To the editor:
Skip Olsen's letter to the editor of Feb. 22, 2008, asking for the end of the antlerless hunt is right on the money.
To take it a step further, when I questioned Steve DuBois, the game biologist here in Delta Junction about the spike/fork provision, I was told that it was based on a deer study done in East Texas. I fail to see what a study on deer in East Texas has to do with moose in Alaska.
A spike/fork bull will double in size if allowed to live just one more year. Much more meat for the freezer. By not shooting spike/forks, it would allow more bulls in the field that would feed a family.
In areas where horn restrictions are deemed necessary, it would allow the antler size and number of brow tines to be lowered and still allow enough breeding bulls to survive. If the department disputes this, I would like to see the studies they have done in the state of Alaska.
Managing predation is what we need, not killing cows and calves. If, for every four moose killed by predators, man kills one, that means the bears and wolves kill three.
The only logic to what the department is doing now seems to me to be job justification and/or assuring that the entire state will be under permit/drawing hunts to fill their coffers. I've also heard the statement made that moose do not move very far and so will starve if the browse in their area is gone. Back in the '80's or early '90s, a moose was collared down by Donnelly Dome and in one night was found on Clearwater Lake, 25 miles away. This should be in the Fish and Game records.
Finally, I urge anyone interested in fish and game in the state of Alaska, to call or e-mail Gov. Palin and ask for the removal of Commissioner Don Young from Fish and Game.
Earl and Mary Malcolm / Delta Junction
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