Duck, goose counts lead to regulation changes for hunters

In a recent story in the Juneau Empire staff writer Elizabeth Bluemink writes about how Alaska waterfowl counts are used to conserve the state's and nation's migratory waterfowl. If you've wondered how the job is done, here's a good explanation.

Lynx hunting, trapping seasons / bag limits changed by EO

The Alaska Board of Game has delegated the setting of some seasons and bag limit parameters for lynx hunting and trapping to ADF&G. The point is to better track the abundance cycles of lynx so as to prevent overharvest, or in some years to allow opportunity that could be taken. It's called the lynx tracking harvest strategy. ADF&G put out an emergency order on this back in August, but it's back on the list as some of the seasons have been changed for this winter. If you think you might want to hunt or trap lynx this winter, this EO is probably worth a read.

So .... what's this new blog about, anyway?

As you can guess from the title this blog is about....Alaska hunting. Specifically, it's about Alaska hunting news, and tips. We're going to use this as a new way to publish news, tips and related information about Alaska Hunting. In the past we have published these on Alaska Outdoors Supersite; with this new system we can accomplish the job directly from a browser window. Even better, we can invite others with expertise to join in.

You'll be able to get here from outdoorsdirectory.com, but you'll also be able to access the news and tips from a blog reader. Don't have a blog reader? Try the Google news reader. It's free and easy to use. You can also personalize your Google home page to include posts from this blog.

We're going to use audio from time to time as well. Listen to the audio below for some additional description.

By the way....this user interface -- the look of this blog -- may be changed. We're still figuring out how all the pieces of this work.

Black River Hunting Camps new on OutdoorsDirectory

Black River Hunting Camps has a new hosted website on OutdoorsDirectory.com

Owner and guide Jake Jefferson's specialties are grizzly bear and mountain goat hunting. He also offers hunts for brown bear, Dall sheep and Sitka black-tailed deer. He guides hunts on both Kodiak and in the mountains of southcentral Alaska.

Aerial wolf control benefits wildlife and people

The Fairbanks Daily News Miner reports that the State of Alaska is going ahead with plans for a third year in a row to issue permits for aerial wolf control. The plan is to allow up to 400 wolves to be taken in this way -- 4 to 6% of the state's wolf population.

The point is to increase populations of moose and caribou especially, and despite incessant protest, wolf control works. Alaskans use moose and other ungulates extensively for food; particulary in rural areas, but even urban Alaskans supplement their diets with game meat. Predators take some 80% of the moose and caribou that die in an average year, but humans only 10%, ADF&G reports.

Wolf predation can force moose populations to a very low level from which they can take years to recover. Intelligently applied predator management can break that cycle and provide more moose for hunters and for four-legged predators. I have seen it work in a number of areas over the years, providing abundant wildlife for users.

Not everyone thinks this a good idea, of course. Three Alaskans have filed an initiative petition to halt aerial wolf control.

Ballot initiatives are an idea whose time has gone. In the 30+ years I have watched these in Alaska, it seems to me that one truth emerges: he who spends the most money or who has the sexiest campaign generally wins. And...it is always easiest to be against something.

This is no way to run a republic. We are busy people, and we cannot expect to be expert on all kinds of issues?..and yet when it comes time to vote on these things, we are expected to suddenly have the expertise to make wise decisions? We hire good people to represent us at all levels. When they don?t do well, we vote them out. I am weary of ballot initiatives.

As for the current program, I say "full speed ahead."