Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
September 2024
Hunting in Alaska
Videos and Other Online Resources
Hunting seasons are upon us in Alaska. Fish and Game offers a wealth of resources to help hunters with everything from hunt planning to meat care. A number of hunts for a variety of big game animals in Alaska have special requirements – viewing a video, or brushing up your skills telling a male animal from a female and then passing a quiz. In some cases, such as mountain goats and brown bears, these are measures are motivated by conservation concerns and to maximize hunting opportunities.
Take a Closer Look
An excellent video produced by the Yukon Government to educate hunters and guides on how to judge trophy bears. The first 12-minutes of this video offer an excellent tutorial in judging the gender and age of brown bears. Wildlife viewers can definitely benefit from this, as well as hunters. Take a Closer Look
Time: 12 min training video followed by 3 quizzes. Total time of 1 hour 9 min.
Is this Moose Legal?
It’s not always easy to determine legal and illegal moose antler configurations. In Alaska, there are area specific rules on what determines a legal bull moose. This video aims to educate hunters on how antlers grow, what parts make up a moose antler and how to judge legal antlers in the field. “Is This Moose Legal?”
This Vimeo showcase include all the 20 short segments of the moose legal video, so they can be viewed individually
Sitka Black-tailed Deer Hunting & Natural History in Southeast Alaska
Sitka black-tailed deer are the most popular species to hunt in Southeast Alaska. This Winter Wildlife Series presentation covers how deer think, where they go and when, and what foods they prefer. It also covers what hunters should consider when they go into the field. Sitka Black-tailed Deer Hunting
Wildlife Safety for Hunters
Wildlife Education Specialist Abby McAllister and Wildlife Biologist Roy Churchwell address how to stay safe while hunting in Alaska, specifically the variable habitats of Southeast Alaska. This hour-long presentation covers how to react in the event of a defensive or non-defensive bear encounter, how to safely pack meat out of the field and tips for setting up a temporary electric fence. Wildlife Safety for Hunters
Field dressing and care of game meat
Field Care of Big Game Meat
This video will show you a step-by-step method to field dress a moose, no matter how or where the animal has fallen. Produced by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Field Care of Big Game instructional video. About 53 minutes long. Field Care of Big Game Meat
In addition, The Alaska Cooperative Extension Service produced this video detailing the tools and steps for butchering an animal like a deer or caribou. The animal is already field dressed (gutted and skinned), this walks you through the processing steps. Butchering Game Meat
This Fish and game hunting website also offers pocket field guides, brochures and pamphlets with great information on meat and meat care.
More on game meat and meat care
Field Dressing Big Game — How to field dress a big game animal using the gutless method (PDF 984 kB)
Eating game meat – including calories, fat, and protein content of a variety of game meat
Big Game Identification and Quizzes
Moose Hunter Orientation and Quiz
Moose hunters in Game Management Units 7 and 15 must complete this moose antler configuration orientation.
After completing the orientation you will be emailed a certificate of completion. Please print the certificate, and carry it with you while hunting. Although this orientation is not currently required statewide, all moose hunters are encouraged to complete the orientation. There are many antler restricted moose hunts across Alaska and every hunter is responsible for knowing the regulations for their hunt area and taking only legal game. Hunters who harvest illegal game are subject to criminal penalties. This orientation was created to help hunters identify legal moose and reduce violations. Hunter Orientation and Quiz
Prior to taking this orientation, you should review Identifying a Legal Moose (PDF 560 kB) and the web page More on Moose & Moose Hunting.
Mountain Goat Orientation and Quiz
This quiz will help you avoid accidentally harvesting female mountain goats. Hunters must pass this quiz to harvest a mountain goat in Region 1. Harvesting females can have significant negative effects on mountain goat population productivity, and can result in early closures and more restrictive regulations in future years. A little practice can go a long way toward ensuring a satisfying hunting experience. Mountain Goat Orientation and Quiz
Caribou Orientation and Quiz
Caribou Identification – lessons and quiz
Bison Hunter Orientation and Quiz
Prior to taking this quiz you should read the information found on the Bison Hunting web page. Hunter Orientation and quiz
Muskox Hunter Orientation and Quiz
Muskox Hunter Orientation and quiz
This quiz is required for Unit 22C muskox hunters with TX095 (Inner Nome Area) or TX096 (Outer Nome Area) hunters wishing to hunt muskox in the Inner Nome area.
Muskox hunting within the TX095 Inner Nome Area presents several unique challenges to hunters. The information in this quiz is intended to aid in the identification of muskox by sex and age, explain some physical and behavioral characteristics of muskoxen that make hunting them different from other big game species, and provide guidance and recommendations for hunters participating in muskox hunting within the Inner Nome Area.
We recommend you review the Muskoxen: A Guide to Identification, Hunting, and Viewing booklet prior to taking this quiz. You can find the link here: Muskox Guide
More resources
More on hunting, including hunt planning, regulations, transporting firearms, hunting opportunities, looking up statistics and hunting harvest data, cleaning a skull, tanning a hide and other resources
Hunting Alaska’s eleven game species, by species, plus waterfowl and small game
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