Wrangell-St. Elias keeps winter subsistence moose quota at five bulls

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve will again cap its winter subsistence moose hunt at five bulls, the third straight season at that level, according to a federal bulletin issued Nov. 6.

The hunt opens Nov. 20 and runs through Jan. 20 in the country south and east of the Chitina and Nizina rivers, part of game management Unit 11. Each hunter may take one bull, and the season closes early if hunters reach five.

The park cut the quota from seven bulls in 2024, after a fall 2023 survey of a nearby part of Unit 11 found adult moose down about 40% since 2013 and the number of bulls for every cow down about 30%, according to the park's 2024 announcement. This year's bulletin gives no reason for keeping the number at five.

Hunters haven't come close to the cap. Eight moose were taken in this hunt from 2016 through 2025, never more than two in a season, according to park harvest records. The park issued between seven and 21 permits a year over that time, but no more than eight people have gone hunting in any of those seasons.

The Federal Subsistence Board created the winter season in 2014 and extended it to Jan. 20 in 2018, partly so hunters could cross rivers more safely. A federal analysis says moose south of the Chitina stay high and mostly out of reach in the fall, and that winter makes them "more accessible by snowmachine" and lets hunters store meat without freezers.

The hunt is open only to rural residents of Unit 11, most of neighboring Unit 13, and Chickaloon. Hunting inside the national park is further limited to people from nearby communities such as Chitina, McCarthy, Copper Center, Glennallen, Kenny Lake and Slana, according to the park's 2025 announcement. Hunters can take only one moose a year in Unit 11, so anyone who took one there this fall can't hunt this winter.

An aerial moose survey may be flown over part of the hunt area before Dec. 10 if there's enough snow, the bulletin says.