By Matt Hawthorne

The Haines moose hunt got off to a quick start Friday, with 10 bulls bagged on opening day.

"Lots of groups are telling us they’re seeing lots of bulls," said state game biologist Ryan Scott.

Clear, cold weather last weekend mimicked temperatures of the rut, when bulls are more active.

At press time Tuesday, 17 moose had been harvested, mainly along the Chilkat River. The state is aiming for a target harvest of about 20 bulls.

"Once it gets into the mid 20s, we’ll be watching pretty close, but we’re not going to close it until then," Scott said.

All were legal, bearing either three brow tines, a 50-inch spread or a spike or forked antler. The decrease in illegal kills from past years indicates that education and communication among hunters, biologists and state troopers have been working, Scott said. "Everybody goes into the field knowing what they are looking for, and it gets rid of anxiety."

The antler restriction limits kills to some of the valley’s oldest bulls and a small segment of the younger ones. "The whole idea is that we have enough bulls to breed the cows when we get into the rut," with bulls in their prime off-limits for hunters, Scott said.

The restrictions also "slow the hunt down, and up here, where it’s such a family-oriented thing, it’s nice to have it extend to the full two weeks," he said.

Before the antler rules were put in place in 1993 the hunt sometimes lasted less than a day.

One local hunter was able to get an early start this year, thanks to a special permit from the state Department of Fish and Game. Charlie Spud shot a bull for use in the "Moose Camp," a new traditional knowledge camp sponsored in Klukwan by the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium.

Like Klukwan’s salmon, eulachon and carving camps, the program aims to strengthen Tlingit traditions and healthy subsistence diets and activities, said Lani Hotch, camp coordinator.

Last week, 17 participants helped skin, butcher and can meat from the camp’s moose.

"I’ve learned a lot," Hotch said. "It’s hard to get into that if there’s nobody in your family who’s a hunter. So it’s good to set up a camp where we could learn those skills."

Former butcher and Klukwan resident Valentine Burattin led the class, helping participants through the process.

"It was the first time for most of us in the class, including myself. It was exhausting, but a learning experience," said Hotch.

Hotch said the processed meat was divided among participants and shared with local elders. Some was saved for a fund-raising dinner whose proceeds will go toward a planned cultural center in the village.

Moose camp participants also grilled fresh backstrap steaks the day after the rest of the meat was hung to cure.

"It was really tasty," Hotch said.