Alaska Caribou OTC Tags?
Caribou
Been years since I read through the Alaska game law regulations and am sure many changes, and remember it being extremely long, so I have a quick question about non-resident caribou tags/licenses... Can they be purchased over the counter for all units statewide, or just some units, and some being draw, much like Colorado's OTC tags, or are all units draw?
Thanx
Lots of OTC opportunity. There are some draw areas. Some areas completely off limits to NR's.
Are the NR OTC tags good for all OTC units within the state, (Like Colorado) or are they unit specific?... Thanx
Way to many possibilities to generalize. There are open units, draw units and registration hunts. I am sure there are other options.
Gonna have to dig into the regs. Once you figure out the state site it has a lot of information.
Yeah Rick, was afraid of that... Last time examined was a lot of reading....
If you just focus on the unit you want to hunt its not too much info.
There are "OTC" permits good for many units.
For me the planning is half the adventure:) If you are not going until 2015 or later there are some slam dunk draw units with pretty good odds of getting a tag.
Other than that you will need to dig deep and find a diamond in the ruff, rough ?, you know what I mean.
Good luck.
Rick
One over the counter tag is good for all units that are not draw. However, Alaska is not like a lot of the lower 48 states where you can go a few miles and be in another unit. You can mostly just focus on one unit and be good. Caribou hunting can be really fun. Seeing what looks to be thousands of ants, then using the binos to realize its a giant herd is pretty amazing. Dang look your getting me excited bout caribou hunting. why did they send me out of there lol
One over the counter tag is good for all units that are not draw. However, Alaska is not like a lot of the lower 48 states where you can go a few miles and be in another unit. You can mostly just focus on one unit and be good. Caribou hunting can be really fun. Seeing what looks to be thousands of ants, then using the binos to realize its a giant herd is pretty amazing. Dang look your getting me excited bout caribou hunting. why did they send me out of there lol
sorry for the double post lol
All of Alaska is OTC tags. as a NR you buy the same OTC locking antler tag for $325. Then begin researching which units you want to hunt. Some will be draw only (too late, draw is in December for the following fall). You can't access these units to hunt without drawing the permit. The rest of the state can be hunted with that OTC tag. I do know if you want to hunt the north slope up past the brooks you need no permit, just the OTC locking antler tag.
And as others mentioned... units up there are the size of states down here, really hard to grasp the size of it all.
"over the counter tag is good for all units that are not draw".... That is exactly what I was looking for!!!
That's the way it was last time I read the regs, but wasn't sure if it hadn't changed.... Thanx much guys....
"over the counter tag is good for all units that are not draw"
I'm not sure that is 100% accurate for non-residents..at least it was not in 2012?
Seems like there were some general units (OTC tags) that were restricted to resident hunters. Something you might want to check on....
Zbone, remember that there are also registration hunts that can close down once the quota is met! Don't count on getting a locking tag and hunting any non draw unit as it may close down before or while you are there.
Oh man you are right. I'm sorry I am a resident up there. Thanks to the military. (Which I will move back up there when I get out in 2 years) So I'm sorry bout that.
If you go to the Alaska Fish and Game website and go to hunting then maps, you can put the game and type of hunt(such as gerneral season) and it will show you all the units open to both res and non-res.
My point about the tags were that they are ALL OTC as in you buy the locking tag at any outdoor store once there. The tag is for the animal you kill, the draws and registration hunts are for WHERE you can access to kill said animal. Research where you want to hunt, but the two most popular places to hunt bou in Alaska are both no registration/draw required for NR. If you need to draw, go elsewhere or wait until a year you finally pull the permit.
My only point was no matter where you hunt in Alaska, the same locking tag is viable for a caribou statewide (assuming you have the permit needed to hunt the unit if one is required).
TEmbry, correct. Same for moose.
It gets a bit confusing the first time but really not that bad.
Great information guys, thanx much...
Gary,
A good example of complexity in Alaska: The Forty Mile hunt is a registration hunt. You have to (online or in person) acquire a registration permit for RC860 as it's known. The registration permit is free, but of course you have to buy a NR bou tag at around $200 or so. The RC860 hunt has a quota to harvest, and they work hard to keep it close. If the caribou are close to the main roads, they may close the season by emergency order to prevent over-harvest. If you're there and this happens, you're camping until they reopen things. Once the quota is filled, the hunt is closed and that's it. Well, almost 'it'. If you're hunting the roadless areas these tend to remain open for hunting quite a bit longer...due to very few hunters and minimal chance it affects the harvest numbers by much. The F&G people issue the updates and closures (or openings) on their website as needed.
You might need a smartphone taped to your bow, so you can check the updates just before shooting one of those bou. This just one example of how things are done and can change up there.
So if you are in a drop camp, how do you know if they are preparing to or have closed the unit you are in? I guess transporter would call your SAT phone?
