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We set out to create the most simplified guide to Alaska's hunting seasons for 2023.
Want to find out season dates, learn about regulations and bag limits, understand license requirements, and get access helpful links?
Then you’ll love the info outlined in today’s guide. Let’s dive right in.
Alaska offers world class hunting opportunities, which span from brown bear to mountain goat hunts. In fact, there are many who rely on Alaska’s abundant wildlife to survive. These are the people who make things last and get behind conservationists.
Alaska offers many different opportunities, whether it’s through severe ice storms that bring out caribou or closer to the coast that depend on the harvest to survive. Either way there is so much offered here, it is truly one of a kind in the types of species, style of hunts and culture and tradition that revolves around the year round Alaskan Hunting Season.
The season starts September 1st with Wolverine and Black Bear and leads till Wolverine Caribou and Elk of December 31st and March 31.
There are a few different types of hunts offered in Alaska: General Season, Drawing, Registration, Tier I/II, Community Subsistence Harvest, Targeted
Big game: Bison, Black Bear, Brown Bear, Caribou, Dall Sheep, Mule Deer, Sitka Black tailed Deer, Elk, Moose, Mountain Goat, Wolf
Small game: Hare
Birds: Waterfowl, Grouse, Ptarmigan, Crow
Alaska has very specific rules and regulations that vary by zone. See below for general season dates. For details about each zone and bag limits please visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.
Black Bear: Sept. 1 - June 30, 2023
Brown Bear: Sept. 15 - Dec. 31
Caribou: Aug. 10 - Dec. 31
Deer, Elk: Aug. 1 - Dec. 31
Moose: Sept. 1 - Nov. 30
Mountain Goat: Aug. 1 - Jan. 31, 2024
Wolf: Aug. 1 - Apr. 30, 2024
Wolverine: Sept. 1 - Mar. 31, 2024
See the map below for a breakdown of Alaska's hunting zones:
Bag limits vary by zone, and can be a little complicated. Please see the official alaska fish and game regulations website for more detailed information.
If you are 18 - 59 you are required to get a hunting license along with the correct permit to go along with it depending on what you are hunting.
In Alaska, all hunters must successfully complete a Basic Hunter Education course before hunting in certain areas. All bowhunters must have successfully completed a bowhunter certification course.
Remember that in July new hunting regulation books are available, in January new hunting licenses and big game locking tags are available. There are also different hunts in Alaska which range from general hunting, to drawing as well as registration, community subsistence harvest and target. General Hunting consists of a required license and you must get a tag to be in a drawing . If you would like you can also be in the harvest hunt which is more regulated than the drawings are.
Big game locking-tags, not to be confused with harvest tickets, are numbered metal locking objects that must be purchased prior to hunting and must be locked on a part of the animal required to be salvaged (skull, hide, or meat) prior to leaving the kill site and must remain there until the animal is prepared for storage, consumed, or exported.
Official State Site: adfg.alaska.gov
Report your harvest http://hunt.alaska.gov
Moose hunting seasons is generally September 1 - November 30 but will vary by zone. Be sure to check the official site for exact dates depending on where you will be hunting and with what weapon.
Yes, two you can find Roosevelt elk (larger, slightly darker in color) and Rocky Mountain elk in Alaska.
Yes, there are sitka blacktail deer in Alaska.
