KC, et al.
Be prepared to hire a guide if hunting ANY of the Arctic caribou herds.
New caribou regulations (HB211) for all the Arctic herds (Western, Central, Teshekpuk, Porcupine) is in the works, requiring a guide unless accompanied by family member has passed the House. I'm betting the Senate will rubber stamp it, since it is Native politics., It is not related to ADF&G game management or science based. This is in part to allow out of area "family" members to come "home" to whack caribou on Federal lands , and avoid the USF&W restrictions. Ostensibly, it is to "save the caribou" on these slightly declining populations (WACH seems to have stabilized, however temporarily), even tho they are all above minimal goals, and some at, near, or above historic averages. (Repeat previous rants about our 3 1/2 month long, pregnant-cows-only-season here).
And of course to eliminate as many of you dastardly Outsiders and non-area residents as possible, within the law. Some re-assembly of same required.
New proposal will be game "management" by "herd", rather than GMU. I'm thinking about that one, but I see one obvious flaw - inter-herd migration. Those damned illegal immigrants! I wonder if there is an Inupiat word for "wetback"......
. And of course the Porcupine (and 40- Mile, farther south) spend significant portions of the year being hunted in Canada. I know nothing about our international agreements on these herds.
In 23 and 26A we have new ADF&G regulations for caribou, requiring reportable subsistence registration permits (I thought that's what I was doing all along???? - that was voluntary, I guess - but I just got a post card about it from ADF&G). RC907, available by June 15, ADF&G, hunt.alaska.gov, and local vendors. This is supposedly to help manage WACH and Teshekpuk Herd. Yeah, that will work - see below on moose.
I'll pick up mine here in Kotzebue when I get my all-winter "subsistence" federal lands moose permit on July 14. 15th is last day to get one, and is a Saturday (closed). I'm in on evening flight of 13th, going camping for a few days (weather permitting) and back to work the 17th. A plan that came together! So far. Murphy is out there somewhere, the SOB!
I read about the pending legislation ( a fine way to manage game!!!) just this morning in May 4 Arctic Sounder. You can read it on line at
www.thearcticsounder.com, or, maybe, hunt.alaska.gov., or the legislative site. Of course, the local hearing on this was also May 4.... Probably good I missed it. I have to live here another year - or rather, am choosing to. Sometimes ignorance can save one a lot of later grief!
. Heaven forbid I just STFU!
New restrictive (similar to caribou restrictions imposed last year) moose regulations for 23 have been turned down, at least for now. Seems required moose harvest reports to be returned by subsistence hunters are being ignored about 50% of the time, over-all, when correlated with in-village surveys. Some villages had over 70% non-compliance. This information threw a monkey wrench in the regulatory works and put a hold on it, obviously to avoid a very public and target-rich lawsuit. For now. In the artcle they said subsistence harvest (village surveys based), vs returned harvest reports) shows no decline in success rates, despite a slightly declining moose population. The non-local (read "sport hunt") harvest is "insignificant", with near 100% reporting rate. I'm so surprised.....
Returned harvest reports from Selawik ( a major moose wintering area) showed a harvest of 7. Village survey showed around 40. This article is also in the may $ Sounder as is below.
North Slope Advisory Committee has requested the Federal Subsistence board to implement similar non-subsistence caribou closures on Federal lands in 26A and B as imposed on 23 last year. That will likely be a Gimmee. One year closure to July '18 if adapted. Annually renewable in perpetuity of course. 23 is also up for renewal, and in spite of no discernable decline last year, (stable or slight increase) and the highest recorded recruitment rate last year, will likely be held over another year. Don't look for it to go away. Ever.