40 Mile Caribou opener delayed Steese area.

[VernAK]

The August 11th opening of the 40 Mile Caribou Hunt has been delayed for Zones 1 & 4 [Steese/White Mtns]. Opening date will be determined at another time.

 

[FAAFO]

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/applications/publicnotification/2024/releases/R3-AA-24-3207.pdf

 

[YellCoAR]

Not sure if this is good or bad news. Glad I did not have hunt planed for the opening date. I am sure several hunters do. Zone 3 is a complete change in type of hunt. Very little atv trails. There are a couple pack in and float options, but those options would require the right gear and a lot of effort. Zone 2 would require a flight.
40 mile hunt has turned into a resident hunt i would think. Just to risky to plan a hunt with a short window to hunt.

 

[VernAK]

I would expect micromanaging of many hunts in the future....especially caribou. ADFG's ability to ascertain the herd health comes about in June/July for a season that opens in early August. Larry Bartlett recently started a thread about the loss of a group of Delta Bison in a lake. Hunters applied for that hunt in November and were drawn in February for bison that died in April/May. It's damned difficult to tell a 40-time applicant that his opportunity for that bison has gone away....here's your $10 refund.

Zone 3 has many trails. Some of great length.

I would prefer to see many of these caribou hunts in marginal herds be delayed until September and many more be walk-in only.

 

[FAAFO]

I would prefer to see many of these caribou hunts in marginal herds be delayed until September and many more be walk-in only.

I agree, and would go as far as youth only and maybe elder too.

 

[207-12A]

Vern, is it a time to go to a draw for Fortymile? Your primary problem is a lack of predictability which I agree with - wouldn’t a draw for a few years fix this? They could keep Zone 2 and 3 as a registration, and go to a 2 times 2 week draw for 1 and 4. Anybody can essentially hunt OTC by fly in or risking the Taylor chances, otherwise enjoy a very different Steese environment without the crowding. I would keep a registration winter hunt to satisfy meat seeking residents, and ADF&G already exerts a lot of control over that hunt anyways.

 

[william schmaltz]

The next BOG cycle for GMU20 is 2026/2027. I suppose they could take it up under the statewide provisions portion in an earlier meeting at the board’s discretion. Even then, the proposal submittal period has passed for next spring’s meetings. So maybe it could be taken up spring 2026 for the 2027 hunting season. Will things with herd/habitat work themselves out by then? I sure don’t have the slightest clue.

I wish AK had a substantial larger portion of nonmotorized control areas adjacent to roadways. All these road access areas that do not limit motorized access seem to all have one big thing in common. But that’s another topic. People calling for a draw only hunt should reflect and consider if that’s what they really want. Lots of people like me whose hate for crowds and ATVs (who also can’t get in with our preferred flight service) has kept us away, but I’d absolutely put in my whole family if it were draw. It’s likely a draw could see 30k applicants for a few hundred tags.

 

[carsonkeys]

I would expect micromanaging of many hunts in the future....especially caribou. ADFG's ability to ascertain the herd health comes about in June/July for a season that opens in early August.

I, maybe incorrectly, assumed the delay was due to the herd’s proximity to the Steese. However, a buddy was just up there and said the caribou were “nowhere to be seen”.

Your comment about herd health makes me think something else is at play. Would you mind elaborating?

 

[VernAK]

The next BOG cycle for GMU20 is 2026/2027. I suppose they could take it up under the statewide provisions portion in an earlier meeting at the board’s discretion. Even then, the proposal submittal period has passed for next spring’s meetings. So maybe it could be taken up spring 2026 for the 2027 hunting season. Will things with herd/habitat work themselves out by then? I sure don’t have the slightest clue.

I wish AK had a substantial larger portion of nonmotorized control areas adjacent to roadways. All these road access areas that do not limit motorized access seem to all have one big thing in common. But that’s another topic. People calling for a draw only hunt should reflect and consider if that’s what they really want. Lots of people like me whose hate for crowds and ATVs (who also can’t get in with our preferred flight service) has kept us away, but I’d absolutely put in my whole family if it were draw. It’s likely a draw could see 30k applicants for a few hundred tags.

Although I'm in my 80s, I have to agree with Mr. Schmaltz. I still crave the wilderness experience and it's difficult to find.

 

[VernAK]

I, maybe incorrectly, assumed the delay was due to the herd’s proximity to the Steese. However, a buddy was just up there and said the caribou were “nowhere to be seen”.

Your comment about herd health makes me think something else is at play. Would you mind elaborating?

The GPS collars indicate that most of the herd is in Zones 1&4 thus the delay.

I think we all understand that caribou are strange critters. Much of what they do and where they go is difficult to understand. The recent data collected this spring, and summer indicates a very nice increase in the weight of last year's calves so the winter appears to have been favorable but there was a loss of mature cows and that is troubling. A few years ago, the herd would remain in the post calving area until the range was depleted down to dirt while they had huge feeding areas they could have moved onto.

This fall there will be a meeting of the 40 Mile Caribou Coalition. The Coalition consists of community members and agency biologists from areas around the traditional range. This includes Federal, Alaska, Yukon Territory, local ACs, and local Native groups. In past meetings, agreement was not always reached. I have my fingers crossed that we will have a better result this year.

 

[BowMan86]

I just got back from the youth hunt up there and interestingly there were very few caribou. We were fortunate enough that my daughter took one opening morning, but we talked to several youth and subsistence hunters who hadn’t seen a single caribou. Granted that was just the first day, but we glasses Eagle summit the day before and saw nothing. We went back about 20 miles on ATV and glassed over a very large area opening morning and only saw 4 cows and a group of three bulls which she shot the biggest. We continued to glass while cutting up he caribou and looked for more on the way out but never saw another one. On the way out we talked to several others who hadn’t seen anything and one that said he heard from one of the BLM guys that they were already heading southeast. Who knows, maybe they will reverse their decision if the caribou have in fact moved on or maybe we were just in the wrong place.

 

[Whip]

Are those zones the normal summer grounds for the herd and they have just not started moving yet? We are flying out with 40 Mile on the 18th and curious about the "normal" movement patterns. Yeah, I know - nothing normal about caribou LOL.
It will be what it will be, and hoping for a good trip. Plenty of time for things to change one way or another on our hunt. I do feel for the guys that had a zone 1 & 4 hunt lamed for the opener though.

 

[VernAK]

The herd was on the YT border in late June as is customary the past few years. In July they moved to the Steese area and have now started migrating back into Zone 2.

Whip,
40 Mile Air flies enough to know where the herd is trending and will try to put you in a good area. I've hunted several locations in Zone 2 and even though I wasn't always overrun by herds, there was always ample opportunity for small groups and singles wondering through. The huge herd migrations may only contain 75% of the herd while the others are scattered but wandering about. Two years ago, I was in my favorite location and i knew the main migration wasn't in my area, but I've always seen a few nice ones move through the pass. After two days, I selected a nice bull and took him from my lawn chair.........two days later the herd had reversed, and I had 1300 wander past my lawn chair. Even though I had another tag, I chose to watch them go by and stare at me. It's all about the wilderness experience for me. Good luck on your hunt.

 

[Whip]

Thanks Vern, we're really looking forward to it! We'd be very happy with stragglers and small groups to keep us busy. Anything more would be a bonus, but the best part will just being in that country.

 

[Meanderthal]

Now ADF&G has decided that zones 1 and 4 will open on the 11th as originally scheduled.

Reference Emergency Order R3-8-24.

 

[carter33]

Vern, is it a time to go to a draw for Fortymile? Your primary problem is a lack of predictability which I agree with - wouldn’t a draw for a few years fix this? They could keep Zone 2 and 3 as a registration, and go to a 2 times 2 week draw for 1 and 4. Anybody can essentially hunt OTC by fly in or risking the Taylor chances, otherwise enjoy a very different Steese environment without the crowding. I would keep a registration winter hunt to satisfy meat seeking residents, and ADF&G already exerts a lot of control over that hunt anyways.

I like the idea for two separate hunting time blocks that are part of a draw system with a quota still enforced. Each time block could take half that years quota for the zone, then they could still allow for more tags to be drawn while also protecting the target number of animals being taken. This would also allow for a much better experience for those that do draw.

The fall hunt up the Steese really is a nightmare, I had stopped going and was just hunting the winter hunt. Now with the uncertainty surrounding whether the winter hunt will open, I am considering going up and making the best of it. I do have a sxs but the trails are always swamped with people, many being idiots. I will probably take it back a ways and then hike a few more miles to hopefully have an ok experience and potentially replenish my freezer.

 

[AKnatv907]

I would expect micromanaging of many hunts in the future....especially caribou. ADFG's ability to ascertain the herd health comes about in June/July for a season that opens in early August. Larry Bartlett recently started a thread about the loss of a group of Delta Bison in a lake. Hunters applied for that hunt in November and were drawn in February for bison that died in April/May. It's damned difficult to tell a 40-time applicant that his opportunity for that bison has gone away....here's your $10 refund.

Zone 3 has many trails. Some of great length.

I would prefer to see many of these caribou hunts in marginal herds be delayed until September and many more be walk-in only.

I think walk-in would be awesome. The last time I tried the Steese it was very dissapointing to see the distruction from ATV and SXS's. My brother-in law and I walked in a few miles and carried out a little bull.

 

[bairdi]

Vern, Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t one of the challenges to implementing a drawing hunt or other restrictions to the 40-mile caribou hunt that ADF&G is somewhat hamstrung by having to provide adequate subsistence harvest opportunities as well?

 

[VernAK]

Vern, Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t one of the challenges to implementing a drawing hunt or other restrictions to the 40-mile caribou hunt that ADF&G is somewhat hamstrung by having to provide adequate subsistence harvest opportunities as well?

Yes, but I don't remember the exact terms. There has to be a reasonable effort to provide for local subsistence. I remember having to get a legal opinion for any changes to the McComb Herd from Registration Hunt to Drawing Hunt. We couldn't make it work. I'm sure we'll kick that issue around in our next meeting on the 40MH.