The Peninsula caribou hunt opens Dec. 1 without a quota set

Alaska residents can take two caribou in the Northern Alaska Peninsula winter hunt opening Dec. 1, but nobody knows yet how many the herd will give up.

Fish and Game says it will set the quota after fall composition surveys and announce it before the season starts. Once hunters reach that number, the department can close the hunt by emergency order with little warning.

That is not a hypothetical. The Fortymile hunt closed in two zones after 48 hours this year, when the 190-bull quota filled about as fast as the department expected.

The hunt covers the Alagnak River drainage in Unit 9C and the part of Unit 9B south of the Kvichak River, Iliamna Lake, and the Kakhonak and Moose Lake systems. If it does not close early, it runs through March 15 in 9C and March 31 in 9B.

Permits open Nov. 17 at the King Salmon office, with set days in Igiugig, Kokhanok and Levelock. Hunters need a valid state license, and two caribou means two permits. A TC505 permit does not work here.

Anyone who takes an animal has two days to report it to King Salmon. Everyone else has 15 days after the season closes, successful or not.