A Fortymile caribou hunt closed after just 48 hours as the quota filled fast

The Fortymile caribou hunt in the zones reachable from the Steese Highway, Chena Hot Springs Road and the White Mountains closed Friday night — just two days after it opened. Alaska Fish and Game had expected the roughly 190-bull quota for those zones to fill that fast, because the herd was concentrated near the Steese Highway, and it closed the hunt as a conservation measure to avoid overharvest.

The compressed timing has drawn concern from federal managers and tribal leaders. The Bureau of Land Management separately delayed the federal subsistence opening in the same area to prevent overharvest along the highway, and Tanana Chiefs Conference filed a complaint over the timing. The hunt's short duration, combined with a three-day reporting period for successful hunters, TCC said, has historically created a risk of exceeding harvest limits before managers have enough data to close it in time.

Other Fortymile zones, which opened on their own schedules earlier in August, were not affected. The federal subsistence hunt on eligible federal lands — limited to federally qualified rural residents, with a one-bull limit — is set to run through Sept. 30, though individual zones can be closed earlier if needed.