Alaska closes spring bear

[alvardoeddie]

I really hope this does not turn into a trend!

 

[akhunter87]

BOG scheduled a meeting -- so they could meet again -- about moving the spring 2020 bear seasons, so maybe we will have an answer in a month or so....who knows

 

[Sourdough]

This stinks. I hope that this mess clears up before the fall.

Will be lucky if it is stabilized or semi-managed in 18 to 24 months. And that is just the pandemic problem.

The catastrophic world depression triggered by the pandemic and caused by its bewilderingly ungraspable mismanagement will last for decades, and life will never ever return to any semblance of Pre'C-19.

Savor and enjoy the current mild inconvenience, what is unavoidably coming will make current conditions seem as pure bliss in paradise.

 

[NC Hunter]

Sourdough, I have pondered if we will be talking about the post-covid world like we talk about post-911.

 

[Bighorse]

Back to bear hunting.....I won a Kodiak tag for spring 2021. I would prefer a deferred season to having an increase in seasonal pressure. If I'm being greedy then I'd say put the 2020 winners to 2022 and don't hold another drawing. That potentially puts me in a great position for a super hunt in Spring of 2021 with a one year pause in harvest.

 

[akhunter87]

Back to bear hunting.....I won a Kodiak tag for spring 2021. I would prefer a deferred season to having an increase in seasonal pressure. If I'm being greedy then I'd say put the 2020 winners to 2022 and don't hold another drawing. That potentially puts me in a great position for a super hunt in Spring of 2021 with a one year pause in harvest.

I'd still bet they are gonna push everyone back a year. I'm in the same boat as you, drew for spring of 21. I'd be fine with next spring but I'm planning on 22. I think twice as many in field next year is a bad idea if they were to combine them.

 

[Bighorse]

I considered another option....extending the season and allotting time slots like they do for Delta Bison for 2021.
Another option would be allowing Spring 20 winners an option of fall 20 tags...

 

[akhunter87]

I considered another option....extending the season and allotting time slots like they do for Delta Bison for 2021.
Another option would be allowing Spring 20 winners an option of fall 20 tags...

The extension of season is an interesting idea along with allotting of time slots...I think the main issue with allowing Spring 20 to go to Fall 20 is the same problem as before, twice as many hunters in the field during this time period.

 

[Sourdough]

In reading this thread.........there is a strong assumption that this pandemic will fad away in a few weeks, or few months at the most. Strange there is not an equal assumption and planning for this pandemic to continue for years.

If there is no spring or fall Kodiak hunting or sport fishing, how many air taxis can hold out for a year with little or no income. What is the plan if 2021 spring or fall there are no air taxi still in business. Or ferry service or airline service to Kodiak. How many taxidermy business will still be in business.....???

This pandemic is going to cause substantial change in life as we have know things to function. Some small changes, some shockingly large changes. But there will be changes.

 

[Scott/IL]

I drew POW for ‘21. At this point, I’ll understand fully if I get pushed back to ‘22.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bighorse]

Sourdough......All due respect sir. It sounds like your experiencing some anxiety at this time.
I will continue to hunt. Alaskans will still continue to thrive and make way under changing conditions.
It's capitalism still. Folks with means will take advantage and emerge sound. Other will leave our great state and enjoy social benefits of the lower 48. Some will perish, and I don't type that without remorse.
And.....Bears will emerge from hibernation. I just want to know what my legal options are for participating in a historically well managed bear hunt on Kodiak. If that falls apart then I'll load my skiff within cruising distance and go skin a SE bear and the tides will continue to shift! Stay safe and healthy my hunting friends.

 

[NUGGET]

Sourdough......All due respect sir. It sounds like your experiencing some anxiety at this time.
I will continue to hunt. Alaskans will still continue to thrive and make way under changing conditions.
It's capitalism still. Folks with means will take advantage and emerge sound. Other will leave our great state and enjoy social benefits of the lower 48. Some will perish, and I don't type that without remorse.
And.....Bears will emerge from hibernation. I just want to know what my legal options are for participating in a historically well managed bear hunt on Kodiak. If that falls apart then I'll load my skiff within cruising distance and go skin a SE bear and the tides will continue to shift! Stay safe and healthy my hunting friends.

Well said! I’m a glass half full kind of guy. The freezers are full, the family is healthy and spring is but a couple weeks away. This will all pass by fall and business as usual. Stay safe out there!

 

[Sourdough]

Sourdough......All due respect sir. It sounds like your experiencing some anxiety at this time.

Yes......."Some Anxiety".........it comes from vast experience with events that I should have dialed in greater anxiety, earlier in those events as they unfolded.

It is quite common for those in their mid 70's with more then five decades of Alaska economic experience, especially in the hunting/guiding and commercial piloting business.

 

[Bighorse]

Roger that sir! We're loosing some fundamental operations in Ketchikan. It's not all due to Covid necessarily. The flight industry in general took a few licks with bad plane accidents. The cruise season is a bust for this coastal town too. My respect again.....This has some serious, far reaching effects for sure.

 

[akhunter87]

Sourdough......All due respect sir. It sounds like your experiencing some anxiety at this time.
I will continue to hunt. Alaskans will still continue to thrive and make way under changing conditions.
It's capitalism still. Folks with means will take advantage and emerge sound. Other will leave our great state and enjoy social benefits of the lower 48. Some will perish, and I don't type that without remorse.
And.....Bears will emerge from hibernation. I just want to know what my legal options are for participating in a historically well managed bear hunt on Kodiak. If that falls apart then I'll load my skiff within cruising distance and go skin a SE bear and the tides will continue to shift! Stay safe and healthy my hunting friends.

I think that this is very close to the truth. Of course there will be differences when this is all over. I personally expect a decent outflow of people leaving Alaska due to hunting/fishing/tourism and oil jobs being lost, in addition to what is likely to be a lower/nonexistent PFD and/or higher taxes.

However...bighorse is completely right when he says that folks with means will take advantage and many Alaskans will continue to thrive. Maybe it will be harder to get to our favored spots for a while, or we may have to pay more than we did in the past. Life will go on...bears will still be hunted...some businesses will go under and others will take their place if the demand remains.

Life isn't easy and we aren't guaranteed anything. We will, however, make it through this all.

 

[HHairball]

Hi Just an FNG opinion w a little Alaska experience.
I think the bear hunt restrictions will be lifted for the residents- I hope so!
If they are not, even if they are with the already shortened season, the far reaching impact will be on the moose and caribou populations.
AK F&G has been challenged for decades with managing these populations, especially the moose. Deer populations on Kodiak will also be severely affected.
Predation management has been an issue for many decades.
We will see what the fallout will be, but it may be many years before we actually know.
IMHO,
H

 

[NUGGET]

Hi Just an FNG opinion w a little Alaska experience.
I think the bear hunt restrictions will be lifted for the residents- I hope so!
If they are not, even if they are with the already shortened season, the far reaching impact will be on the moose and caribou populations.
AK F&G has been challenged for decades with managing these populations, especially the moose. Deer populations on Kodiak will also be severely affected.
Predation management has been an issue for many decades.
We will see what the fallout will be, but it may be many years before we actually know.
IMHO,
H

The restrictions were lifted for residents.

 

[Sourdough]

The restrictions were lifted for residents.

That is true.......However many-many don't seem to fully understand the travel restrictions. You go from your residence to the hunt location........no stopping in any town, village, community, city.

Example: From Los'Anchorage to Windy Creek off the Denali Hwy. You do not stop in Willow, Wasilla, Cantwell, Buzzard Gulch (Eagle River). You stop in no community or town. In theory people would take all the fuel needed for the entire roundtrip. No stopping for fuel, beer, burgers, Twinkies.

 

[NUGGET]

That is true.......However many-many don't seem to fully understand the travel restrictions. You go from your residence to the hunt location........no stopping in any town, village, community, city.

Example: From Los'Anchorage to Windy Creek off the Denali Hwy. You do not stop in Willow, Wasilla, Cantwell, Buzzard Gulch (Eagle River). You stop in no community or town. In theory people would take all the fuel needed for the entire roundtrip. No stopping for fuel, beer, burgers, Twinkies.

Which begs the question.......how exactly are people going to float the Six Mile Creek......??? If they can't retrieve their raft in downtown Sunrise, Alaska.....??? Actually they can't even stop on the river in Sunrise, they would have to float clear to Turnagain Arm. Then paddle their way clear to Los'Anchorage on Turnagain Arm.

It’s going to be the ok. You can stop for fuel. Get out and enjoy it. YOLO.

 

[Sourdough]

It’s going to be the ok. You can stop for fuel. Get out and enjoy it. YOLO.

What is "YOLO".........????

So the goal is to keep the virus from spreading, and allow it to die out. Given that goal. Say two brothers from a town or community with no known confirmed cases, for example Cantwell, AK is traveling to lower Kenai Peninsula, AK to hunt bears. They stop in Los'Anchorage for fuel and use the toilet.

The virus can and does live for hours and days on surfaces. Los'Anchorage has the highest concentration of "ACTIVE" confirmed Covid-19 cases. Very likely virus on fuel pump, bathroom door handle, walls, on the ground, etc.

They could now be tracking the virus to all points south and back to Cantwell. AK.

The goal is to isolate the virus, not enhance its reproduction infection area. This is why the travel mandate is "NO" stopping in other communities, towns, villages, cities.

Everyone wants to figure out how they can dance around the travel mandate. Everyone wants to be unrestricted, right up till their family is dead, and they have "Part" of one lung remaining, and their hunting life is over.

We will be living and/or dying with this virus for years, maybe decades. This virus is behaving in non-standard ways. It is showing up in many different species of animals, where it can constantly mutate, and jump back and forth between human animals and other animals, constantly mutating. Hard to impossible to create a vaccine for a virus that is constantly mutating. There are currently over one hundred documented unique strains of Coronavirus-19.

The "Only" safe thing for humans is to isolate themselves. "BUT" they will not do that, and the result of not doing that could be catastrophic for the human species. This is not going to be over in a few weeks, or even a few months, maybe never over. But for sure the economic impact is going to be horrific. Likely more horrific (for humans) then the virus.

This not almost "Over".........It has only just started.