For once, us humans instead of wolves are acknowledged for taking out too many Caribou.............The Fortymile Caribou Road section of Alaska is now a no-shoot zone during the Fall season

Fortymile caribou road hunts unlikely to reopen

by Tim Mowry

FAIRBANKS — It doesn't look like the Fortymile caribou hunt will reopen on either the Steese or Taylor highways this fall.


The Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed the hunts a week ago because managers were worried about road hunters killing too many caribou. According to preliminary harvest data, the fall quotas in both areas have been surpassed, though not by much.


As of Thursday, the preliminary harvest numbers for the Steese Highway hunt was 226. The harvest quota for Zone 1 was 225.


Hunters had reported taking 359 caribou in Zone 3 off the Taylor Highway, surpassing the harvest quota of 340.


The reported harvest in Zone 2, which remains open, stood at 86. The harvest quota is 185.


The fall Fortymile caribou hunt is divided into three zones. Zone 1 includes areas accessible off the Steese Highway and Chena Hot Springs Road; Zone 2 is a roadless area between the Steese and Taylor highways; and Zone 3 includes land accessible off the Taylor Highway.


ADF&G closed the hunts off the Steese and Taylor highways last Friday — five days after the season opened — based on the premise that the harvest quotas in both areas would be met by the time they closed. The harvest in Zone 1 was 110 and in Zone 3 it was 201 when managers announced the hunts would close in two days.


The total harvest for the fall hunt stood at 665 on Thursday and the harvest quota is 750. If the total fall quota is not met, any surplus caribou will be added to the quota for the winter hunt, which opens Dec. 1 off the Steese and Taylor highways. The harvest quota for the winter hunt is 250 caribou.