A goat season that runs to January is closing after six days

Mountain goat hunt RG252, in the country east of Unakwik Inlet in Prince William Sound, ends at 11:59 pm Sunday. It opened Sept. 15 and would normally run to Jan. 31.

The area holds a minimum count of 274 goats by the most recent aerial survey, and Fish and Game set the ceiling for this season at 11 goat points. Points are weighted: a billy counts one, a nanny two, a goat shot but not recovered one and a half. Hunters have reported three billies and two nannies, which is seven points. More hunters are still out there, and the department says more goats have likely been taken without being reported yet.

Six days is fast even for this unit. In comments to the Board of Game in February, the department wrote that the three most popular Unit 6D goat hunts, this one among them, "usually close within 30 days."

There is a precedent for getting it wrong. After overharvest in the 2014 regulatory year, the department cancelled the RG252 hunt outright the following season.

The closure applies only to RG252. Other Unit 6 goat rules are unchanged, and shooting a nanny with a kid remains prohibited. Questions go to the Cordova office at 907-424-3215.