Based on information gathered from the RB300 spring registration hunt that closed May 31, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has insights into how last years regulations worked.
Area Wildlife Biologist Jeff Selinger detailed last year’s reported harvest.
Selinger: “For the year 2013, we did not have a cap on the number of brown bears to be harvested, that cap went away and we wound up taking a total of human caused mortalities of 70 brown bears.”
He also said that its too early to determine if that number of harvests may have impacted this years brown bear population however one thing is most likely to make the most impacts.
Selinger: “Generally speaking what will have the biggest impact on your brown bear population is your human caused adult female mortalities and we had 23 adult female human caused mortalities last year that were reported.”
This year the Board of Game has limited brown bear harvest to 70, with no more than 17 being adult females.
Selinger: “So far through hunting mortalities we have 51 brown bear mortalities so far this hunting season that have been reported, that hunt ended May 31 and of those only 5 were females.”
The total spring brown bear harvest numbered 29 adult males, five were adult females, and the remaining 17 bears were sub-adults – nine males and eight females.