When CSH collides with sport hunts

This is the first of a two-part series on the community subsistence harvest (CSH) hunts in Game Management Units 11, 12 and 13 for moose and GMU 13 for caribou. This first column will discuss some of the history leading up to the establishment of the CSH and some of the moose hunt shortcomings as explained to me by irate hunters.

GMU 13 is the home of the Nelchina caribou herd. For decades, this herd has provided meat for Alaskan hunters from all over the state. The local Ahtna folks have relied on this herd for hundreds, if not thousands, of years for subsistence. Over the last several decades, with road access into much of the area, the public demand for this resource grew and began to far exceed the harvestable numbers of caribou available. The state started managing the hunt through a subsistence priority using a Tier II hunt system.

A fixed number of animals was established in regulation by the state Board of Game as the amount necessary for subsistence (ANS) to meet local needs. If surplus animals beyond the ANS existed in a given year, a Tier II system based on history of use and need was used to award permits to those non-locals meeting the question requirements. Several Tier II question systems were tried to manage hunters, but court challenges always found the current system in use unconstitutional.

As the need arose, a similar approach was applied to the local moose populations. Moose hunting was affected by relatively easy access and good numbers of bulls. As more and more hunting pressure developed, the BOG passed antler size restrictions and other regulations to restrict the harvest. If memory serves, moose numbers shrank to where a predator control program was operated for a few years while hunting was severely restricted to increase the moose population.

The short version is that the demand for both moose and caribou far exceeded the numbers of animals available for harvest and the restrictions placed on hunters participating in these subsistence hunts angered many. Several years ago, a system known as the community subsistence harvest was developed by the BOG in consultation with the Ahtna community to protect the subsistence harvest while allowing some surplus caribou to be available through the drawing permit system. Moose were available during a general season. This opened the area to hunting by all Alaskans, not just those with either a subsistence priority or a long history of use.

The current hunting regulations booklet explains that, “Community subsistence harvest hunts are established to accommodate traditional subsistence hunting practices and create group bag limits rather than individual bag limits.” Initially, there were only six to eight of these groups made up of residents in the Copper Basin area. Operating the CSH hunts along with regulated sport or drawing permit hunting in the affected GMUs didn’t seem to have a negative impact on animal numbers.

Under Alaska law, all residents qualify as subsistence users and folks from outside the area started forming additional CSH groups to take advantage of the earlier season start and relaxed antler restrictions for moose. In spite of the tougher salvage regulations governing CSH permits, many folks opted to form what have been called “hunting clubs” to take advantage of the hunt. I’m not sure of the numbers, but I’m told that as many as three times the number of CSH groups exist now as opposed to the first year of the system.

The number of harvestable moose and caribou allowed under the CSH system is set in regulation by the BOG, but reporting those numbers can take time. The delay in reporting CSH moose kill numbers was a major problem for those hunters I spoke with. Because of the time lag, I’m told the CSH moose harvest was 40 bulls over the 100 any-bulls regulation limit this season. By the time ADF&G learned how many moose were killed and closed the hunt, the overharvest had already happened.

I heard from two hunters that, this past season, they saw no bulls around the area where they regularly sport hunted. They usually saw several animals in prior years. They were upset about the early season start the CSH folks had and how the few moose they saw were spooky from the early season activity.

They saw the CSH system as creating two classes of hunters, thus violating the Alaska constitution mandating equal access and treatment.

Next week, we’ll talk about some positives of the CSH system.

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