Hunting season opens August 1

The Government of Yukon would like to wish everyone a safe and successful hunting season which opens on August 1.

This year’s Permit Hunt Authorization lottery is complete. Eight rounds of the returns and reissuance process were completed and all permits have now been issued. The Government of Yukon received 4,742 applications for 223 permits covering six species. A list of permit recipients is now available online.

New this year, data on the 2019 lottery is available so hunters can see the distribution of permits by weighting, as well as the number of applications for each hunt zone. This will help hunters better understand their chances for success in future lotteries.

Each hunting season is unique and management of wildlife and harvest in Yukon is adaptive to the changes we are seeing in the environment. This is done collaboratively with stakeholders and management partners. Certain regulation changes are important for hunters to note in the upcoming season:

Regulation changes for 2019–20

• Deer: hunters must deliver the whole hide and the whole head, with antlers attached, to a conservation officer or wildlife technician no later than 15 days after the end of the month that a deer is harvested.

• Sheep closure: the Government of Yukon has ordered an emergency closure that prohibits the hunting of all sheep in Game Management Subzone 5-21 between the Slims River and Congdon Creek. The closure is in effect from August 1 to October 31. Sheep from Kluane National Park are crossing the highway into previously unprotected areas and are becoming vulnerable to hunting.

• Game Management Zone boundaries: the boundaries of Game Management Zones 5, 6 and 7 have changed to follow the centre lines of the Alaska Highway and the Haines Highway.

• Harvest reports: online harvest reporting is not available this year. Hunters can report a harvest in person at a Government of Yukon Environment office or call it in.

Hunters can find more information on these changes, as well as everything else they need to know before hunting in the Yukon hunting regulations summary booklet or at any Government of Yukon Environment office.

We remind all hunters that conservation and cooperation should be a priority when out on the land. No matter where hunters are in Yukon they are on a First Nation’s or Inuvialuit traditional territory. Hunters are asked to please respect the land, other hunters and the wildlife that is harvested. Take only what is needed and use all that is taken. Keep a clean camp, pack out what is brought into the backcountry, stay on established trails and don’t use cabins without permission.