The Alaska Board of Game, which sets hunting limits and regulations, will convene for a five-day meeting in Wrangell in January to consider a long list of proposals for changes to the rules for Southeast Alaska.
Among the 69 proposals that will go before the board are several dealing with elk and moose hunting in the Wrangell area.
The seven-member board moves around its meetings to communities across Alaska — it last met in Wrangell in 2006.
The Southeast regulations meeting is set for Jan. 23-27 at the Nolan Center.
The board will consider several proposed regulation changes for elk hunting in Unit 3, which includes the islands around Wrangell, Petersburg and Kake, with two of the proposed rule changes focused solely on the Zarembo Island elk herd.
The state transplanted elk to Etolin Island from Oregon in 1987 and has permitted hunting for elk on Etolin since 1997. But the population grew and the animals moved into a new home on Zarembo Island, threatening the deer population, according to a proposal from the Wrangell Fish and Game Advisory Committee.
“They eat everything down to the point that they don’t leave anything for the deer,” said Chris Guggenbickler, committee chairman.
“They’re starting to decimate the habitat on the beach. … There are a lot of deer hunters who have lost (hunting) areas to elk.”
No one knows how many elk are on Zarembo, he said. But it’s enough to worry Wrangell hunters, Guggenbickler said, especially when a harsh winter can put added stress on the deer and their food sources.
“Those deer are too important to the community of Wrangell as a food source.”
Last year was the first elk hunt on the island. Regulations limit the take on Zarembo to just one elk per year, in a drawing hunt.
“Wrangell and Petersburg residents do a major portion of their deer hunting (on Zarembo) in the fall. The advisory committee believes a common-sense approach needs to be taken to allow for hunting opportunity and habitat protection on Zarembo Island,” the Wrangell committee said in its proposal.
“A limited cow hunt may be necessary in the future to further keep the herd in check,” the committee proposal said. “Elk have been on Zarembo Island for over 40 years with little to no hunting opportunity. The question needs to be asked, why?”
Wrangell hunter David Powell also has submitted a proposal to open Zarembo Island to elk hunting. He proposes a registration hunt of one elk per person, open Aug. 1 to Nov. 30.
The elk population is not being managed and has led to a dwindling deer population, Powell said in his proposal. “If we have a bad winter, the elk will survive on the beach and eat all the foliage and the deer will die, which could be devastating for the harvest of our deer.”
The Wrangell committee also proposed a change in moose hunting regulations to “eliminate the regulation that excludes broken, damaged or altered antlers from the definition of spike-fork antlers” for legal kills.
The committee said it is an “overburdening regulation, leading to inconsistency and villainizing of hunters.”
“There will be a lot of discussion about moose horns,” Guggenbickler said, adding that seven moose kills were contested last year over antler restrictions.
Powell has submitted a separate proposal to remove the antler restriction for the moose hunt in Units 1B (the mainland) and Unit 3 (the islands) and replace with a shorter, any-bull hunt Oct. 1-15.
“The current horn restriction has unfortunately created animosity between hunters and the Alaska wildlife troopers,” Powell wrote. “Our Southeast moose have a lot of broken and non-typical horn configurations. … The later time would allow for breeding of cows prior to hunt.”
The agenda items also include a proposal from the Wrangell Fish and Game Advisory Committee to establish an open season to hunt cougars (also known as mountain lions) in Southeast, limited to one cougar for the region. There is currently no open hunting season for cougar.
“Cougars seem to be migrating into Southeast Alaska. Cougars are an ambush predator,” the Wrangell committee said in explaining its proposal. “This style of predation is unknown to prey species in Southeast Alaska. This will be extremely detrimental to prey species populations.”
State game officials believe the mountain lions seen in Southeast likely migrated from British Columbia, sometimes swimming over from the mainland.
A Washington state hunter was charged earlier this year with illegally taking a mountain lion on the south end of Wrangell Island.
The 15-member Wrangell advisory committee will meet sometime in November or December to discuss and take official positions on the proposals going to the Board of Game.
Public comments on the proposals are due to the state by Jan. 9 and can be submitted online at http://bit.ly/3ILd6Ri.