Four Kodiak Island goat registration hunts open Nov. 1 to Alaska residents

Alaska residents can hunt mountain goats in four Kodiak Island registration hunts beginning Sunday, Nov. 1, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Tuesday. Permits are available now for Hidden Basin, Uganik River, Kiliuda Bay and the bow-and-arrow-only South Road System hunt. The Hidden Basin and Uganik River hunts run through Jan. 31; Kiliuda Bay stays open through March 31, 2027; and South Road System closes Dec. 15.

The department created Kodiak's goat registration hunts in 2003 to give Alaska residents more chances to hunt.

Hunters must pick up permits in person: at the tribal office in Port Lions for Hidden Basin or Uganik River, and at the tribal office in Old Harbor for Kiliuda Bay. South Road System permits are available online through the department or at the department's Kodiak office, and only certified bow and arrow hunters may get one.

A fifth hunt, the Southwest Kodiak registration hunt, has been open since Aug. 20 and runs until March 31 unless the department closes it early by emergency order. Both residents and nonresidents may take two goats, only one of them male.

Four other Kodiak registration hunts will not open this season. Conditions during the drawing permit hunts in those areas were ideal and hunters had high success, so the harvest objective was already met, the department said. Wild Creek-Center Mountain (RG471), Crown Mountain (RG472), RG479 and North Road System (RG489) stay closed for 2026-27.

The department manages registration goat hunts with harvest quotas, and a hunt can close early once harvest reaches its target. Earlier this month, the state closed Unit 14A Chugach goat registration hunts weeks before their scheduled end. The department encourages hunters to check a hunt's status with its Kodiak office before heading out.

The Kiliuda Bay hunt protects nannies with kids, and the state requires every mountain goat hunter to pass a goat identification quiz before hunting.