New- Alaska hunting info

[saltwatertom]

Justy thought you all might want to know if you might be thinking of hunting up here.

As of 2016 ALL bow hunters regardless of season, hunt of area
( for big game ) will need to be certified and hold a card while hunting.
Here is the email I just got from the state ( I am on the Homer Fish and Game advisory committee )

Forwarding this one per request of Ginamaria   (see below).
 
From: Smith, Ginamaria F (DFG)
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 4:21 PM
To: Daggett, Carmen T (DFG); Pilcher, Nissa R B (DFG); Wright, Sherry (DFG); Leach, Frances H (DFG); Pearson, Robert L (DFG)
Subject: New Bowhunter Education certification requirement
 
Regional Coordinators,
Could you please forward the following email to the ACs?
Thanks,
Gina
 
 
Good afternoon,
 
The HIT Program has received numerous questions regarding how we plan to inform the public (resident & non-resident hunters) and meet their education needs due to the Alaska Board of Game’s recent decision to pass the following regulation, “Bowhunters in hunts restricted to archery only must carry their IBEP or equivalent department approved certification card on them while archery hunting in the field, and must show their card to peace officers and department employees upon request. Beginning July 1, 2016, all big game hunters using archery will be required to have successfully completed a department approved certification course. Currently, this is required if the hunt is restricted to archery only.
 
 
The HIT Program is currently completing the following actions in order to get the word out to non-resident and resident bowhunters so that they aren’t surprised by this requirement:
1.      Updates to our webpage.

 http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=huntered.main

2.      Emails to lower 48 State Agency contacts that proctor similar programs

Ie-International Hunter Education Association (IHEA) members and National Bowhunter Education Foundation (NBEF) members

3.      Emails to Alaska Professional Hunters Association

4.      Emails to Alaska archery and bowhunting clubs/groups

5.      Emails to Archery Trade Association membership (all archery-related retailers)

6.      Advertisements at sporting goods and archery stores

To meet the need, we plan to increase the number of Bowhunter Ed. classes offered statewide over the next two years. We have over 150 volunteer Bowhunter Ed. instructors living throughout the state and if we don’t have an instructor in a particular city or village, we have instructors that are willing to travel to conduct classes. If you have questions from community members about class schedules, opportunities, or the new regulations, please have them contact us at: (907) 267-2196, [email protected] or visit our website at  www.huntereducation.alaska.gov.
 
Please share this information with any members of your staff or the public that you think would benefit. Also, if you have additional recommendations for ways to notify the public, please email me. Thank you for your assistance.
-Gina
 
 
Ginamaria Smith
 
Program Coordinator
Hunter Information and Training Program
Alaska Department of Fish & Game
333 Raspberry Road
Anchorage, AK 99518
Phone: (907) 267-2196
Fax: (907) 267-2323
[email protected]
 www.huntereducation.alaska.gov
 

[adudeuknow]

i am curious as to what the certification will be. i have seen parks opened to hunting be as demanding as a playing card at 40 yards to as basic as paper plate at 20 yards.

[MO Bow]

from their site:

"The student must make five out of the eight shots in the vitals or “kill zone” (heart, lung, liver). The student must make at least one vital shot on each of the four target animals and a double kill on one. Students with disabilities will not be required to kneel - for example those that have been through recent knee surgery, or have bad knees."

I'm assuming a "double kill" means that you need to hit the kill zone twice.  It doens't make any mention of distances other than realistic distances that would be encountered in the field.

Also looks like there will be a blood-trailing exercise.

Remember, this is only for bow-only hunts/zones.

[MO Bow]

those are shots at 3-d targets...

[Jay Bow]

I've taught these classes for 6 yrs. these are shots at 3-D targets all less than 30 yds.
MO Bow has the rest of the info stated very clearly.

[juneaulongbow]

Good to know, thanks... got mine around 2002 when I lived there... Cheers!

[Bowwild]

I got mine years ago. I'm an instructor and board member as well.

I believe everyone should take Bowhunter Ed but I don't agree with it being mandatory.

Does the rifle or muzzleloader toter have to prove his effectiveness - nope. (Only 25 states have mandatory field days for general hunter education and most of those don't test the nimrod's ability, just familiarity.

[Whip]

The proficiency testing would seem to be slanted against the traditional bowhunters.  It states that traditional gear and compounds will be held to the same standards.  I assume that means they must shoot at the same distances?  

It states that shot distances will be similar to those a hunter might encounter in the field.  To a compound hunter a 30 yard shot at a deer or a 50 yard shot at a moose might be considered a reasonable and ethical shot.  That would be really tough for me personally, and I doubt I would pass their test.  

I know my skill limitations and try my hardest to stick within them in the field.  They most likely will never affect me personally, but I hope these new rules don't discriminate against ethical traditional bowhunters in Alaska.

[adudeuknow]

i feel the same way whip. way slanted. i know people who have only hunted with long bows their entire lives that have never taken a shot at an animal outside of 15 yards. having the animal as close as possible is what it's about with them.

i wonder if people will test with their compounds and then pick up their barebows to hunt.

[eidsvolling]

Originally posted by Whip:
The proficiency testing would seem to be slanted against the traditional bowhunters.  It states that traditional gear and compounds will be held to the same standards.  I assume that means they must shoot at the same distances?  

It states that shot distances will be similar to those a hunter might encounter in the field.  To a compound hunter a 30 yard shot at a deer or a 50 yard shot at a moose might be considered a reasonable and ethical shot.  That would be really tough for me personally, and I doubt I would pass their test.  

I know my skill limitations and try my hardest to stick within them in the field.  They most likely will never affect me personally, but I hope these new rules don't discriminate against ethical traditional bowhunters in Alaska.

It has been reported elsewhere that Jay Massey intentionally flunked a proficiency test for the ill-fated Hillside bow hunt in Anchorage because he refused to take a 30-yard shot. If I still lived in AK, I would make it a point to do the same under the new statewide regime and raise a big public stink about it until the rules (such as they are) are changed on this point.

There is some BS on the Fish and Game website on this point:

"Students shooting traditional and compound bows will be held to the same minimum standards. These requirements are based on realistic distances that all archers would encounter in the field. The course also serves as a learning experience for all archers and hopefully will have an impact on their choice of equipment, amount of practice required and shots taken while in the field."

Again, I call BS.

[ChuckC]

This is what I have been railing against.  Someone else making the rules.  Rules that make no sense to me and the way I hunt.  Yes, it is BS
CHuckC

[eidsvolling]

Originally posted by Jay Bow:
I've taught these classes for 6 yrs. these are shots at 3-D targets all less than 30 yds.
MO Bow has the rest of the info stated very clearly.

I have tried very hard to find a specification of the permissible distances. So far it appears to be within the discretion of the person conducting the test. Is that the case? If so, 29 yards is less than 30 yards ...

[Archie]

I received my Alaska bowhunter certification some 20 years ago.  It wasn't too hard, I was not terribly accomplished as a bowhunter, and the required certification forced me to sit through some valuable educational sessions.

I'm all for it.  There are a lot of people who want to kill something in Alaska during hunting season, who will grab a bow if it's legal -- whether or not they are proficient with it -- and start flinging arrows.  This is merely an intellectual argument for a lot of us on the forum, but when people in Alaska keep running across otherwise healthy animals with arrows sticking out of them, it proves the need for some sort of required training.

We all take the chance of wounding animals when we shoot, but for many, they aren't dedicated enough to practice and be prepared to make good shots.  These classes are an attempt to weed that kind of stuff out.  

As a guy who grew up in Fairbanks, let me tell you
 that there are a lot of locals who are angry about the way that some (certainly NOT all) people get moved or transferred to Alaska, and want to crash onto the hunting scene.  Over and over growing up, we heard about knuckleheaded things going on, and how friends went to hunt caribou, only to find several arrows sticking out of animals in the herd.  

 http://m.newsminer.com/news/local_news/moose-with-arrow-in-nose-seen-in-north-pole/article_223ee4b6-840e-11e3-9903-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm

Whether we like it or not, these rules and regulations exist because some people lack the internally-applied discipline for being ethical hunters, and the powers that be then have to impose externally-applied guidance and disciplinary measures.

It's too bad it has to be that way, but I'm all for it.  The way I see it, if I'm good enough to hunt ethically without a certification card, I don't mind being asked to man up to it.  When a moose shows up and I'm going to release an arrow, I'd have man up to it anyway.

And by the way, my 2 nephews - aged 14 and 16 - just passed the proficiency exam (on first attempt) with trad bows a few weeks ago. They made the long shots and the chip shots, and several compound shooters didn't.  They knew what was coming, and practiced for it.

[nineworlds9]

There are valid points on either side, but libertarian spirit that I am I tend to want to stick it to the Man on principle.  

Here's an idea if 'worried' about test distances:  take a tradbow favorable to modification...install whisker biscuit, peep, and 3-pin sight.  Sight in at 10, 20, and 30.  Show up to test day, nail target.  Roll eyes, get card, get in car and go home.  When home toss wheeliefied trad bow in corner, grab stick and string, smile, proceed to hunt.  

LOL.  

Now personally, I'd rather just be proficient enough at longer distances to be able to give them the finger barebow, or do like what was said and flub the test in protest, but if they won't change the rules for tradbows to something realistic and ethical in this case then I say find a way to bend the rules...hence my proposal for a wheeliefied stickbow LOL.  But honestly I'm not even sure the biscuit, peep, and pins would really be foolproof anyway LOL.  

Legislating away stupidity works all the time right?!  LOL

[saltwatertom]

I think this is a good thing.
And to Whip and others,... When I took my certification I was the only trad shooter there. I out shot everyone. One guy whispered to my wife  " how does he do that with no sights???"
so,.... just get practiced up and take the course, or,.. borrow a compound and pass easily!
 

Soooooo, I am a bit confused? I have taken an IBEP Bowhunter Education course and a regular Hunter Education course here in Tx, and have certification cards for both. For the Bowhunter Ed class I took the classroom and the field day part where we all shot our bows.

So, if I go to bowhunt in Alaska, am I good, or do I need to take a course after I get all the way up there, not knowing the parameters and if I would pass or not????? i.e. - not get to hunt then?

Bisch

[eidsvolling]

I wrote to Ms. Smith (whose email message appears at the top of this thread) seeking clarification on the permissible distance for the proficiency test. Her very prompt reply:

"The targets for the Bowhunter Ed. shooting proficiency are set at a max distance of 30 yards. The shoot consists of 4 targets, with 2 shots per target. One of the shots will be standing and one will be from the kneeling position. The targets are set between 10 and 30 yards based on the range set-up.
If you have additional questions, feel free to call or email me."

For the record: I support the hunter ed requirement wherever it exists. I've taken the firearms and archery versions here in NH. I think a proficiency test with the respective weapons would be a great idea across the country.

However, I still oppose a 30-yard requirement for traditional bowhunters. It's outside the range of what the majority of traditional bowhunters consider ethical and prudent. It encourages people to flout the intent of the test by showing up with rigs they will never use in the field. And it implies that a 30-yard shot is generally OK with traditional tackle.

[/rant]

[adudeuknow]

i'll be the first to admit i would not pass the test. i shoot at 30 yards from time to time in my yard but that is it. i practice at distances i will kill at and at those distances i will group 3 arrows in a snuff can. 30 yards and knowing if i don't make a kill shot i fail is ridiculous.

if i ever do find myself having to take this test i will most certainly bring my compound and punch out 10's

[nineworlds9]

Eidsvolling more eloquently illustrated the point I was trying to make about just showing up with a stickbow with a sighting system or a wheel bow to 'flout' the rules.  It nullifies the intent of the test that's why they need to have separate rules for the trad guys or at least think over the entire thing just a bit more. Make the max shot 20 yds for the trad guys or something.   And make the minimum shot for wheelbows 20...honestly that would at least weed out the bozos who can't properly sight in a compound.  Or something.  Personally, I'd rather see an education class on how to use a treestand.  Way too many annual injuries and wastes of taxpayers and insurance company dollars on people who don't use a safety harness or know how to climb etc.

[Archie]

One of the things a lot of people (especially folks from the lower 48) do not realize is that the game is really spread out in Alaska.  Game densities per square mile are very low.  This means that game sightings are infrequent and shots are rare.  Long shots become a lot more acceptable in people's minds.  It is not uncommon to go on a 2-week trip and have NO shot opportunities on big game.

If you talk to a lot of hunters in Alaska, and tell them that you're only going to take 15-yard-and-under shots, they'll wish you luck, because they know you'll need it.  

Not that it's impossible to get close, but most people who hunt in Alaska are not being flown in or rafted in or guided and led to their quarry.  They are average Joe folks who have to take what they can get.  And if the only shot they're gonna get is at 45 yards, they may well take it.  

To be frank and realistic, if I did not think I could trust myself to take a 30-yard shot on an animal, I would practice until I could, or I wouldn't go to Alaska.  That's just my opinion, but I've been in those woods a lot in my younger years, and I know how it feels to see nothing for days, and then watch it run away because I couldn't get close enough.  

That is why I think they want people to be able to shoot accurately out to 30 yards.