Start thinking about future hunts

The 2009 hunting season, for all practical purposes, is over. Having said that, I’m sure there are a few folks reading this who still have a drawing, registration, or Tier II hunt in the works.

The majority of us will be making sure the heater is working, the woodpile is adequate and covered, and the snowblower and snowmachine both still function. Hopefully, we will also begin planning for next year’s hunts.

If you didn’t know, Fish and Game changed the drawing permit application periods, as well as the Tier I/II permit application schedule. They have been advertizing this schedule change for a couple of years now, so it shouldn’t be coming as a complete surprise if you have applied for any hunting permits during that period.

The drawing application period in May will no longer happen and the fall application period, which is now the only application period, has been expanded to include all drawing permit and Tier I/II hunt applications.

It lasts from November 1 until December 31, if you apply online.

If you prefer a paper application, you must have it postmarked and in the mail by December 15. Drawing results will be announced by late March.

The department is trying to get every hunting permit applicant to use the online application procedure. As a result, only checks and money orders can be used with the paper applications – no credit cards will be accepted! They also are asking that only one application and one payment be sent per envelope. This is a request now. It will be mandatory next year.

By applying online, errors in data entry for the randomized drawings are virtually eliminated. If a keypunch operator is entering data from a paper application, errors can and do occur, in spite of the operator’s best efforts to avoid any miscues.

All the rules from previous drawing application periods still apply. For instance, you must have an Alaskan hunting license prior to applying; you may apply for the same hunt number only once on all individual and party applications combined; you may apply for up to three different hunt numbers per species on all individual and party applications combined; no one may receive more than one drawing permit per species per regulatory year; if you received a drawing permit last year, you are ineligible to receive a drawing permit for the same hunt this year; and the list goes on.

All the permit requirements, the hunt numbers, maps and more information is contained in the 2010-2011 Alaska Drawing Permit Hunt Supplement, available at the Fish and Game office as well as major license vendors like Carr’s, Fred Meyer, and Sportsman’s Warehouse. I would suggest you pick up a copy or two if you are interested in applying for any drawing permit hunts for next season and study it closely before submitting your hunt applications.

You should also pick up a copy of the 2010-2011 Alaska Tier I/II Permit Hunt Supplement at the same time. This newsprint brochure contains all the application information, hunt numbers, etc, necessary for applying for these permit subsistence hunts.

In our immediate area, the Tier II moose hunts in Unit 16B are identified. These hunts include the Yentna, North Beluga, and South Beluga hunts. A description of the areas for each hunt is in the brochure, along with the legal gender and dates of the respective hunts.

The other big Tier I/II hunt that valley residents participate in is the Unit 13 caribou hunt. Recent action by the Board of Game (BOG) has changed this hunt from a Tier II to a Tier I hunt. What’s the difference?

According to 5 AAC 92.990, “’Tier I’ means the circumstance where the board has identified a game population that is customarily and traditionally used for subsistence and where it is anticipated that a reasonable opportunity can be provided to all residents who desire to engage in that subsistence use; ‘Tier II’ means the circumstance where the board has identified a game population that is customarily and traditionally used for subsistence and where, even after non-subsistence uses are eliminated, it is anticipated that a reasonable opportunity to engage in that subsistence use cannot be provided to all residents eligible at Tier I who desire to participate.”

The Unit 13 caribou hunt is sort of a hybrid between the two types of subsistence hunts, depending on how many permits are available and how many Alaska residents apply for the hunt each year. The BOG has placed some uncommon restrictions on persons who successfully draw this Tier I permit, so I suggest you become familiar with these rules before you decide to apply. A visit to the Palmer Fish and Game office will allow you to not only pick up the various permit supplements and application forms, but will also allow you the opportunity to ask questions about what is involved in this Unit 13 caribou hunt, for example. If you call, their number is 746-6300.

Good luck with your applications. I’ll be trying, yet again, for that elusive antlerless cow moose permit I never seem able to get!

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by e-mailing sports@frontiersman.com.