ADFG Announces Guidelines For Prince Of Wales Wolf Hunting, Trapping

Guidelines for Unit 2 Wolf Hunters and Trappers

(Ketchikan) – The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Division of Wildlife Conservation is reminding Unit 2 wolf hunters and trappers that sealers will collect the following samples from each harvested wolf:

1. 1)  Skin sample – Requested for trappers and hunters to provide
   A small piece of skin with hair attached (1.5 inches long x 0.25 inches wide) from anywhere along the cut edge of the hide.
2. 2)  Muscle sample – Requested if available
   A small piece of muscle about the size of a dime.
3. 3)  Foreleg bones – Requested if available
   One entire foreleg bone (images below) from the front leg of the wolf.

The skin sample will be used for genetic analyses, muscle for diet analyses, and the foreleg bones will allow us to estimate age structure of harvested wolves.

Good examples

Additionally, ADF&G is reminding hunters and trappers that per regulation, all wolves taken in Unit 2 must be sequentially numbered or marked by the hunter, the hunter must call the ADF&G Ketchikan office at (907)225-2475 within 7 days of take to report the date and location of take, and all hides must be sealed within 15 days of take.

What does this mean for wolf hunters and trappers?

1. When a wolf is harvested from Unit 2, write down the specific location and date you harvested the wolf with a sequential number starting with “1” (examples below). You will continue this process for each additional wolf harvested (2, 3, etc.). Ensure the tag will not fall off and get mixed up with other wolves or lost.
2. Call the Ketchikan Fish and Game Office (907-225-2475) to report your harvest within 7 days of take. Report your harvest information to a Ketchikan Wildlife Conservation staff member or leave a message with the following information:
   1. Your name
   2. Hunting, trapping, or combo license number
   3. The sequential number written on the tag attached to the wolf
   4. The precise date and location the wolf was harvested
   Example: “Hello, my name is John Doe, my combo license number is 2112345, I harvested wolf #1 near the head of Mable Creek on November 20, 2024. I harvested wolf number #2 at the western end of Miller Lake on November 25, 2024.”
3. Seal the wolf within 15 days of take. Along with all the information you normally provide to sealers, the sealers will also take:
   1. The sequential number for each wolf, plus the specific date (day-month-year) and specific location of take for each wolf
   2. Skin samples, plus muscle samples and foreleg bones for each harvested wolf

Precise information on when and where individual wolves were harvested helps in calculating a more accurate wolf abundance estimate for Unit 2. Please provide a GPS point for harvest locations or describe harvest location relative to a well-known landmark or road feature such as, “head of Klakas Inlet” or “junction of US Forest Service roads 3000 and 3030”. If there is no obvious land feature near where a wolf was harvested, use the closest known feature and distance from that feature such as, “one mile southwest of Honker Lake near the head of an unnamed stream.”