The Alaska Board of Game will meet in Juneau starting Friday to consider proposed changes to Department of Fish and Game regulations for the Southeast region.
The Wrangell Fish and Game Advisory Committee has a few proposals that the Board of Game will decide on in the next week.
Advisory Committee Chairperson Chris Guggenbickler said the proposals concerning moose antlers have the most potential to affect Wrangell hunters.
“The horn restriction that we’re hunting under makes it very difficult for every hunter to be 100 percent sure of the animal they’re shooting,” Guggenbickler said. “You’re just never 100 percent sure until you walk up to it and know. So I think there are some restrictions that are on the hunters that is beyond what can be expected of the average person to be able to see from a reasonable distance.”
One proposal would redefine “broken antler” for management Units 1 and 3. It would make a broken antler that is visibly grown around, or grown over, legal.
Another proposal aims to define “points” for forked moose antlers for the RM038 registration hunt in Unit 1C. Small points originating from the antler base that are shorter than the ear would not be counted in making a forked antler moose illegal.
The Wrangell committee also proposed opening a fall brown bear hunt in Unit 3. The fall hunt would start Sept. 15 and end Dec. 31. The fall hunt would be in addition to the current spring hunt, which starts March 15 and ends May 31.
