This will affect my hunting

[Big Fin]

I had hoped it wouldn't come to this. So much for spring bears in SE Alaska this year. Wonder what they will do with those of us who have tags. First world problems, I know. But, possibly a sign of things to come. (Not April Fools)

 

[Deleted member 38069]

Sorry, that's tough news. I was looking forward to the rafts in action!

 

[LuketheDog]

Given that air travel is necessary to get to Alaska in a reasonable amount of time and then to many of the bear hunt locations as well, that surprises me less than Nebraska putting a hold on turkey licenses...but it still sucks, sorry Randy!

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Makes sense give the limited healthcare resources up there.

Im bummed for you...but I’m mostly bummed for me because I freaking love the spring bear episodes. Seriously it’s my favorite hunt you do hands down.

 

[kansasdad]

Cue the Price is Right trombone sounder.

Major bummer for all involved.

 

[greatwhitebuffalo]

Think it might point to better populations next year?

 

[44hunter45]

Did you already have the money out for the film permits? Is that recoverable?

 

[88man]

They just cancelled the British open and that's in mid july.

 

[Big Fin]

Did you already have the money out for the film permits? Is that recoverable?

I had been holding off, having talked to the permit officer and explained why I was holding off. He was good with that. Only thing I've invested so far is the airline tickets and the license/tag cost.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I had been holding off, having talked to the permit officer and explained why I was holding off. He was good with that. Only thing I've invested so far is the airline tickets and the license/tag cost.

Do you have room in the filming schedule to switch to a fall bear hunt? Maybe do something with your new packrafts in early sept? Blueberry bear?

 

[Big Fin]

I didn't post that as a "woe is me," such is not the case. I posted it to show that hunting seasons are going to be impacted. This is probably the start of many impacts we will see across the west.

I support the Alaska Governor making that call. I look at rural Montana counties where we are having 1 death in 6 cases, 2 deaths in 6 cases, 1 death in 5 cases, it shows how under-equiped rural areas are to handle this and how it impacts elderly populations. The last thing Alaska needs is a bunch of non-residents heading north, bringing the pox to an elderly population with lower medical infrastructure, and higher percentages of native populations that have shown lower immunities to some diseases.

Compared to all of that possible calamity, this closure really is what I say, "First World" problems.

If all of this passes and the only discomfort I would see is the loss of a black bear hunt, I would feel guilty to escape so unscathed when so many are being impacted in such other ways.

 

[timmy]

It sucks when you have hunts or hunting areas wrecked. Hopefully things get back to normal ASAP!

 

[44hunter45]

I'm not callous, the loss of life hits me. I worry about those who are in higher risk categories,too. That being said, I am losing more sleep over the economic impacts this all has rather than the short term cancellations and closures. I worry about my investments. I worry about those who are in danger of unemployment. I worry about the small businesses with no revenue, I worry about science and conservation funding. One of my Idaho Senators appears to be looking for any excuse NOT to vote for S.3422 to fund LWCF. He will vote no and wrap himself in the Corona Flag.

Randy is right, the hunts will come back. Some of these other effects may take longer to sort out.

 

[FAIR CHASE]

Makes me wonder about spring bear in MT.

 

[Wildabeest]

Alaska has been relatively unimpacted by COVID thus far. 119 cases out of 187,000 total in the US - 0.06%. They probably want to keep it that way. Sucks your trip is cancelled Randy, but it’s probably for the best. My company is helping governments and healthcare orgs all over the world do the analytics necessary to understand the impacts in order to make informed decisions about how manage the crisis. Below is an example of a dashboard we update daily. You can see the low number of confirmed cases in Alaska. They have the advantage of being far removed from other population centers, so closing off access is their best defense.

Sorry!

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[Big Fin]

Here is an image to explain why I agree that these decisions have to be made by rural states. All three of the circled counties are rural by every standard, even Montana standards. Those are scary mortality rates, albeit small samples sizes.

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[Flatrock]

Wonder if the fall seasons across the west will be impacted? Obviously that's a long ways out and maybe it's just recency bias but this thing might really drag out a long time.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

My charter fishing season is on hold until this goes away. Many of my fishermen come from west Oregon/ Washington. Our town is 175 pop. with a median age of 65. Nearest hospital is 40 miles away in a town of 10,000. No cases in our county so far. I hope folks have the sense to stay away. The risk is just not worth it for a little fun. Irresponsible.
.

 

[Wildabeest]

I live in Park City, UT and two weeks ago when they decided to shut everything down, we had 110 cases against a population of 30,000. Per capita rate as high as the worst places in NY and WA. Just goes to show the disproportionate impacts a pandemic can have on a very transient tourist population like ours. I’m glad to see other places are watching and learning in order to protect their citizens.

 

[azelkhntr]

We should declare this a Jubilee Year.