newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — The winter registration permit hunt for the White Mountains Caribou Herd in Units 20B, 20F and 25C will close at midnight tonight.

The harvest quota for the hunt — RC879 — is 11 caribou and five animals had been reported taken as of Wednesday, according to Fairbanks assistant area biologist Tom Seaton at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Seaton expects hunters to reach or surpass the winter quota by tonight’s closure. The state issued 229 permits for the hunt and 206 permits were still outstanding, he said.

“Hunters have five days to report and the caribou have been pretty accessible, so we’re confident the quota will be achieved,” Seaton said.

The annual harvest quota for the herd, which is estimated at approximately 760 animals, is 23 caribou, which is divided between a general fall hunt for any bull and a winter registration permit hunt for any caribou. The department is still receiving tickets from fall hunters but during the past five years the fall harvest has averaged 12 bulls, leaving a quota of 11 animals for the winter hunt.

White Mountains caribou were more accessible from the Steese Highway this year than they have been in the past 10 years, Seaton said.

Complicating the hunt this year was the fact that a number of White Mountains caribou were detected in the range of the Fortymile caribou north of Twelvemile Summit just before the hunting season opened, Seaton said. It’s likely that several of those animals were taken by Fortymile caribou hunters, leading game managers to take a conservative approach by closing the hunt, Seaton said.

The Fortymile caribou hunt off the Steese Highway will be closed by emergency order at midnight tonight, also.

Hunters who kill a White Mountains caribou must report the kills to Fish and Game within five days. They can do so in person, online at http://hunt.alaska.gov or by phone at 569-7272. Hunters who report by phone must also mail in their permit or drop them off at the Fish and Game office on College Road in Fairbanks.

Unsuccessful hunters must return their reports to the Fairbanks office or report online by Dec. 19. Permit holders who fail to send in their reports will not be allowed to obtain registration, drawing or Tier II hunting permits next year.