Moose harvest confirmed best in five years

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) confirmed Tuesday that the 2014 moose harvest was the second-best on record for the Wrangell-Petersburg area.

“The harvest of 104 moose this fall ranks as the second highest on record for the local RM038 moose hunt,” ADFG biologist Rich Lowell reported.

Of this year's harvest, 36 were killed near the Stikine River, its highest harvest since 1990. Another 35 were taken on Kupreanof Island, which Lowell explained tends to see the largest numbers in the area.

Thirteen were also harvested on Mitkof Island, five at Thomas Bay, four on Wrangell Island, three each in Farragut Bay and Kuiu Island, two at Port Houghton, and one apiece at Virginia Lake and on Woewodski and Zarembo Islands.

This year's total was just five-shy from the the record when, in 2009, 109 moose were taken. That had also been the first year where antler regulations were loosened to allow the harvest of bulls with two brow tines on both antlers.

Thirty of the bulls recorded had two brow tines on both antlers. Thirteen had three or more tines on at least one antler, and 53 others had a spike or fork on at least one antler. Eight harvested moose had antlers that failed to comply with the antler restrictions.

Lowell attributes the good harvest to a relatively mild winter with below average snowfall, contributing to better survival rates of moose. The Unit 3 moose population also continues to increase in both distribution and abundance, now occupying all of the major islands and expanding northward from Thomas Bay on the mainland.

Weather-permitting, ADFG will conduct an aerial survey this winter to count moose within the Stikine River drainage. Last winter's survey had a total of 117 moose observed, including 81 adults and 36 calves, which Lowell noted was slightly above the preceding five-year average of 107 per year surveyed.

All permit holders are reminded to complete and submit a hunt report by November 3, even if they did not hunt. Reports can be filed at the nearest ADFG department offices in Wrangell, Petersburg, Douglas, Kake or Sitka, or online at http://hunt.alaska.gov. Failure to comply can result in ineligibility for permits next year.