This year’s take of 131 moose in the Wrangell-Petersburg area was down by 10 kills from last year’s harvest.
But 131 was still good enough to rank as the third-highest harvest on record for the area, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The season ran Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
Last year’s take of 141 moose in the Wrangell-Petersburg area was a record, passing the previous high of 132 in 2021, according to Fish and Game. The five-year average is just over 120 moose a year.
Of this season’s 131 moose, 120 were legal and 11 illegal, mostly bulls with the wrong number of brow tines. Hunters generally self-report illegal kills, according to the department, and the meat is shared with the community.
According to Fish and Game, 50 of the moose kills were reported to the Wrangell office, 45 at the Petersburg office, 22 in Kake, and 14 at other department offices in Southeast.
Kupreanof Island was the most successful area for hunters again this year with 48 legal and one illegal moose harvested, shy of the 54 legal kills last year. Kuiu Island had the second-highest harvest count this season at 25 legal moose, three shy of last year, and one illegal kill.
In addition to the 21 legal moose taken on the Stikine River, six were illegal harvests — the most this season out of any area.
Hunters harvested seven moose from Mitkof Island this year, fewer than last year’s 12.
Hunters took seven legal moose from Wrangell Island; five legal moose from Farragut Bay; one legal and one illegal moose from Etolin Island; one moose at Woewodski Island; none from Zarembo Island; two legal and one illegal kill at Thomas Bay; and four others from mainland hunting areas.
Since 2014, moose numbers in the Wrangell-Petersburg area have consistently surpassed 100 a year. The most recent down year was 2013, when area hunters took 85 moose.
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