18 moose hunted as of Wednesday
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Kyle Clayton
High school English teacher Alex Van Wyhe's senior class listened to Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" audiobook, the book they're currently studying in class, as they butchered an illegally hunted moose Tuesday that was donated to the school for its lunch program. Food service director Lisa Flory said the school goes through about 40 pounds of meat a day and that the moose meat will likely feed students and staff through the remainder of the school year. Pictured from left to right: Brennan Palmieri, Atlin Zahnow, Haley Boron, Van Wyhe and Wesley Verhamme.
As of Wednesday afternoon, seven moose remain to Haines hunters before the Alaska Department of Fish and Games guideline harvest level of 25 moose is reached. Fish and Game wildlife biologist Carl Koch said he may increase the allowable hunt depending on how many sublegal moose are killed.
The pace of this fall's Unit 1D moose hunt started fast, with 17 moose checked in by Saturday, Sept. 19, five days into the hunt.
Scott Bradford shot a moose on day two of the hunt, about 15 minutes after beginning the day.
"I climbed out of the boat and walked through the brush and there was a moose and he was the right configuration," Bradford said. "It's always fun, then the work begins."
Bradford said the moose should feed his family for about a year.
Hunters George and Lynette Campbell have yet to hunt. George Campbell is working out of town, but Lynette said he's eager to get home.
"He's going a little stir crazy because everyone's been successful so early," Lynette Campbell said. "We normally go out at the end of the month."
Koch said the rate of success is likely due to a healthy population and that the hunt was on par with the 2015 season, when it was closed after only eight days.
"I think the population is decent, but we want to keep an eye on it to have a stable population of bulls for next year," Koch said. "The guideline harvest level is twenty to twenty-five and we'll let it go to at least twenty-five. I'll judge it when it hits close to that number and decide from there."
His decision will be made in part by the number of sublegal moose that have been hunted. Hunters have reported two sublegal moose so far. One was donated to the school for its lunch program. High School seniors spent time this week butchering the moose.
Koch said it's common for the hunt to slow down, as many hunters take off work the first week to search for moose.
"I expect the weekend to pick up," Koch said.
Koch said last week he was concerned about bear encounters during the hunt given the amount of bear activity in town, but so far only one hunter reported bears approaching their moose carcass.
The hunt closes Oct. 7 unless the Department of Fish and Game closes it early.