Six days into the fall moose hunt, over half of the quota has already been harvested. We checked the numbers with Fish and Game biologist Carl Koch.
Friday marked the beginning of moose season. As of Wednesday afternoon, already 15 animals have been killed. Carl Koch is a management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, he keeps a close eye on the hunt.
Koch: “Often we have a fast start because it’s antler restricted and the easy legal ones get shot. More often we get higher harvest in the first week and then things slow down after that. But this is a little faster than average.”
Koch says eight bulls were shot on the first day of the hunt, when the sun was out. As the clouds moved in, things slowed down a bit. Of the 15 animals harvested so far, there is one rack over 50 inches, four spiked forks, and 10 three brow tines, all legal kills. Koch says he would like hunters to take the time to make sure the moose they are aiming at are legal.
Koch: “Be really careful, get a really good look. A couple of hunters, we had a lot of back and forth, very questionable moose, that were deemed legal. But we would prefer folks shoot the ones that are easy legal, that are more likely to be in the age classes we are hoping people will harvest.”
The quota for the hunt is 25, this leaves only ten animals to take. With such a quick harvest, Koch says the hunt will probably end early. There is a board on the window at the Fish and Game office that gives the latest numbers, Koch says the notice of closure for the hunt will appear on the same window, and will be posted online.
In related news, there is a quota of seven for the brown bear hunt. Koch says five adult bears have already been shot, and the hunt will be closed if one more female or two more males are killed.
