Moose hunting closed for 22C and 22D

Hunters in Game Unit 22C made quick business of moose hunting and had harvested a record number of 40 moose in just two days.
Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game’s Nome office reported that GMU 22C closed the registration resident and nonresident moose RM840 permit hunt on Sept. 2, Monday, Labor Day at 11:59 p.m. as the quota had been reached. The quote for 22C was 25 bulls.
ADF&G Area Biologist Sara Henslee reported on Tuesday, that ADF&G closed Unit 22D Remainder on August 29 with a reported harvest of 18 bulls.
Henslee said that the department would close hunting on Tuesday, Sept. 3 in Unit 22D Kuzitrin Drainage and Southwest in anticipation that the quota of 27 bulls would be filled. As of Tuesday afternoon, hunters reported a harvest of 26 bulls.
Unit 22B, west of the Darby Mountains opened also on Sept. 1  but is still open to moose hunting, as of press time on Tuesday, with nine out of possible 26 moose harvested.
In regard to Unit 22C, Henslee said in an email to the Nugget that conditions were excellent the first day of the hunt and combined with the first days of the hunt happening over Labor Day weekend meant many hunters were able to go out and harvest moose.
“The current harvest of 40 bulls in Unit 22C is the highest harvest we have seen since 2009 when the season still ran for 14 days,” she said. “Hunters’ ability to harvest this many moose in two days may be due to excellent conditions this year or perhaps is a positive indication that bulls are doing well in Unit 22C.”
She explained that the average harvest in Unit 22C over the last 10 years was 21 bulls. ADF&G plans to survey moose in Unit 22C in fall 2025 to get new composition estimates for the bull to cow ratios.
According to a press release announcing the closure, surveys show that the moose population had increased at a rate of five percent between 2016 and 2022 in units 22C and 22B. The bull to cow ratio, according to composition surveys in 22C for 2018 and 2021 showed there was an estimated 31 bulls to 100 cows, a ratio above the management objective of 20 bulls to 100 cows.
A closure shortly after the opening of the moose season is not out of the ordinary as hunters historically have been quick to fill the quota. Henslee said that moose hunting in Unit 22C has lasted just two days since Regulatory Year 2013 due to a combination of declines in both the bull to cow ratios and abundance estimate. “ADF&G works closely with representatives of Nome that serve on the ADF&G Advisory Committee to come up with possible alternatives to provide for a longer season in Unit 22C,” she said. “Some options suggested include antler restrictions and allocating a certain number of bulls for a limited “first-come, first-served” permit, very similar to the permits issued for antlerless moose hunts that occurred in the late 2000s and early 2010s. These hunt structure changes come with their own pros and cons, and it is up to the Advisory Committee and members of the public to decide what alternative, if any, is preferred to the current two-day season.”