Fish and Game will bring RC504 caribou permits to three Bristol Bay villages this week

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will hand out resident-only RC504 caribou permits in Levelock and Igiugig on Thursday, Nov. 12. That is five days before its King Salmon office begins issuing them Nov. 17.

Department staff will bring permits to Kokhanok on Monday, Nov. 16. If bad weather stops a scheduled distribution, staff will reschedule it, according to the department's announcement.

The permit is for the Northern Alaska Peninsula caribou hunt. Hunters must be Alaska residents. They must carry a valid Alaska state hunting license along with the permit. The TC505 caribou permit is not valid in this area.

The permit covers any caribou in the part of Game Management Unit 9C within the Alagnak River drainage. It also covers the part of Unit 9B south of the Kvichak River, Iliamna Lake, Kakhonak River, Kakhonak Lake and Moose Lake, and south of the stream feeding Moose Lake up to the subunit boundary.

The season opens Dec. 1. It closes March 15, 2027, in Unit 9C and March 31, 2027, in Unit 9B, according to the department's September announcement. The department can close the hunt sooner by emergency order when hunters reach the harvest quota of 100 caribou.

The bag limit is two caribou. A hunter who wants to take two caribou needs two RC504 permits.

Successful hunters must report a kill within two days. They can report to the King Salmon office or through the department's online hunt reporting portal.

Every permit holder must return a hunt report within 15 days after the season closes, even hunters who took no caribou. Reports can be mailed, filed online, made by phone to the King Salmon office or turned in at any Fish and Game office. The department said the reports give wildlife managers the information they need to understand harvest.