Other Alaska Hunting

Perhaps the most common furbearing animal associated with Alaska is the wolf. It ranges throughout all of Alaska, its density as high as one wolf per 25 square miles in some areas. Wolves are found less often on the coast. Wolf hunting is often strictly limited, as wolves are vital to the overall ecosystem, and their numbers vary greatly depending on weather and other conditions.

The wolverine, relative of the mink and weasel, is highly valued for its dense fur and is the subject of some folklore in native culture due to its solitary, wide-ranging habits - the wolverine travels up to 40 miles per day. Once common but now absent from the lower 48 states, wolverine population is closely controlled by bag limits and season.

Alaska also allows the hunting of migratory birds (ducks, geese, swans, snipe, and cranes). All waterfowl hunters must carry a current Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp and, for non-residents, an Alaska Waterfowl Conservation Stamp. Get a copy of the ADF&G guide to waterfowl hunting here: http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/regulations/pdfs/wfl-1.pdf. Note that due to low reproductive rates, sandhill crane hunting is strictly limited. Trumpeter swans are not hunted, but limited hunting of tundra swans is allowed.

Hunters stalk "hooting" blue grouse males in April and May, considered a rewarding experience for the bird hunter. Spruce goose is a "snow roosting" bird that is hunted in September and October. Ptarmigan hunting in the frozen tundra is popular in September and even in March, when hunters don snowshoes in pursuit of their prey and may use snares to trap them.

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