The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will require mountain goat hunters in the Upper Lynn Canal to take a 25-question quiz in an effort to cut down on the harvest of female goats.
Big game guide Al Gilliam recently brought the issue before the Upper Lynn Canal Fish and Game Advisory Committee. He was alarmed by how the goat hunt has essentially turned into a derby, especially in the easy-access subunits along the Haines Highway.
“(A person) may only have one or two days during the season when they can get off work, and then they charge up the mountain and in some instances shoot the first goat they see, not caring if it’s a nanny (female goat) or a billy (male goat),” Gilliam said.
Taking nannies, while not illegal, impacts the ability of the species to reproduce, and shortens the hunting season, as they are worth twice as many “points” in the management system used by Fish and Game.
Fish and Game area wildlife biologist Carl Koch said the quiz will require a minimum score of 80 percent, or 20 out of 25 questions. The quiz includes photos with questions about sex identification and whether the hunter should take the shot.
“We did this based on comments and discussion from advisory committee members and local citizens and data that shows that some subunits have either higher than average harvest of females or goat numbers have declined,” Koch said.
“This is just a way to try to increase selecting males and hopefully increase the opportunity for all the hunters,” he added.
Hunters will be able to retake the test an unlimited number of times until they pass. “I don’t expect anyone to be excluded from hunting, unless they refuse to study the material and retake the quiz,” he said.
Koch said there isn’t a biological emergency in the Upper Lynn Canal management unit (1D), but Fish and Game does have several subunits “on its radar,” including a spot in the Takshanuk Mountain Range near town. The agency recently decreased the number of harvest points allowed in that area.
“That’s hopefully how we avoid a biological emergency,” Koch said.
Big game guide Gilliam said he was encouraged by Fish and Game implementing the mandatory quiz. “It’s a heck of a good start.”
Gilliam characterized the move as a “stop gap measure” to see if it makes a difference in how many nannies are being taken.
“I’m not speaking for the biologists or the Fish and Game Advisory Committee, but it seems like if they try this education for a couple of years and it works, so much the better. And if it doesn’t, perhaps down the line more restrictive measures may need to be taken,” Gilliam said.
In management areas around Cordova and Kenai, hunters who take a nanny aren’t fined or prosecuted, but are restricted from the hunt for the next five years.
Koch said Fish and Game will hold a meeting before the hunt to educate hunters, similar to the meeting it holds before the moose hunt.
Most goat hunt areas around Haines open Sept. 15.