In this photo submitted by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Wrangell High School senior Cody Thomassen shows off the 3x2 brow tine moose he harvested on the Stikine River this year. As of Tuesday morning, the 2014 moose season was shaping up to be the second-best on record, with 97 reported kills.
It appears to have been a successful month for moose hunters as the season came to an end yesterday. As of Tuesday morning, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) biologist Rich Lowell reported it likely to be the second-best season on record.
A total of 97 bull moose were harvested from the Petersburg-Wrangell area, better than last year's 92. The highest recorded figure was 109 moose in 2009.
Of this year's harvest, 36 were killed near the Stikine River, its highest harvest in 24 years. Another 31 were taken on Kupreanof Island.
A further 11 were harvested on Mitkof Island, five at Thomas Bay, four on Wrangell Island, three in Farragut Bay, two each on Kuiu Island and at Port Houghton, and one apiece at Virginia Lake and on Woewodski and Zarembo Islands.
Final figures should be available by next Tuesday. All hunters are reminded to submit a report summarizing their RM038-area moose hunting activities. Those individuals failing to submit a hunt report will be cited and become ineligible for any drawing or registration permits next year.
Teeth collected from harvested moose at check-in will be sent to a laboratory for aging. Once ADFG receives the results back from the lab, the department will use the data to evaluate the age structure of this season's moose harvest.
After that, Lowell reported they will conduct an aerial survey this winter to count moose within the Stikine River drainage, weather-permitting.
"Although not always possible, we try to conduct these surveys prior to mid-December while most bulls still retain their antlers. This allows us to not only assess moose numbers, but also to evaluate the sex and age structure of the Stikine moose herd," he writes.
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