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As many of you head into the marsh and duck blind this morning for the opening of duck season, the Midnight Sun Gun Dog Association would like to thank all its members, volunteers, and participants for a wonderful 2015 field test season. The hard work and dedication you put in this year has paid off. Hopefully you will see the results of the training and testing you put in this year.
MSGDA is already hard at work and looking forward to the 2016 season. You can now find tentative 2016 event dates on our website, www.msgda.org. We will once again have our annual fundraiser and banquet in April, picnic and NAHRA field tests in May and June, and July we will have our Alaska Regional, and finish up the year with a field and upland test. We are also looking at bringing up more than one outside judge for each event next year, especially since our Started and Hunter level participants have grown.
Looking for birds? MSGDA still has some live Chukar and Pigeon for sale. If interested, please contact Kent Bull @ 229-2951. Also, MSGDA has remote and ready for remote Upland box launchers for sale, if you are interested or for more details please contact the webmaster at [email protected]
Once again, thanks for a wonderful year. Please enjoy this time of year with your dogs and family and we hope your outings into the field are successful.
The Alaska Fish and Game page has information on changes in regulations. Know what you need before you go hunting. Other F&G links are on 2015-2016 Alaska Waterfowl Hunting Information.
Press Release: August 21, 2015
Contact:
Dan Rosenberg, Statewide Waterfowl Coordinator, (907) 267-2453
(Juneau) – Waterfowl hunting seasons open September 1 over much of Alaska, and as duck and goose hunters prepare to step into the marshes there are a few things they need to know – including some important regulations changes.
Alaska waterfowl hunters will be affected this season by recent amendments to the federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act. The amendments raise the price of federal waterfowl stamps from $15 to $25 and redefine which hunters must have a federal stamp to hunt waterfowl in Alaska.
Under the amendments, the following Alaska residents are not required to purchase federal waterfowl stamps:
“Included areas” are those areas where spring/summer migratory bird subsistence harvest is currently legal. Included areas and subsistence harvest regulations can be found at:http://www.fws.gov/alaska/ambcc/Regulations.htm
For questions or clarifications, please contact the USFWS Office of Law Enforcement at (907) 786-3311.
The federal amendments have no bearing on the Alaska state waterfowl stamp or hunting license requirements. Waterfowl hunters in Alaska must have a signed $5 Alaska state waterfowl stamp in possession while hunting waterfowl anywhere in the state unless you are an Alaska resident who qualifies for exemption based on age, income, or veteran’s disability. Details can be found in the state waterfowl hunting regulations online or the regulations booklet.
In state regulations news, bag limits for white-fronted geese in Game Management Unit 18 (the Yukon-Kuskokwim region) will increase to 10 birds per day, 30 in possession. Pacific white-fronted goose numbers are almost twice the Pacific Flyway management objective of 300,000 birds. Most of the population nests in Game Management Unit 18.
Possession limits for Canada geese in all of Game Management Unit 6 (except Middleton Island) are now three times the daily bag. This includes the Copper River Delta and Prince William Sound. The bag limit for Canada geese remains four birds per day. Middleton Island regulations remain unchanged. Breeding surveys indicate the region’s total population of dusky Canada geese has increased to 17,699 birds. This is the highest population estimate since 1986.
Southcentral Alaska hunters who plan to visit the popular Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge near Wasilla should be aware of a regional restriction to ATV use on the Cottonwood Creek ATV trail. All but the first mile of the ATV trail will remain closed to motorized vehicles through the fall season as the Alaska Department of Fish and Game works to protect wetlands and mitigate damage caused by expanding tidal guts and ATVs. The closure will affect waterfowl hunters and other recreationists who use ATVs to access remote portions of the refuge via the 6.5-mile-long trail.
In addition to these regulations changes, waterfowl hunters are reminded that several strains of avian influenza have been detected this year in waterfowl in the Lower 48. None of these strains has been transmitted to people. Although highly pathogenic avian flu has not been detected in Alaska, hunters should be aware that wildlife can carry pathogens of many kinds. As always, waterfowl hunters are advised to practice routine hygiene when handling, cleaning and cooking wild game. The Department of Fish and Game recommends the following:
Monitoring for avian flu is ongoing in Alaska and early-season waterfowl hunters in the Cook Inlet region may encounter field technicians seeking samples. For more information, contact ADF&G Wildlife Health and Disease Surveillance Program, phone: (907) 328-8354, or email: [email protected]
The Alaska 2015-2016 Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations Summary is scheduled to be available online August 25 athttp://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/waterfowl.pdf
Midnight Sun Gun Dog Association
P.O. Box 241291
Anchorage, AK 99524-1291
