Goat hunt north of Port Valdez closes Wednesday night after harvest tops the limit

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will close a mountain goat hunt north of Port Valdez at 11:59 pm Wednesday, after the reported harvest went past the hunt's limit.

Hunters in registration hunt RG248 have reported three billies and three nannies. The department counts each billy, or male, as one goat point and each nanny, or female, as two, so the reported harvest comes to 9 points against a cap of 8. Hunters are still in the field, and more goats may have been taken and not yet reported, the department said in its announcement.

"Harvest that exceeds objectives could lead to reduced future hunting opportunity," it said.

The department has closed three other goat hunts early in the same part of Prince William Sound this fall, and each was at or under its limit when it closed. RG252 east of Unakwik Inlet closed Sept. 20 at 7 of 11 points, RG249 north of Valdez Arm closed Sept. 22 at 5 of 7, and RG245 south of Port Valdez closed Oct. 1 at 6 of 6, Alaska News reported.

The most recent aerial survey of the RG248 area counted at least 207 goats, and the department set the same 8-point cap it used last year. An unrecovered goat counts as 1.5 points.

The season was set to run through Oct. 31, so the closure ends it 10 days early. It covers the hunt area north of Port Valdez, Robe Lake and the Richardson Highway and east of Shoup Glacier, including the mainland drainages of Sheep Creek. Other goat hunting in Unit 6 isn't affected.

The hunt allows one goat per permit, with up to 50 permits. Taking a nanny with a kid is prohibited, and the department encourages taking males "for conservation reasons." A hunter who takes a nanny can't hunt goats in Unit 6 for five regulatory years.