ADFG Announces Various 2026 Waterfowl Season Regulations

The following is courtesy of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game:

Upcoming Waterfowl Hunting Season Regulation Notice

(Anchorage) – September will mark the opening of waterfowl hunting seasons over much of Alaska, and as duck and goose hunters plan their hunts for this fall, there are a couple of Federal framework regulations that are notable or changing: the season for emperor geese will remain closed, the daily bag limit for greater white-fronted geese in Unit 18 will be reduced from 10 to 6 birds, and the brant season will again be 51 days.

Selected Federal regulations effective September 1, 2026

The emperor goose season will again be closed statewide; and therefore, registration permits will not be available. The aerial survey index used to monitor the population remained below a prescribed closure threshold in 2025. The hunting season will reopen when the population increases to a harvestable level. The fall-winter harvest of emperor geese is managed by a strategy in the Pacific Flyway Council’s management plan.

The bag and possession limits for greater white-fronted geese will be reduced to 6 per day and 18 in possession in Game Management Unit 18. Bag limit changes in Alaska, as well as in Washington, Oregon and California, are intended to reduce harvest on the Pacific population of greater white-fronted geese to help reverse a current negative population trend.

The season length for brant in all hunt zones will remain at 51 days, and the bag limit will be 2 per day. Brant seasons will be similar to last season: September 1 – October 21 in the Northern and Southeast zones, October 1 – November 20 in the Gulf Coast zone, and October 8 – November 27 in the Kodiak and Aleutians zones. Aerial surveys in 2025 indicated the population remained below the Pacific Flyway management plan threshold specifying restrictive harvest regulations, and therefore, the 51-day season will remain in place.

Please refer to the 2026-2027 Alaska Migratory Game Bird Regulations booklet (available in August 2026) for specific details of these changes.