ADF&G proposes to lift weapon restrictions for musk ox hunt in Nome

Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game made the case to the Nome Common Council during a work session on Monday to remove weapon restrictions for musk ox hunting in the Inner Nome Area. ADF&G Area Biologist Sara Henslee explained that current regulations only allow the use of shotgun, muzzleloader or bow and arrow for the Inner Nome Area, which is extending outside of the city limits to Basin Creek in the north, the backside of Army Peak in the east and just past Sunset Creek in the west. The reason given for the change was that shotgun slugs are incredibly inefficient and don’t provide a clean, fast and humane death to the musk ox. The slugs get stuck in the animals’ thick coat and their thick hide, not allowing for a fast and clean kill. Charlie Lean, chair of the Fish and Game advisory panel, attested to the inefficiency, saying hunters have to hit the animals multiple times, prolonging the animal’s suffering whereas one clean shot with a rifle would avoid those gruesome scenarios. “It’s one shot versus cowboying around a musk ox and shoot it until it falls over,” he said. Lean explained also that hunters that qualify for a Tier 2 permit are experienced, older and seasoned hunters with good judgement. “I don’t know any hunter who would want to shoot a musk ox in close proximity to a home, I don’t see that as a likely scenario,” he said. “The hunt is skewed to older, seasoned hunters who know how to place a shot.”
Lean added that there is a safety concern. To kill a musk ox with a shotgun, one has to get within a 10 to 50-yard range. Given that even a well-placed shot won’t immediately kill the animal, it is a safety concern as the wounded animal or others in the group could charge.  A clean rifle shot could be taken from a 100-yard range.
The reason for the restriction in the first place was to avoid rifles being used in residential areas as oftentimes musk oxen found inside city limits in the summer and fall. “We see musk oxen in residential areas and the risk of using high-powered rifles was a concern,” Henslee explained. Also the risk of hitting unintended targets when trying to shot a ‘sky-lined’ animal was a concern. Since musk oxen are herd animals and usually stick together in congregations, the rifle restriction was also in place to avoid through-shots that may injure a second animal.
 However, Henslee said, since 2012 that the Tier 2 hunt has been around with the weapon restrictions in place, most harvested musk oxen are not taken in the city of Nome proper, but outside the city limits.
The timing is such that hunters prefer to take musk oxen in the winter, when the animals have retreated to the hills, their coat is lush, the qiviut is thick, the meat is not stinky from the rut and clean butchering on snow is possible. Most musk oxen taken in the summer or fall when the animals congregate in town, are dispatched not as part of the Tier 2 hunt, but in defense of life and property. Henslee said over an eleven-year period, only seven percent, or five animals of 76 harvested musk oxen taken in the fall.
She said only rarely does a hunter use bow and arrow, and she wasn’t aware of anyone using a muzzleloader.
ADF&G’s Alicia Carson added that it is permissible to use a rifle hunting moose or bear in the Inner Nome Area.
Ethan Kelso also stepped up to the podium, saying that he had hunted musk oxen since he was seven years old and that he is a firearms instructor, attesting to the inefficiency of shotguns. Musk oxen are herd animals, he said. Once one is shot, they tend to bunch up and rub the blood of the wounded animals on them, making it impossible to find out which one has been shot. “You have no idea which animal you shot and you wait around while the animal is suffering,” he said. “One of the central rules is ‘Know your target and what’s behind it.’ I would strongly support rifles.”
Henslee said that those hunters applying for the Tier 2 permit will be required to have a Hunter Education certificate and will require a one-on-one musk ox hunter orientation course completion.
The department plans to remove the weapons restriction for the TX095 Inner Nome Area hunt beginning August 1, 2024.
The three council members present for the work session also heard updates on the overdue Heating and Ventilation and Firealarm system at City Hall and a brief update from department heads Cole Cushman of Public Works and the Interim Nome Police Chief Will Crockett.
The regular meeting was postponed to next Monday, for lack of quorum.