Petersburg mayor Mark Jensen displays his moose outside the Alaska Department of Fish and Game building. (Photo courtesy of ADF&G)
There’s about a week left in the month-long moose hunting season around Petersburg, Wrangell and Kake and the central Southeast harvest is on the rise. At 68 bulls shot this season, it’s still well below last year’s total, when the count was 117 moose killed. Last year was a new record harvest since restrictions for antler requirements were expanded in 2009. The past four years the harvest has topped 100 moose.
Kupreanof Island around Kake and Petersburg continues to be the biggest producer. So far 19 bulls have been taken around Kake. Another 13, including two that did not meet the state’s antler requirements, were recorded by hunters on the rest of Kupreanof. That’s 32 total, or nearly half the total harvest.
Hunters have also killed eight legal bulls and five illegal bulls on the Stikine River. Nine, including one illegal moose, have been killed on Mitkof Island. Kuiu Island has produced seven and Thomas Bay on the mainland near Petersburg has yielded three.
One legal and one illegal have come from Farragut Bay north of Petersburg. There’s also been one shot on Wrangell Island and one on the rest of the mainland in central Southeast. The season is open through October 15th.
