska to estimate goose numbers. Population estimates are based on a three-year average of the annual surveys of

migrants. In the 1980s, a decline in the population was noted from a peak of more than 100,000 birds in 1982 to fewer than 45,000 birds in 1986. Harvest was restricted in 1985 and the bag limit was reduced from six to two birds. Harvest was closed in 1986, and subsistence harvest closed in 1987. During the 1990s, the population increased about 2 percent per year, and that increased to about 3 percent per year after 2005. The most recent three-year average (2014-16) count was almost 86,000 birds, the highest since 1983. The Emperor Goose Management Plan allowed for a resumption of harvest. Wildlife managers are proceeding cautiously to prevent overharvest. Federal regulations allow the state an annual harvest quota of 1,000 emperor geese. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Board of Game

“Hunters are allowed one bird per season, and they carry a harvest ticket and punch the ticket when they kill a bird,� Schamber said. Successful hunters then report their harvest within one to three days, depending on the hunt area. In 2017, although 509 permits were issued, only 209 of those people actually hunted, and only about half of those harvested a goose. Emperor goose hunting in the fall-winter season is open to Alaska residents by registration permit and to nonresidents by drawing permit. Follow the link on the emperor goose hunt page at bit. ly/2yzJMoz and note the

SAMSON

specific hunt, (for example, RO501 in the Kodiak area), and then click on the link to apply online for the registration permit. Beginning in the 2018-19 season, Alaska residents also may hunt emperor geese by proxy during the fall-winter season. Nonresidents can apply online beginning Nov. 1 and ending at 5 p.m. Dec. 15 for a drawing permit to hunt emperor geese during the next year’s fall-winter season. Riley Woodford is the editor of Alaska Fish and Wildlife News and produces the Sounds Wild! radio program. This article was originally published in the October edition of Alaska Fish and Wildlife News.

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or the first time in more than 30 years, Alaskans had the opportunity to hunt an emperor goose in 2017. About 500 waterfowl hunters applied for the permit to take a single emperor goose and 128 geese were taken. Last year, the opportunity has been extended to nonresident hunters, and 25 nonresident permits were awarded. “I know a couple of folks that are pretty excited about it,� Jason Schamber said. “One is a resident of Nevada, the other is from the Midwest.� Schamber is the waterfowl program coordinator with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Because waterfowl typically migrate across state and national borders, they are managed by state and federal wildlife agencies, including Canada and Mexico. Schamber works closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as well as groups like the Pacific Flyway Council and the Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council. Some geese migrate thousands of miles — such as the dusky geese that nest on Alaska’s Copper River Delta and winter in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. But the emperor goose is a uniquely Alaska species. Ninety percent of the geese breed on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and the remaining 10% nest on the Seward Peninsula and across the Bering

established seven hunt areas across the range of emperor geese, each with an individual quota that together add to 1,000 birds. A hunt area will close after shooting hours on the last day of the season or by emergency order when the area quota is met. An Alaska waterfowl hunter can regi1ster to take a single emperor goose during the fall waterfowl season. In 2017, the first time in 30 years that hunting was permitted for emperor geese, a total of 128 geese were taken. To ensure sustainable harvest, harvest quotas are established for seven regions in the winter range of the geese.

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By Riley Woodford

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Friday, July 12, 2019

HUNTING GUIDE

Moose harvest stats: 2018 was slow year for Fairbanks area By Sam Friedman SFRIEDMAN

Poor weather and a shortened hunting season are likely behind a reduction in hunter success in the area around Fairbanks in 2018.

@NEWSMINER.COM

Fairbanks-area moose hunters who went home empty-handed last fall had plenty of company. Likely because of both bad weather and a shorter hunting season, hunters in Game Management Unit 20B killed only 325 bulls in the 2018 general season hunt, said Tony Hollis, area wildlife biologist at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office in Fairbanks. The average among the past five years is 556 bulls. Game Management Unit 20B is the area around Fairbanks to the north of the Tanana

ERIC ENGMAN FILE PHOTO

survey, planned for the fall of 2020.

Moose hunting in other units River. It includes the Chena, Salcha, Chatan-

ika and Tolovana watersheds. The immediate

NOTICE TO HUNTERS: SETH-DE-YA-AH CORP. lands are private property.

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Fairbanks and North Pole vicinity isn’t part of the general moose hunt because it’s managed mostly through special archery hunts. The general season 20B moose numbers for 2018 translate to a hunter success rate of about 10.5 percent if this year’s hunter participation numbers end up being similar to recent years. Moose hunters in 20B usually have a lower success rate than in other parts of the state because the area has lots of opportunistic urban hunters who don’t devote a large amount of time to finding a moose. But this year’s numbers are still on the low side. A more typical rate for 20B is about 18 percent, Hollis said. The 2018 statistics are still preliminary because not all hunters have turned in their harvest reports yet.

A significantly shorter general season hunting season in 20B likely played a role in this year’s smaller harvest. For the previous seven years the season ran from Sept. 1-20. Last year, state managers cut off the five days at the end of the season for road-accessible parts of 20B. Those five late-season days are usually especially productive for hunters because they’re more likely to overlap with bull moose becoming more active as they go into rut. Managers shortened the season to limit the harvest, in order to improve the ratio of bulls to cows and future breeding prospects of the population. Most of unit 20B will remain a 15-day season in 2019, Hollis said. The hunting season for the area will next be re-examined after the next moose population

Hunting numbers weren’t only down in 20B. Moose harvest numbers were down slightly last year in all of the moose hunts managed from the Fairbanks Alaska Department of Fish and Game office: 20A, 20C, 20F and 25C. Hollis attributes the general low numbers across the wider area last year to weather. “It was rainy and tough hunting,” Hollis said. “I had lots of complaints that hunting was tougher this year.” The other hunts didn’t have as big a dropoff as 20B. But the decrease in Game Management Unit 20A was also noticeable. In the 20A general hunt hunters killed 181 bulls last year, down from the five-year average of 268. The success rate in that hunt was about 16 percent. This story was originally published in the Daily NewsMiner outdoors section in March 2019

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

HUNTING GUIDE

Fish and Game explains:

Drones banned for all parts of hunting, including documentary filmmaking ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME

Drones, also known as Unmanned Aircraft Systems are often equipped with cameras like the one pictured that record video and transmit an aerial view from the aircraft’s perspective. The Alaska Board of Game agreed that this provides done-equipped hunters an unfair advantage.

Wildlife managers in Alaska — and across the country — are responding to the growing use of drones by hunters and wildlife enthusiasts. Drones, also known as Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or UAS, often transmit video. I recently received an inquiry from a hunter (who produces videos and podcasts) interested in documenting a bear hunt. “I will be coming up to Homer, Alaska, at the end of May to film a bear hunt and some fishing.

We are currently working with the state to get the proper permits. I’ve just got a few questions about the use of drones. We are planning to have a small drone to capture some B-roll of hunting/ fishing/landscapes. What are the restrictions for use when hunting or fishing? We just want to make sure we are doing everything by the book. Any help you could give would be fantastic.” I explained that in Alaska, it is illegal to use drones while hunting — a drone can’t be used to locate game animals. I also checked with the state wildlife troopers,

who enforce Alaska’s wildlife regulations. Trooper Jeremy Baum, posted in Anchor Point near Homer, said, “Drones can’t be used in any portion of a hunt until after the bear is killed and taken from the field.” He added that a drone can’t be used purposely or incidentally in the process of taking game. After the hunt the individuals can go back into the field with the drone, but that’s not a hunt, it’s a photography trip. Even scouting an area to hunt for bears using a drone is illegal. DRONES »7

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By Riley Woodford

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Friday, July 12, 2019

HUNTING GUIDE

Fish and Game updates 1980s-era ‘Is This Moose Legal’ video By Riley Woodford

Watch

ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME

This screengrab shows a frame taken from Fish and Game’s updated moose identification video. these terms and how to identify these antler distinctions in the field is a critical part of legally

harvesting a moose in Alaska. Exemplary footage was gleaned from more

than 200 video clips of moose filmed in Southeast, Southcentral and Interior Alaska. Abby Lowell, an education and outreach specialist, directed and edited the video. “The main goal was how to judge legal and illegal moose,” Lowell said. “The anatomy of an antler, what are the bits and pieces called, using the terms we use in the regulations — what’s a brow tine, where are the main beams; what to look for on a young bull, a spike or fork. On

the larger bulls you have the chance to judge a 50-inch antler spread.” Lowell helped write the script and did a fair amount of the of camera work, including filming at the Kenai Moose Research Center. Erik Anderson, a Fairbanks-based education specialist with the sport fish division who has produced several popular fishing videos, also shot moose footage. Elizabeth Manning filmed a moose with antlers in velvet at the Alaska Zoo. Maria Gladziszewski contributed footage from a successful Southeast Alaska moose hunting trip. Kristen Romanoff and Mike Taras also provided video. Although the intent of the video is to educate hunters, naturalists and wildlife watchers can learn a tremendous amount about moose from the video. In just

This story was originally published in the August issue of Alaska Fish and Wildlife News, the magazine of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

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A brand new version of the popular video, “Is This Moose Legal” is now available. Originally produced by Fish and Game in the 1980s to familiarize hunters in Alaska with thennew antler restrictions, the updated 25-minute version features new footage and addresses current regulations. It is required viewing for some moose hunts in Alaska. Moose management in many parts of Alaska includes restrictions on the spread or configuration of a bull’s antlers. Knowing definitions for

The new video is online at bit.ly/2Kx5rX8

six to eight months, an adult bull moose can grow a pair of antlers spanning 5 or 6 feet and weighing as much as 70 pounds; antlers that are then shed in the winter after mating season. “The video looks at what happens to antlers throughout the year, their growth and annual cycle,” Lowell said. “They are highly vascular and really sensitive when they’re in velvet. Environmental factors like food, genetics, injury or damage, and the age of the bull all influence the development and configuration of the antler.” For those who plan to hunt moose in Kenai Peninsula Game Management Units 7 and 15, viewing the video is part of a mandatory Moose Hunter Orientation package. For more information contact Education Specialist Sierra Doherty in Palmer at (907) 8612104 or sierra.doherty@ alaska.gov.

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

HUNTING GUIDE

Continued from Page 5 Capt. Rex Leath added that a hunter can’t use a drone to locate an animal even after it has been shot (“take has occurred�), until after it is found by the hunter. He wrote: “If someone is moose hunting and they shoot a moose, once that moose is dead and located, they can use a drone if they are done hunting. The dynamic can get confusing if there are other people in the group still hunting. If others in the group are still hunting, they cannot communicate what is seen with the drone’s camera by way of wildlife or they will be in violation.� Early in this decade, Alaska Wildlife Troop-

that has been airborne, remotely controlled, or communicates wirelessly, and used to spot or locate game with the use of a camera or video device.� “Take� is not simply harvesting an animal. According to Alaska Statutes (AS 16.05.940(35) “take� means taking, pursuing, hunting, fishing, trapping, or in any manner disturbing, capturing, or killing or attempting to take, pursue, hunt, fish, trap, or in any manner capture or kill fish or game. In 2014, the National Park Service prohibited the use of drones in all national parks. Wilderness areas and congressionally designated primitive areas are also off limits, as drones are considered to be both

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“motorized equipment� and “mechanical transport.� Drones are also prohibited in many national wildlife refuges. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages national wildlife refuges across the country, including 16 in Alaska. Many refuges in the system nationwide specifically prohibit the use of drones — and that includes Alaska’s Kenai Wildlife Refuge. Others don’t specifically prohibit drones, but they do apply the Code of Federal Regulations regarding use of aircraft (Title 50 CFR 27.34). The section states: “The unauthorized operation of aircraft, including sail planes, and hang gliders, at altitudes resulting in harassment of wildlife, or the unauthorized landing or take-off on a

national wildlife refuge, except in an emergency, is prohibited.� In any cases, all federal, state and local regulations, and all the FAA regulations, must be followed. Tracy Fischbach is a natural resource planner with the USFWS, based in Anchorage. She said each refuge in the system is set aside with a legal purpose, and those purposes drive what can and cannot be allowed on a specific refuge. “Refuges are set aside for wildlife conservation,� she said. “So you’ll see more restrictive use of wildlife refuges, especially in the Lower 48, to ensure that.� Two of the primary concerns with drones are the potential to harass wildlife, and conflicts with other refuge users.

In some cases, use of a drone may be allowed with a special use permit — that’s the “authorization� aspect. That involves working with the refuge manager and a permit specialist. “Permits depend on what you are doing and why, and when and where,� Fischbach said. “If someone is doing a commercial film about the refuge and they want aerial footage, we have done permits to allow that. A film that doesn’t have anything to do with the refuge, someone just wants pretty landscape footage, that’s probably not going to work.� This article was originally published in the April 2019 edition of Alaska Fish and Wildlife News, the magazine of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

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ers became aware that unmanned aircraft were being used to spot and assist in taking big game. To remedy this, they approached the Board of Game. In Alaska, anyone can propose a change to hunting regulations via a Board of Game proposal. At the statewide meeting in 2014, Proposal 180 addressed the use of aerial drones and remote controlled camera equipment, noting that “Some of these remote controlled aircraft can operate up to several hundred feet above the ground, giving the hunter an unfair advantage and potentially causing a direct conservation concern for the resource.â€? The board passed the proposal, and the current regulations state that “You may not take game by ‌ using ‌ any device

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8

Friday, July 12, 2019

HUNTING GUIDE

Military planners explain efforts to balance training requirements, moose hunting opportunities NEWSROOM @NEWSMINER.COM

The hunting season maps for Interior Alaska military lands go online at bit.ly/1KIhIS3 in mid-July, but the planning for the 2019 hunting season started shortly after the 2018 moose season ended, according to two of the Army civilian planners who coordinate which lands can be opened. It’s a months-long effort because it involves meeting the needs of the

Online: To see which parts of Interior military training lands are closed during the fall season, go to bit.ly/1KIhIS3. Hunting season maps are usually available by mid-July. local Army and Air Force units, visiting military units, and the vocal contingent of local moose hunters who lobby military leaders each year to open more of the lands to public access. This year’s plan includes the required training for the section of the First Stryker Bri-

gade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division that will deploy to Iraq this fall. How to use the maps The Fort Wainwright-based US Army Garrison Alaska manages three main training ranges in Alaska’s Interior. The lands can be used

for hunting and outdoor recreation when they’re not used by the military. These ranges are the Donnelly Training Area near Delta Junction; the Tanana Flats Training Area just across the Tanana River from Fairbanks; and the Yukon Training Area near Eielson Air Force Base. As range managers finalize the training schedule, they will publish maps online that show which parts of the training area are open on which days. Some areas are permanently closed

because they’re impact areas for munitions, and contain dangerous unexploded rounds on the ground. The map website also has information about how to apply for a free Recreational Access Permit, which is required to go onto the military training lands. Hunting season closure maps are usually available in mid-July. But hunters should be aware that the initial maps are “worst case” scenarios showing the maximum amount of training area

the military needs. The closed areas may shrink if things get canceled later in the season, said Mark Adams, the chief of plans and public operations at the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS). “When we look at what’s get published say on the 15th of July, it’s only going to look better on the first of August as things start to fall off,” he said. Closures are always based on safety issues. MILTARY » Page 9

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By Sam Friedman

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Continued from Page 8 Sometimes the safety risks are obvious, such as inside the bombing range impact area, and in the immediate vicinity of live fire exercises. But sometimes areas that aren’t in the immediate vicinity of training have to be closed as a precaution to protect people from shots that don’t hit their targets. “Even though we’re shooting at a target, the Army has safety deviations to make sure that every possible probability of error is factored in,” Adams said. Changing times, changing requirements Twenty years ago significantly more of Alaska’s training land was available to hunters. The need to close more areas, including during moose sea-

son, is a factor of the accelerated training requirements that began after 9/11 and have continued through the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. “Pre-9/11, when you got stationed in Alaska, you went to the field all winter long and you vaguely trained in the summer. And then the war on terror kicked off,” Adams said. “A unit would deploy, come back for a year, have to re-equip, re-man, re-train and go back out the door in a year. And that meant you had to train yearround. And that cycle, for full spectrum operations, still exists today.” In addition to local military units, which will grow with the arrival of the first F-35 aircraft next year, Alaska’s training areas are increasingly used by units from outside Alaska. It’s good for the local economy when Outside units come to Alaska to train, but it puts further pressure on the

Screenshot of a map showing general military training areas in Interior Alaska.

already-crowded schedules for the training ranges. Range managers try to keep as much land open as possible during the moose season, which can involve educating Outside leaders who don’t

know anything about the importance of moose hunting in Alaska, said Eric Collier, the G3 Operations Officer for US Army Alaska. “When units start coming up here, we really try to push them

away from the first two weeks of September,” he said. But ultimately, required training has to come before moose hunting on these lands, because a soldier getting the right amount of training can make a life-ordeath difference in war, Collier said. “I have to give these young men and women as much prep time as possible. If that one interruption of moose season saved a life, I can live with myself,” he said. Contact the newsroom at 459-7572.

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MILITARY

HUNTING GUIDE

10

Friday, July 12, 2019

HUNTING GUIDE

Palmer man writes a comprehensive 1,800-page Alaska sheep hunting bible NEWSROOM @NEWSMINER.COM

At 23 pounds, Lew Bradley’s comprehensive three-volume set about sheep hunting in Alaska weighs almost as much as the horns of a full-curl ram. When hearing him tell it, the process of bringing the books to Alaska from a printer in Canada was almost as much of an adventure as hauling a sheep off a mountaintop. “It took a semi and a half, because they can only stack them five high,” he said. “The first truck had 26 pallets on it, the next one had 14. Then we had to have a forklift to take them all off.” The books — titled “Ram-

pages: Alaska’s Great White Dall” — represent decades of sheep-hunting experience and 11 years of research and writing. Bradley describes the books as a resource that can make people better sheep hunters and also increase their appreciation for Dall sheep. “You need to understand the animal,” he said. “If you just go out and a guy says, ‘There’s a sheep, shoot it,’ and you shoot it and it gets put on the wall at home, you have no appreciation for the thing.” Bradley is a retired Green Beret and Wasilla High School physical education teacher and coach. He served on Alaska’s Board of Game from 2008-11. He’s killed 35 Dall

sheep, including 14 rams with horns longer than 40 inches. Volume 1 of the book consists of some of Bradley’s own hunting stories, some stories about hunters who have died while sheep hunting and Bradley’s practical advice for planning a sheep hunt. Volume 2 has 98 sheep hunter profiles. Volume 3 is about sheep biology, including the sheep life cycle, population dynamics and sheep with unusual horns. In all, the work covers sheep hunting in Alaska between 1914 and 2018 and includes more than 600 sheep photos; 95 charts, graphs, tables and maps; 65 pages of harvest statistics; and 57 poems.

FILE PHOTO

The set of books costs $360 if purchased in person; it’s only available as a complete set. For more information about

the book set, go to rampages123.com. Contact the newsroom at 459-7572. This story was originally published in the Daily News-Miner outdoors section in May 2019

F541942-1

By Sam Friedman

Lew Bradley’s three volume set “Rampages: Alaska’s Great White Dall.”

11

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

HUNTING GUIDE

Five tips from the trap range for duck season NEWSROOM @NEWSMINER.COM

The first rule of trap shooting technique that I learned at the Fairbanks Trap Club last year is that there aren’t rules for trap shooting technique, just a lot of personal opinion and debate. Case in point, the old one-eye versus two-eyes shooting debate. Fairbanks Trap President Rohn Abbott was quick to point out to me that my habit of closing my left eye is a crutch. But when Abbott left, my other shooting

FRIEDMAN / NEWS-MINER

coach, Ray Flores, confessed he’s a one-eyed shooter. A few minutes later, he demonstrated that it’s possible to

shoot pretty well with one eye as he shot a perfect 25 out of 25 clay pigeons. I asked Flores to show

me some shooting techniques. I met him a few years ago when I wrote about his job running the Fairbanks Memo-

rial Hospital kitchen, and I knew he had a reputation for being a good shot in addition to being a good cook. During the previous duck season, it took several days of waiting in a duck blind to get within range of real birds. So as duck season approached I wanted to better my chances by refining my technique on the trap range.

But Flores’ approach to shotgun technique isn’t as simple as memorizing a list of rules. He emphasizes comfort and instinct, which is why he didn’t think it was worthwhile for me to force both eyes open. “A lot of it is doing what you’re comfortable with,” he said. “Shooting is like anything else. Everyone has their own advice.” Conflicting advice aside, I’m still glad I spent a couple of hours thinking about ways to improve my technique Wednesday night at the TRAP » Page 12

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Clint Brooks prepares to shoot at the Fairbanks Trap Club on Aug. 29, 2018. SAM

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Think about switching to two-eyed shooting I learned to shoot one-eyed, but never gave it much thought. It’s probably what a Boy Scout instructor told me 20 years ago. But there’s a case for trying to shoot two-eyed. As Abbott asked me: “Why give up part of your field of vision and your depth perception?” It’s more comfortable to shoot with just my dominant eye open because it makes it easier to focus on the gun in the foreground. But as I learned, looking at the bead on the

Ray Flores, an officer in the Fairbanks Trap Club, explains his technique for where to point the shotgun before calling for the bird. SAM FRIEDMAN / NEWS-MINER FILE PHOTOS

shotgun’s stop is the wrong place to look, at least while the bird is flying. I haven’t tried it, but I think learning to shoot two-eyed would be worth learning. It may be harder for rifles and handguns, for which you need to look through the sights. I later asked Fairbanks firearms instructor Joe Nava about the one-eye versus two-eyes debate. By the National Rifle Association instructor book, he said, it’s strictly a matter of personal preference. However, some people who shoot rifles and handguns oneeyed prefer to trap shoot with both eyes open.

‘See the bird, not the bead’ Unlike the sights on a rifle or handgun, a shotgun has a small dot on the top called a bead. I already knew not to consciously “aim” with this bead like with a rifle, and to instead “point” the shotgun. When trap shooting, Abbott urged me not to even look at the bead, instead looking beyond to the flying path of the clay target. ‘Lean into the gun’ I did a lot of stance fine-tuning this week. A lot of the specifics I’ll probably forget, but one general tip covers a lot of the specifics: lean into the gun, with a bit of a

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Old Steese Highway club. I left the club with a sore shoulder and some general guidelines that I think will improve my shooting, and maybe other novice shooters’ as well. Full disclosure: All the technique talk didn’t have any immediate effect on my shooting skills. My previous best trap score was shooting 12 out of 25 clay pigeons. A good baseball batting average but a poor trap score. After an hour of talking technique, my best round was 11 out of 25.

Above: Evie Seymore fires her shotgun as Brent Siegler, Ray Flores and Clint Brooks look on at the Fairbanks Trap Club. Right: Ray Flores prepares to shoot at the Fairbanks Trap Club on Aug. 29, 2018. Flores finished the round with a perfect score. bend in the waist and put most of your weight on your front foot. There’s a lot of variation in stances, but mine was so upright that a shooter on the other side of the range noticed it and walked over to encourage me to lean forward more. When I did, I felt that I had better control and was able to swing the gun more smoothly. Get smaller ear protection I already knew it was important to get my cheek up on the gun, but I hadn’t noticed how much using the club earmuffs got in the way. Next time I’m switching to ear plugs and holding the gun tighter in to my face.

Try not to think about the above tips With time, I think the tips will make me a better shooter. The key will be to internalize them without thinking about them too much. A big part of shooting is psychological. My favorite tip from both Abbott and Flores was to move smoothly, “like moving through butter.” Range safety etiquette There may not be rules for technique, but there are for safety and etiquette. In addition to the “big three” firearm safety rules, I learned an addendum for the trap club I hadn’t picked up on my previous visits.

In general, the muzzle of a gun should always be pointed in a safe direction. This week, I learned that, at the trap club, a safe direction specifically means pointing the guns up and away when not pointing them down range. Pointing a gun down might be a safe position in the field, but not in a crowded club. Semi-automatic and pump-action guns are carried pointed up, while break-action shotguns are carried in an open position. Contact the newsroom at 4597572. This story was originally published in the Daily NewsMiner outdoors section in August 2018

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Lawsuit seeks more Kodiak bear hunts for Alaskans AL@KODIAKDAILYMIRROR.COM

In February, Robert Cassell, a dentist and big game hunter living in Wasilla, was informed that he had not been granted a Kodiak brown bear hunting tag in this year’s draw. This is not an uncommon experience for big game hunters, given that fewer than 350 tags are allocated each year for Alaska residents. But this was not Cassell’s first time missing out. “I came to Alaska in 1977 … For most of my adult life, I’ve been trying a bear tag. Last summer, I got my permanent hunting license, which means I’ve been alive for a long time,” he said referring to the hunting ID that is available to Alaska residents who are 60 years of age or older.

“I’ve yet to draw that tag,” Cassell said. But Cassell is not frustrated at his poor fortune in the tag drawings; he feels the deck is stacked against him. Specifically, Cassell believes that the Alaska Board of Game allocates too many hunting tags to nonresidents — a management decision that, he argues, is in violation of the Alaska Constitution. “In Kodiak, it’s an egregious number. It’s 40% of permits (allocated for nonresidents),” Cassell said, referring to the Kodiak brown bear hunting tag draw. In light of this, for the Board of Game’s March meeting, Cassell submitted a policy change proposal. His request was straight-forward: change the resident/nonresident tag allocation from its current

60-40 split to a 90-10 split, allocating the vast majority of tags to Alaskans. The proposal was shot down by a vote of five to one. Cassell was disappointed. He saw the board’s decision as just the latest example of a pattern of bias in favor of commercial hunting guides and nonresident hunters. But, he was only getting started. On May 29, Cassell filed a lawsuit against the Board of Game, alleging that the state’s decision to allocate 40% of the Kodiak Island brown bear hunting permits to nonresidents is unconstitutional. The complaint, Robert Cassell v. State of Alaska, Board of Game, was filed in the Superior Court for the State of Alaska 3rd Judicial District in Anchorage. The suit cites Article 8, Section 3 of

A 10-foot Kodiak brown bear is seen through a spotting scope at about 1.5 miles. PHOTO COURTESY OF SAM ROHRER the state Constitution, which states: “Wherever occurring in their natural state, fish, wildlife and waters are reserved to the people for common use.” Cassell says that this language should require Alaskan hunters to be given priority

opportunities for hunting permits. “That’s pretty clear and yet that’s not being done by the state,” he said. “I thought this was probably the best way to BEAR » 14

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Continued from 13 get the state to change its ways.” “I went to some attorneys — actually, the same attorneys that helped John Sturgeon,” Cassell continued. “They responded and said, ‘Why hasn’t someone done this sooner?’” Cassell said his frustration is shared by many other resident hunters. And, it is Cassell’s hope that the fight over the Kodiak bear tag is merely the flash point for a broader movement. “This is probably the most glaring example of a disproportionate allocation to nonresidents, protecting the commercial hunting industry,” Cassell said. “When all is said and done, this won’t

Hunters pose with a 10-foot Kodiak brown bear. PHOTO COURTESY OF SAM ROHRER

just be about brown bears.” Resident advocacy group Cassell is a board member with the Resident Hunters of Alaska, an advocacy group formed in 2016 that is seeking resident hunting priority statewide. The group has more than 2,000 members. While Cassell is shouldering the financial burden of

his lawsuit, RHAK is supporting his efforts. “Our main issue is over allocation. It’s in our mission statement,” Cassell said. In a statement released following the filing of the lawsuit, RHAK wrote that over the past three years it has had “no luck with the Board of Game.” The statement claims that resident hunters have a slim chance of obtaining

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a tag due to the number of applicants. “Article 8 of our state Constitution makes it unconstitutional to exclusively award up to 40 percent of Kodiak brown bear permits to nonresident guided hunters, giving resident hunters a 1-10 percent chance of drawing and nonresident guided hunters a near 100 percent chance,” the statement reads. “RHAK stands fully behind Mr. Cassell and this lawsuit.” Cassell laid out his argument to the Board of Game on March 16, during the board’s weeklong meeting in Anchorage. He argued that increasing the number of resident hunters would not adversely affect the bear population and also argued that there are precedents that can be found in other states for resident priority when it comes to game hunting. “Most other states allocate 90% to the residents for limited draw hunts,” he said. “North Dakota allocates only 1% of its trophy deer hunts to nonresidents. California allocates one permit to nonresidents. As soon as one is drawn there are no more nonresident permits issued.” In a subsequent interview with the Kodiak Daily Mirror, Cassell pointed out that nonresidents are harvesting 60-80 percent of sheep in some areas. He cited a moose hunting permit draw for the Nowitna River, which allocates 50 percent of tags to nonresidents. “I’m one of more than 100,000 residents of Alaska who own hunting licenses, so there’s a big group of us,” he said, during the Board

Friday, July 12, 2019

of Game meeting. “I’ve never had an opportunity to hunt in Kodiak for brown bears. My proposed allocation change would effectively double my chances of drawing that tag.” During the meeting, a number of other resident hunters gave public testimony along a similar vein. Among them was Brad Sparks, who proposed that the board establish a special pool of Kodiak brown bear tags that would be available to both residents and nonresidents. In an interview with KTUU in March, Sparks said: “I put in every year since I’ve been here and this is the first year I’ve been drawn for a brown bear tag … It took me 11 years.” Opposing views The issue, however, also drew testimony from those in disagreement with Cassell. Michael Brady, Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge manager with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, sent the board a letter that specifically opposed Cassell’s proposal. Brady argued that the allocation, which has been in place since 1976, “has been highly successful — both by providing a balanced opportunity to American hunters, and by ensuring a productive bear population that includes adequate representation of trophy-class males.” The proposal also garnered opposition from Old Harbor Native Corporation and a number of Kodiak residents, including Sam Rohrer, a second-generation hunting guide who runs a business on the west side of Kodiak with his

wife. “The Alaska Constitution mandates that wildlife be managed ‘for the maximum benefit of its people.’ But this benefit is not just reserved for the person who actually pulls the trigger and harvests the bear,” Rohrer wrote. “This benefit is for all Alaskans, that includes the financial benefit to the local community.” Rohrer said that the proposal would “single-handedly upset the hugely successful management structure on Kodiak that’s been in place for over 40 years” and would have “devastating financial effects on local small businesses and our Kodiak community at large.” At a January meeting, the advisory committee discussed Cassell’s proposal and, using some quick math, calculated a rough estimate of the economic benefit to the community. By taking the average cost of a nonresident guided hunt ($22,500) and multiplying it by the average number of nonresident hunters (185), the committee surmised that the commercial hunting industry generates at least $4 million of economic benefits to Kodiak. Rohrer added that this doesn’t include the more than $1 million in license and tag fees generated for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, including matching funds from the federal Pitman-Robertson program. He also pointed to a recent study conducted by the McDowell Group, which showed that the industry produces annual revenues BEAR » 15

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HUNTING GUIDE Continued from 14 of roughly $80 million to the entire state. “This (the proposal) would devastate small, local guiding businesses like my own,” Rohrer said in an interview with the Kodiak Daily Mirror, adding that there are 24 guiding operations throughout Kodiak. “We’d be out of business,” he said. Rohrer was also quick to point out that Alaska residents can hunt for bears in the spring and fall on the road system, via over-the-counter tags. “If people think that’s a second-class hunt, I would just point out that the second largest bear

killed in Alaska in the last 35 years was killed on the road system,” he said during public testimony at the Board of Game meeting. Board of Game vote According to Board of Game member and Kodiak-resident Larry Van Daele, these are the exact reasons the board voted down Cassell’s proposal. In his comments on intent prior to the vote, Van Daele noted that he’s been involved in Kodiak bear management for almost 40 years and stated that the current regulations result in a “robust bear population that has more large bears harvested than ever, and respect for the

bears by people who share the archipelago with them.” According to the Kodiak Advisory Committee, resident hunters have a track record of harvesting a higher percentage of sows than guided nonresident hunters. Van Daele also said Cassell’s argument depends on a very narrow interpretation of the language in the Constitution. “We felt that the current system is beneficial to the people of Alaska. It gives opportunities to both residents and nonresident hunters, and it’s benefiting the bear population,” Van Daele said. “Because bears are mostly a trophy animal not a meat animal, the

maximum benefit for the people can be economic, too.” Van Daele said that, to some extent, the board already does prioritize Alaskans — in particular when it comes to meeting subsistence needs, for which Kodiak bears are not hunted. “We make sure that subsistence needs are met. And, that’s primarily meat animals,” he said. “Where the rub comes in … is nobody is ever going to agree on what is enough. That’s where we’re at right now.” “That 90-10 split, is a relatively new twist on it,” he added. “But it gets even more tricky when you start looking at trophy animals.” Van Daele said that

there is certainly a chance that the Game Board will change regulations. If, for example, the court found Cassell was right in his interpretation of the Constitution, or if the bear population on Kodiak became unstable. For now, however, he maintains that the regulations are within the best interest of both the game and Alaskans. Cassell, however, is resolute. In response to the argument that nonresidents economically benefit the state, he said that is not what is written in the Constitution. With specific regard to claims that his proposal would be detrimental to bear-guiding businesses on Kodiak, he told the Board of Game, “I doubt

that to be an expected outcome.” At a later point, Cassell said that the board didn’t acknowledge the significant financial contributions made by Alaska’s resident hunters. He cited a 2014 study published by ECONorthwest for ADF&G, which found that resident hunters spend a little over $1 billion annually on hunting activities in Alaska. “I would observe that resident hunters have had 40 years of lost opportunity,” he said. If Cassell is successful with his lawsuit, adjusting regulations for the Kodiak bear hunt will just be his first step — the rest of the state’s hunting regulations may follow.

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Expect high quota for Fortymile caribou, less for Nelchina By Sam Friedman NEWSROOM @NEWSMINER.COM

The hunting quota for the Fortymile Caribou Herd is expected to be at least as large as last year’s in 2019 because of a herd’s booming population. Meanwhile, hunting opportunities for the Nelchina Caribou Herd are expected to be similar to last year’s and down from the large quotas of a few years ago, as the herd has dropped from an overly large population to the target population window set by state biologist. However, both these predictions could change over the summer as biologists get more data about the state of these two herds popular with Interior hunters. Fortymile Caribou Herd Last year, the hunting quota for the Fortymile Caribou Herd doubled in a single year to 2,030 caribou because of a summer 2017 census that showed the herd had expanded to more than 71,400 animals, a size not seen since the 1920s. This year, the quota is expected to be “at least,� as

Caribou from the Fortymile Herd are seen during a July 2017 photo census. The census counted a herd population of more than 71,400 caribou, the largest the herd has been since the 1920s. PHOTO COURTESY ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME

large as the 2,030 quota set for 2018, said Alaska Department of Fish and Game area wildlife biologist Jeff Gross at the Tok office. The exact quota number will be set later this summer following analysis of a spring calving study and a decision by the international body that regulates

the herd, Hunting quotas are set by an international committee because the herd migrates between the White Mountains north of Fairbanks and Yukon, Canada, east of Tok. There are also some small regulation changes for the hunt. New this season, resident hunters

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will be able to take one bull or cow caribou during the month of August. Last year, resident hunters couldn’t harvest cows until September. Nonresidents are still restricted to bulls for the entire season. The start of the winter season also has been moved back to Oct. 27, one week later than last year, in order to avoid coinciding with the rut. The fall season this year for the Fortymile hunt starts Aug. 11, one day earlier than last year. Nelchina Caribou Herd As of early summer, the Nelchina Herd is expected to be within its population objectives, which likely means a relatively small hunting quota, similar to last year’s. In the 2016 and 2017 seasons, hunters enjoyed

a large quota of 6,000 and 5,500 caribou respectively for the Nelchina Caribou Herd as biologists called for significantly thinning the herd that had grown beyond its population objective. The herd lives in the southern Alaska Range, between the Talkeetna Mountains and Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve. A combination of the larger hunter harvest and a hard winter in 2017/2018 led to a significant population decline. Some Nelchina caribou also may have joined the Fortymile herd in the area where their ranges overlap. In 2018 the Nelchina herd’s population dropped to 35,700, which is on the low end of the 35,00040,000 population objective. The quota dropped

to 1,400 caribou, less than a third the previous year’s quota. In 2019, the Nelchina Herd is expected to still be within the population objective, which would mean a similar quota this fall as last year, said Todd Rinaldi, the area wildlife biologist at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office in Palmer. There’s a chance the quota will be slightly larger, he said. “We might have a couple of thousand animals migrating back into the unit that we don’t anticipate, and of course of those couple of extra thousand there would be a harvestable portion,� he said. The exact quota will be determined later in the summer when biologists know more about the health of the herd. Unlike the registration system used for the Fortymile caribou in which any Alaska resident or nonresident can participate, Nelchina Caribou Herd hunting opportunities are only for residents through either a drawing permit, a subsistence permit or a community harvest permit. Hunters must apply for all three types of permits the year before the hunt. In the last few years, fewer people have applied for permits for these hunts. “I think that’s in response to being in population objective and not having the abundance we’ve had the last few years where we really needed all this additional hunter effort and harvest,� Rinaldi said. Contact the newsroom at 4597572.

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HUNTING GUIDE

Drawing permit gives disabled veterans opportunity to harvest moose on Fort Greely NEWSROOM @NEWSMINER.COM

By design, this hunting opportunity for wounded veterans of the armed forces is supposed to give hunters as good a chance of shooting a moose as possible. Since it began in 2014,18 hunters have participated in the hunt on and around Fort Greely missile defense base. All 18 hunters have successfully bagged a moose. But even by the standards of this hunting permit, one hunt in 2018 was particularly fast. A bull showed himself FORT GREELY —

How to apply For more information about how to apply for the Purple Heart hunt at Fort Greely, contact Rick Barth at richard.d.barth4.civ@mail.mil along a quiet installation road a mere 10 minutes into the first full day of hunting. It was the biggest bull seen on post so far this season, said hunt organizer and Fort Greely environmental chief Rick Barth. The animal was 85 yards from the road and quartering away. A break in

the burned trees and other vegetation gave a clear shot to its vital organs. Barth stopped his side-byside and quickly retrieved his homemade bipod, a pair of sticks tied together with a vacuum cleaner belt. He motioned for the hunter to use the sticks to stabilize his

shot. The hunter in 2018 was Jerimiah Galloway, a BP well integrity engineer who lives in Wasilla when not working on the North Slope. Galloway is a former artillery platoon commander from the Fort Wainwright-based 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division and who was injured during that unit’s 2008 deployment to Iraq. Like many veterans, he doesn’t like to talk about what happened to him downrange that earned him his Purple Heart. Like all participants in this hunt, Galloway has a 100% disability rating from the U.S. Depart-

ment of Veterans Affairs. Galloway grew up in North Carolina where he hunted everything from squirrels to white-tailed deer. He jumped into Alaska hunting his first year in Fairbanks, shooting a caribou off the Dalton Highway that’s now mounted at his home. He’d also shot a small bull moose. On this year’s hunt, he hoped to find a large bull moose to mount across from his caribou. He was after a more unusual trophy, too. When the Army sent him to GREELY » 18

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HUNTING GUIDE Continued from 17 Alaska in 2008, Galloway said he joked to his brother that he was going to send him a moose scrotum to make into a coin purse. Galloway’s friend Lee Pentimone also came along on the trip. The two had been hunting partners on unsuccessful moose hunts the past two years. Both Galloway and Pentimone carried rifles for their Fort Greely hunt, although under the rules of the hunt, the second hunter is there strictly for bear protection. Galloway and Pentimone arrived in Delta Junction on Sept. 6, in time for a few hours of hunting. Barth set the hunters up at a tree stand where they enjoyed watching a group of three young bulls fighting. Galloway was careful to watch with his

binoculars but put down his rifle so he wouldn’t be tempted to take one of the smaller moose. In this hunt, any bull or cow without calves is legal. But Galloway was holding out for a bigger bull. “He was like a kid in a candy store,” said Pentimone. The 10-minute hunt The next morning, their first full day of hunting, Barth met his hunters at 6:15 at their base camp, a comfortable — if institutional — apartment on Fort Greely. Some of his out-of-state hunters are disappointed in these accommodations because they wanted a true Alaska, roughing it experience, Barth said. “The Alaskans don’t usually complain,” he said. The temperature was in the 40s, and thick fog hung over the installation. GalloGREELY » 19

Wasilla hunter Jerimiah Galloway inspects a moose he shot Sept. 7, 2018, on Fort Greely. Each year six drawing permits are offered to hunt moose on and around the military installation. To qualify hunters must be combat-wounded recipients of the Purple Heart and have a 100-percent disability rating. SAM FRIEDMAN / NEWS-MINER FILE PHOTO

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Continued from 18 way and Pentimone said they were happy to have spent the night indoors. The party got into a pair of side-by-sides and started across the installation just as a recording of reveille played over the post’s public address system. Barth led the group into a construction site where during the daytime heavy equipment pounds the earth to compact the site for a future missile field. But at 6:30 a.m. the equipment was silent and at least one bull moose was active along the scar of an old forest fire off the side of the road. After getting set up on the bipod, Galloway spent about half a minute peering into the scope, making sure he was comfortable with the shot. When he pulled the trigger, the blast of his

.338-caliber rifle was followed immediately by the thud of his projectile connecting with something. The moose bolted away into the fog. “Never had one take off like that,” Barth said with a curse. In his 13 years of moose-hunting experience, Barth said he’s always seen moose stand stunned after being shot. But Barth brightened as he reminded himself he’d clearly heard the bullet make contact. “Well, you got him. He can’t get very far. There are fences all around,” he said. Electing not to send the wounded animal on a further adrenaline-fueled sprint, Barth advised they leave the animal to die. They would return after breakfast, in which time the sun might burn off more of the fog, making it easier to find the downed bull.

Fragmented habitat The moose of Fort Greely can be a nuisance, Barth explained, as the party walked to the mess hall for breakfast. “I’ve seen windows with moose nose prints on them,” he said. As if on cue, Barth walked by a splatter of moose diarrhea in the middle of the sidewalk outside the dining facility. Barth wears Carhartt overalls and sports an almost Duck Dynasty-length scraggly beard, contrasting with the uniformed and clean-shaven National Guardsmen around base. He’s hunted all over the world and previously worked as game warden at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he managed hunts of animals including wild pigs, red deer and elk.

At Fort Greely, Barth keeps close track of the moose population, describing the animals as his children. By his count, Fort Greely is home to a population of 55-75 moose, including about 40 on the missile field itself. This is a denser population of moose than the average for the region, which Barth attributes to fences that surround the installation and to tasty ryegrass and oats planted on cleared lands on the base. In the winter, salted roads on the installation attract moose, bringing them into contact and sometimes conflict with residents, he said. Limited predation also accounts for the moose density, Barth said. A half dozen grizzly bears frequent Fort Greely, but wolves are rare. Barth sees his help on the annual moose hunt as his own small but significant part of Fort Greely’s national

security mission. In addition to constantly training and being on guard for a possible missile launch from North Korea or another adversary, National Guardsmen at Fort Greely work to protect the perimeter of the missile field from attack. When wildlife wander onto the missile field too often, soldiers become less vigilant to security breaches. “The moose can make people complacent,” Barth said. “My mission is that when they’re ready to push the button (to launch a missile), there’s nothing interfering.” Lost in the fog The fog didn’t lift while the party was at its breakfast of biscuits, gravy and scrambled eggs. Returning to the site where Galloway took his shot, Barth walked into the GREELY » 20

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Continued from 19 woods and spotted a tuft of white moose hair where the moose had been standing. There was no blood trail, so the group fanned out and started walking in the direction where the bull disappeared. They’d just gone a few steps when the antler of a bull moose popped out of the fog about 100 yards away. The bull was standing calmly and didn’t appear especially distressed. Galloway had brought his rifle in case the moose needed a follow-up shot, but Barth told him not to raise it. “That moose hasn’t been shot,� Barth said. “That’s a different one.� The party moved around the second moose and continued the search. After half an hour tromping around through the fog, they found no moose and no blood. They met back to regroup at the spot where Barth had found the moose hairs. The disappearance of the moose without a trace made Galloway have doubts about the strong impact noise everyone had heard

Wasilla hunter Jerimiah Galloway, left, works with Fort Greely employee Ivan Geroy to haul a moose quarter to the road on Fort Greely. Each year six drawing permits are offered to hunt moose on and around the military installation. To qualify hunters must be combat-wounded recipients of the Purple Heart and have a 100-percent disability rating. SAM FRIEDMAN / NEWS-MINER FILE PHOTO

before breakfast. He wondered if he’d wounded the animal by shooting too far back and hitting the guts instead of the lungs. Barth admitted he was also starting to have doubts. He inspected the spruce trees, looking for evidence that a bullet had clipped one of them. He considered bringing in a blood-sniffing dog

that the post’s deputy commander had made available. Just then, Pentimone spotted an antler barely distinguishable from a tree stump on the ground. The moose was down on its side, with its tongue hanging out the side of its mouth. The dead moose was right where the live moose they had seen before

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had been standing, which is probably why they’d missed it. “He was just standing there next to his buddy saying ‘What’s wrong, bro?’� Galloway said. Galloway couldn’t stop smiling as he stood over the moose to inspect it. The bull was a three-byfour, with three brow tines on one side and four on the other. Its antler spread was just over 46 inches. The bull was just beginning to enter the mating season, and bits of velvet were still hanging from the antlers. Galloway worked carefully to cut the hide off the animal’s shoulders so that a taxidermist can later make a mount. His brother will have to wait for another moose to get his scrotum trophy. That part was left behind in the

Friday, July 12, 2019

rush to get all the meat hauled out. The fog that had hung around while they were searching for the moose abruptly gave way to bright sunlight as Galloway, Pentimone and an employee from Barth’s office worked for the next six hours butchering the moose. Processed nearby at Delta Meat and Sausage Co., the moose produced more than 500 pounds of meat. A hunt searching for hunters Before 2014, the Fort Greely hunt was also a disabled veteran hunt, but with a minimum 50% disability rating instead of the current 100% requirement. Barth said he pushed for the 100% requirement because he believes the special circumstances of the Fort Greely-area hunt — including the good access to moose and the on-base accommodations — should be reserved for veterans who have earned the right to better access. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game awards six permits by lottery drawing each year for the special Purple Heart hunt. “I know a lot of those guys, and it didn’t seem like they had as great a need for that kind of hunt in my opinion. I was hunting with 90% guys who were hunting right along with me and didn’t think they needed a special hunt,� he said. “My idea with Fort Greely is that because we can provide everything we can provide and it’s only six tags, give me the most beat-up guys there are out there.� Barth refers affec-

tionately to the current qualified veterans as “one-legged ass-kickers who can’t see out of both eyes or hear out of both ears� and boasts that he can help anyone get a moose. When the program finds qualified veterans, the program works well, Barth said. The hunt has a 100% success rate, and last year Purple Heart hunters shot six moose within 36 hours. But the hunts don’t always happen, because people often apply for the drawing permit without reading the requirements. When unqualified hunters are picked for the lottery drawing and do not meet the requirements, the Department of Fish and Game doesn’t redo the lottery; the permit simply doesn’t get used. This year, for example, only two of the six drawing permits were used in addition to a related governor’s tag permit that also has the Purple Heart and 100% disability requirement. Nationwide there’s a large population of Purple Heart 100% disabled veterans. Barth is a one-man operation trying to find the those who want go on a moose hunt outside of Delta Junction. He’s in touch with military hospitals where he meets prospective hunters and offers to file their drawing permit paperwork. Everywhere he travels he brings flyers about the hunt to put on gas station bulletin boards. Contact the newsroom at 4597572. This story was originally published in the Daily NewsMiner outdoors section in September 2018

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

HUNTING GUIDE

Writer’s first grouse hunt a lesson in self-sufficiency SFRIEDMAN@NEWSMINER.COM

The bird walked in front of me on the trail. I blasted it down with a shower of birdshot and put the dead bird in my bag. It’s not an especially interesting tale among hunting stories, but I’m sure I’ll remember it more than all the moose hunting stories I wrote for the 60-Inch club last week because it was my first successful hunt. I went grouse hunting a few weeks ago with Dave Wesolowski, a hunter who, like me, wasn’t introduced to hunting until adulthood. Dave is from Seattle and started hunting last year after moving to Alaska in 2014. This month he was fresh from his first successful moose

hunt. He’s had mixed success with grouse in the past, previously getting two-thirds the daily limit of 15 on his best day. On a crisp, dry Friday morning, we met about an hour before dawn to carpool to a forest trail Dave’s been hunting this fall. Birch, aspen and alder leaves carpeted the trail, although a few stubborn leaves still clung to the trees. A grouse’s best defense is its camouflage. It’s hard to see these speckled gray and brown birds in the forest when they’re not moving, especially in the woods. We went at first light to be the first people on the trail in hopes of catching grouse feeding and sunning themselves in clearings. In particular, Dave told me south-facing slopes tend to be good places

to look. Our trail took us south and steadily down hill, giving lots of opportunities. At Dave’s request, I bought a box of upland bird shotgun shells with steel shot instead of the usual lead. Upland bird hunters aren’t legally required to use steel like duck and geese hunters. But Dave describes himself as a “hippie hunter” who doesn’t like the idea of eating birds killed with lead shot. Also, his job involves studying wetlands on Fort Wainwright’s training ranges so he doesn’t like to add additional lead to the environment. It took some effort, but a clerk at Sportsman’s Warehouse helped me find the one variety of steel shells that worked for the old type of shotgun I was using. Because this was my first

grouse hunt, we decided as we loaded our shotguns that I would get the first shot. Dave’s advice was to walk steadily and deliberately while approaching the bird and to usually point the gun at the bird while acting like you haven’t noticed it. “They’re kind of like people. They can tell. If you’re nervous, they’re nervous,” Dave told me. Dave’s approach to grouse hunting is to take the first available shot at a bird on the ground, instead of waiting for the bird to take flight. Some hunters consider this style of shooting unethical. Maybe my opinion will change as I get more experience, but I’m drawn to this approach. Getting a clear shot at a bird

on the ground seems like the best way to get a clean kill with the lowest risk of wounding and then losing the bird. But maybe I just like it because I’m a so-so shot, don’t have bird dog and don’t want miss the opportunity to bring home dinner. I got my first opportunity after about 20 minutes of walking. “Stop, there’s one,” Dave whispered, interrupting whatever we’d been talking about before. I hadn’t noticed it, but sure enough, there was slender grouse, bobbing along chickenlike off to the left of the trail about 40 yard ahead. It wasn’t immediately obvious whether it had seen us. I moved left behind the cover GROUSE » 22

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GROUSE

Continued from 21 of a large alder, chambered a round and walked forward with the shotgun to my shoulder. The bird came into view again as I worked my way around the alder. I fired once. Based on my previous unsuccessful duck hunting experience, I immediately readied a second round. But when I looked to shoot again, I saw a flapping pile of feathers lying sideways along the trail. “You got him!” Dave told me. I felt guilty for causing the animal to suffer, but also proud of myself for making the shot and having something to show for my effort. I asked Dave whether there were a preferred way to finish killing the bird. It hadn’t occurred to ask before. “You can wring the neck, but usually they die pretty fast on their own,” he told me. Sure enough, the grouse had stopped thrashing and fallen still in the seconds it took us to walk to it and kneel over it, so I didn’t get the neck-wringing lesson. Dave showed me the thick black band along the tail feathers, which showed I’d shot a ruffed grouse. In his opinion, they’re the best for eating. We kept walking down the trail for another 30 minutes without seeing another bird. Dave said he used to spend several hours on morning hunts, but has found its most effective to focus on the hour or two around dawn. We turned around and started back up the hill.

On the return trip I spotted a second grouse behind us at a trail junction. It was Dave’s turn to shoot. Although shooting a bird on the ground is easier than shooting it in flight, it’s not a sure thing. Dave walked toward it, but the bird was airborne and into the woods before Dave could get off a shot. He spent a few minutes searching the woods for the grouse, but it had disappeared. Back at his cabin, Dave showed the simplest way to clean a grouse. With the wings outstretched to the ground, I stepped on each wing and grasped the bird’s large dinosaur-looking feet. One firm yank pulled out the bird’s intestines and other internal organs, leaving on the ground what looked like a flying chicken breast, a meaty piece of breast meat framed by wings. I used a pair of heavy-duty scissors to cut off the feathers and was ready to take my grouse breast to the kitchen. That night, the grouse cooked up well. I pan fried it in butter, then breaded it and ate it with noodles and pesto sauce. It tasted similar to chicken breast but more meaty and moist. I liked it more than the wild duck I had earlier in the season. It felt satisfying to eat a bird I’d killed myself earlier in the day. I’m looking forward to grouse hunting again but am disappointed it probably won’t be this season. I’ve heard grouse get less tasty after snow falls and they switch to their winter diet.

Permit drawing time: Good luck winning one of these five Alaska permit lotteries By Sam Friedman SFRIEDMAN@NEWSMINER.COM

It’s not quite the Mega Millions lottery, but hunters do face some tough odds if they want to pursue sheep near Anchorage, bison anywhere, or moose off the road system south of the Alaska Range. The odds for one particular sheep hunt last year were less than 1-in2,000. That’s just the chances of getting the permit and doesn’t factor in the probability of having a successful hunt. To help hunters strategize about what hunts to apply for, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game publishes statistics about the previous season every fall as the deadline to apply for drawing permits approaches. The deadline to apply for drawing permits this year is Dec. 17. Drawing results will be announced by the third Friday of February. The full drawing permit guide for 2019-2020 is online at https://bit. ly/2XyWgvW. The website to apply for permits is at bit.ly/2AURafu. As in past years, the most sought-after hunts tend to be the ones that have good road access or chances to hunt species that are more scarce or both. Among the hundreds of drawing permits available, here’s a look at the five permits that were the hardest to get last year. Hunters can increase their chances by applying for specific hunts multiple times. The number of times varies, but in most cases the maximum is six applications per specie.

This story originally appeared on the Oct. 20, 2017, Outdoors page.

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1. Sheep hunt DS123, Game Management Unit 14C (Chugach Range near Anchorage) 2018-2019 stats: 2,358 applications for 1 permit, 0.04 percent chance of success All the drawing permits for sheep in the Chugach State Park outside of Anchorage are difficult to get. Chugach State Park sheep permits

are among the most coveted in the state both because of the access near Alaska’s largest city and because of the area’s reputation for big sheep, said area wildlife biologist David Battle in Anchorage. “It’s good habitat. We have some massive sheep that come out of there,” he said. “Every year we have some 40-inch sheep that come out.” This hunt permit, DS123, was by far the hardest drawing permit to draw last year, although it was among several with less than 1 percent odds. Open to Alaska residents only, the DS123 permit lets one hunter take a full-curl ram from one of several drainages, including a promising-sounding hunting location called “Ram Valley.” The season for this permit is particularly long, Aug. 10 to Sept. 30. 2. Moose hunt DM324, Game Management 13 (southern Alaska Range) 2018-2019 stats: 7,769 applicants for 5 permits, 0.06 percent chance of success This permit allows five Alaska resident hunters to take any bull moose from Game Management Unit 13, a large area with lots of road access to the south of the Alaska Range. The popularity of this moose permit is likely linked to the popularity of the subsistence caribou hunt in the area, said area wildlife biologist Todd Rinaldi in Palmer. The Nelchina Caribou Herd is the largest caribou herd within a few hour’s drive from Alaska’s largest city and is a popular target for both Anchorage and Fairbanks hunters. The caribou hunt affects moose hunts because one requirement of the subsistence caribou permit restricts moose hunting: The caribou permit holders aren’t allowed to take moose from outside of Game Management Unit 13. Besides DM324, the only moose drawing permit for Alaska residents in PERMITS » 23

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

PERMITS

Continued from 22 the unit is an antlerless moose hunt. After years with high hunting quotas, a survey last summer found the Nelchina caribou population has dropped significantly and is now in the range that state biologists have set as the target population for the herd. The new caribou population means lower hunting quotas and likely less interest in the subsistence caribou hunt this year. That may also dampen interest in the DM324 moose permit, Rinaldi said. In addition to the subsistence hunt, there is a popular drawing permit for Nelchina caribou, DC485. Last year that hunt received more than 38,000 applicants — more than any other hunt in Alaska — for 5,000 permits. Biologists cut the hunting season short because of the high

Ivotuk Airstrip

HUNTING GUIDE numbers of hunters pursuing a small quota. 3. Sheep hunt DS134, Game Management Unit 14C 2018-2019 stats: 492 applicants for 1 permit, 0.20 percent chance of success Like DS123, this is a Chugach Mountains hunt for a full-curl ram near Anchorage open to Alaska residents only. The hunt area is on the northern side of the Eagle River. The DS134 permit only covers the dates Aug. 10-22, a 12-day window within the hunting season. Another drawing permit, DS135, runs Sept. 5-17 in the same area. Last year, the chance of drawing the permit for the later hunting window was about twice as good as for DS134. For sheep drawing permits that divide up the hunting season into separate windows, the earlier seasons are usually more competitive than the later seasons, said Battle, Ivotuk Hills

the state wildlife biologist in Anchorage. Most hunters like the early season because it gives them a chance to get after a ram they’ve been scouting before another hunter kills it and before winter weather descends in the mountains. But some hunters prefer rams with the thicker coats that are grown later in the season. 4. Sheep hunt DS150, Game Management Units 7 and 15A. 2018-2019 stats: 1,087 applications for 3 permits, 0.28 percent chance of success Like the Anchorage-area sheep hunts, this Kenai Peninsula drawing permit for a full-curl ram is likely popular because it’s a road-accessible sheep hunt. The hunt covers an area in the eastern Kenai Peninsula that straddles Game Management Units 7 and 15A and runs from Aug. 10 to Sept. 20. It’s open to Alaska residents and nonresidents Killik River Valley

but is one of several hunts that restricts nonresidents to one full-curl ram every four years. 5. Bison hunt DI403, Game Management Unit 20D (Delta Junction area) 2018-2019 stats: 15,570 applicants for 45 permits, 0.29 percent chance of success Demand for bison hunting opportunities far outstrips supply everywhere in Alaska. All bison hunting is regulated through drawing permits, and all permits are hard to get with 1 percent or less-than 1 percent success rates. DI403, a Delta Junction hunt, is especially popular because there’s road access around Delta Junction and because the bison population is especially strong there, said area wildlife biologist Bob Schmidt in Delta Junction. All the bison available for hunting in Alaska are plains bison, descendants of a group brought to the state in 1928.

The population is likely especially strong around Delta Junction because of the strong winds coming out of the Alaska Range that blow the ground free of snow and help the bison reach food during the winter, Schmidt said. The Farewell herd in the western Interior did have a strong population but struggled with heavy snow this spring, he said. In addition to the Farewell plains bison, the western Interior is also home to an experimental herd of wood bison, larger cousins of the plains bison. But that herd isn’t yet large enough to be hunted. For hunters who don’t get picked for a drawing permit, a list of hunting opportunities for undersubscribed hunts — those with fewer applicants than permits — comes out in the spring. Come hunting season, other opportunities remain with general season harvest tickets and registration hunts. Killik Airstrip

Elusive Lake

NOTICE TO AIRMEN, GUIDES, OUTFITTERS, RAFTERS & SPORT HUNTERS Large tracts of land on the Western and Central North Slope are owned by the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC). Entry on these privately owned lands requires the consent of ASRC. Sport hunting and fishing are prohibited on ASRC lands. Within ASRC lands in the Central and Western Arctic are a number of gravel airstrips that are closed to public access. Entry on the following airstrips requires the written consent of ASRC:

AKULIK 69°00’02”N 163°26’33”W; EAGLE CREEK 68°40’46”N 162°39’13”W; KILLIK 68°27’15”N 154°17’43”W; TIGLIKPUK 68°25’25”N 151°27’26”W; TULUGAK 68°59’36”N 151°11’42”W; *IVOTUK* 68°28’42”N 155°45’50”W; Airstrip is public but please be aware of ASRC’s ownership of apron, road, and drill site. These airstrips are subject to periodic surveillance by ASRC. Trespassers will be prosecuted. Certain easements are reserved for the public in various locations on ASRC lands. These easements are owned by ASRC and are reserved for public use for limited specific purposes. These easements are reserved to allow access to lakes by float plane, temporary overnight camping at specific 1 acre sites near the lake shores (not to exceed 24 hours), and to allow for trail access to adjacent public lands. Some specific areas that require the proper following of easements are: Elusive Lake, Shainin Lake, Chandler Lake, Udurivik Lake, Imiaknikpak Lake, and Windy Lake. Any deviation from easement stipulations will be considered trespass and is criminally punishable under Alaska Statute11.46.330. Sport hunting and fishing are not allowed on these easements. You are highly encouraged to contact ASRC if you are planning a float trip on the Kukpowruk, Kokolik, Utukok, Okokmilaga, Chandler, Anaktuvuk, Kurupa, Killik, or Colville Rivers. Each of these waterways have unique circumstances or restrictions that must be followed to prevent trespass. In addition, North Slope Borough, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and/or National Park Service permits may also be required for commercially operating on adjacent public lands. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permissions and permits to access these areas. 3900 C Street, Suite 801 Anchorage, AK 99503-5963

907 339-6017

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For more information contact: Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Land Department

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