Alaska closes another zone of the Fortymile caribou hunt

Alaska closed one more zone of its Fortymile caribou hunt Friday night, expecting hunters to have taken the 100 bulls allowed there.

The state season is now closed in Zones 1, 2 and 4, all reachable only by air or by boat up the Goodpaster or Salcha rivers. Zone 3 remains open, with no closing order as of Thursday. The federal subsistence hunt in the same country runs through Sept. 30 and is open only to qualified rural residents.

The zone limits are pieces of a larger cap. The herd's fall quota is 415 bulls and its full-season quota 550, set after a midsummer count put the herd at 27,000 animals.

Fish and Game says these zones open and close on short notice and asks hunters to call its Fortymile hotline before heading out.