Glacier Mountain-area Sheep Hunting Season Is Closing

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

2025 Sheep Season Closed in the Glacier Mountain Controlled Use Area (Unit 20E)

(Tok, Alaska) – All sheep seasons within the Glacier Controlled Use Area, in a portion of Unit 20E, will be closed for the 2025 season, to address public concerns for sheep in this area. This closure will only impact the 2025 season. Nearby federal lands within the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve and the North Peak Mountain area will also be closed to sheep hunting by federal Wildlife Temporary Special Action WSA24-01.

The GMCUA was created in 1971 to provide greater protection for sheep that used the Glacier Mountain area. Sheep within the GMCUA are part of the larger Tanana Hills sheep population, which exists in marginal, non- contiguous sheep habitat over an expansive area of eastern interior Alaska. The GMCUA contains a small segment of the Upper Tanana Dall sheep population. Harsh winters in 2020 and 2021 corresponded with a steep decline in sheep populations statewide. Few sheep have been observed in the GMCUA since 2019, and no legal rams have been observed or harvested in the area since 2021.

Although the full-curl harvest strategy is an extremely conservative approach to hunting management, there are times when more conservative strategies are warranted to address public concerns. Consequently, the GMCUA was initially closed for the 2024 sheep season and will be closed again for the 2025 season.