As of Wednesday, only 13 moose had been reported harvested with the hunt scheduled to close the following day, Thursday, Oct. 7.
“It is low,” said Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Carl Koch. “In 2009, it was 15, in 2010 it was 16. That is the last time the legal harvest was only in the teens. It could be a record, but there’s two days left and hunters have three days to report.”
Koch said it’s unclear why so few bulls have been harvested. Hunters have asked him whether it’s due to weather, highway construction, low hunter effort or predation.
“I’ve heard different stories from different hunters. Some are saying they’re seeing fewer legal bulls,” Koch said. “Some said they were seeing bulls but they weren’t moving around a lot.”
Koch said only one of the 35 collared moose died over the winter and that adult female survival has been very good.
“I don’t think the big winter whacked them all out unless the bulls do something way different than the cows,” Koch said. “It wouldn’t make sense for the predators to eat all the legal bulls.”
Koch also said Fish and Game bear researchers saw plenty of bulls in their game cameras during the time of year when antlers were still forming.
“Bottom line, it’s going to be a high priority to get a good survey this year,” Koch said. “We haven’t had a good survey in the last couple years. Getting a good bull to cow ratio will be helpful. It’s been a challenge for sure with the weather in the last few winters.”
Koch said some hunters have requested an extension to the hunt, but Fish and Game decided to not allow an extension given the concern over a low bull population.
Craig Loomis had yet to hunt a moose as of Wednesday afternoon. He said he’s successfully hunted a bull moose every year he’s gone out.
“I’ve been over here in this tree almost every day since it started except for the bad weather,” Loomis said Monday morning. “There’s definitely not as many bulls as there were last year. I haven’t seen a legal bull.”
The weekend saw more heavy rain and wind. Beginning Monday morning, the weather cleared and cooled down. Although he was disappointed and concerned about not seeing legal bulls, he said he’s enjoying his time in the woods.
“If I get lucky, I get lucky,” Loomis said from his tree. “Hunting’s not about killing something every time. It’s sure pretty out here.”