Alaska Department of Fish and Game Hunt Areas are designated areas within the State where hunting regulations apply. Hunt areas and regulations can vary between species, Game Management Units (GMUs), seasons, residency requirements, allocation requirements, and other variables, and are based on regulations passed by the Board of Game and as designated by wildlife management biologists with in the Division of Wildlife Conservation. In general, a hunt area is a subset of a single Game Management Unit (GMU), although there are exceptions. Hunt areas are not mutually exclusive and therefore may overlap each other. On an annual basis, an "interpretive summary" referred to as the "Regulations Booklet" or "Reg Book" is published providing information, regulations and descriptions of the hunt areas. Each edition is release in May/June and covers regulations for a single regulation year from July 1 of the current year thru June 30 of the following year. The regulations in the publication are taken from Title 5, Alaska Administrative code (AAC) and Title 16 of Alaska Statues. Both the AAC and Statues are available for inspection at any Alaska Department of Fish and Game office. The regulation booklet is not a legal document and is not quoted verbatim from state law. Hunt area boundaries are a geographic interpretation of these regulations and are based on the regulation booklet, permit and Tier II hunt supplements, interpretation of area descriptions and input from the Division's Area Biologists.

The area description interpretation is translated and input (digitized) based on USGS 1:63,360 Digital Raster Graphics (DRG) topological maps, National Geographic Topo! Maps, best available standard coastline layer, and other digital sources as available. These area boundaries are not surveyed, by traditional means nor by GPS. The area description supersedes any digital format of the hunt area. The digital data is NOT to be used with a GPS in the field to determine legal location within a hunt area.

This layer does not depict land status, access or other restrictions. It is the responsibility of the hunter to determine the hunt requirements and restrictions prior to hunting. From the regulations booklet ... "Remember, ignorance is no excuse - YOU MUST KNOW THE LAW! Read and understand the hunting regulation BEFORE YOU HUNT. If you violate a game law, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS."

There are several hunt types. The most common are: 1) drawing permit hunts- these hunts limit harvest by restricting the number of hunters. Application period is during November/December prior to the regulation year, and require a nonrefundable application fee. Allocation is through a computerized draw; 2) registration permit hunts - these hunts do not usually limit the number of permits, although a few registration hunts limit the number of permits on a first-come, first serve basis; 3) Tier I Subsistence permit hunts (residents only); 4) Tier II Subsistence permit hunts (residents only) - held when there isn't enough game to satisfy all subsistence needs. Allocation is based on a scored questionnaire; 5) Community Harvest permits (not included in layer at this time); 6) general season hunts - least restrictive hunts generally open to most people and require less pre-planning than permit hunts. A harvest ticket may be required for general season hunts.

Prior to July 2010, the hunt files were stored and edited in an ArcInfo Coverage format. Each species has its own coverage and the permit and general season hunt areas were kept in separate directories. The format for the two types of hunts required different fields and formats. The permit coverages include: bison, blkbear, brnbear, caribou, elk, moose, mtgoat, muskox, and sheep. The general season coverages include: blkbear, brnbear, caribou, deer, elk, moose, sheep, wolf, and wolverine.

As part of the conversion to an enterprise geodatabase (ArcSDE), work began in 2009-10 to clean-up the data (match with refined UCU layers) and massage the formats so all 18 coverages could be merged into one data layer. Additional fields were added and a workflow developed for updating as needed. The archive layer for the 2009-10 season will also be in this format. Archives prior to this will be included in ArcSDE as is (in separate coverages).

Trapping regulations and waterfowl regulations are not included in this layer.

Hunt Area Digital File History:

1992-93 - Initial development of a small subset of hunt area boundaries to create maps for the permit and Tier II hunt supplements. Original digitizing was from USGS 1:250,000 and 1:63,360 paper quads using traditional digitizing methods.

1993-2000 - modifications and additions were made to the permit hunt files as needed for the supplements and other specific projects. When USGS DRG maps became available, heads-up digitizing was used whenever possible.

Starting in 2002, an effort to digitize and map ALL permit (Draw, Tier II, and Registration) hunts was started. Digital maps (8.5 x 11) were developed for distribution to the public via the web. Improvements to the accuracy, quality and distribution format of static products is ongoing. The maps are currently available as .gif and .pdf files.

2006 - Master hunt files (coverages) converted to Alaska Albers NAD 83 (originally Alaska Albers NAD 27)

2006-07 - Initial digitizing of general season hunts was completed. 2009-10 - Python programs were created and tested to merge the multiple (18) coverages into one ArcSDE GDB layer. Domains were set up to handle area names, descriptions, species, etc. Final conversion will be completed after the release of ArcGIS 10 (July 2010).

June 2010 - Final UCU refinement matching complete (GMUs 23 and 26). Version prepped for July 1, 2010 conversion to include the new Region IV. Updates to hunts areas for 2010-11 completed.

July 2010 - In addition to making adjustments for the Region II/IV split, the GIS storage format for the hunts files has changed. Prior to July 2010, the each species was in a separate ArcInfo Coverage, and divided by general vs. permit hunts (18 coverages). In the new format, all hunts will be in one GIS layer.