The Emperor Goose is one of waterfowl conservation’s greatest success stories. Although these birds once thrived through Alaska, the population plummeted from 139,000 birds in 1964 to approximately 42,000 by the mid-1980s. Overhunting and coastal oil pollution were primarily responsible for the rapid decline. Consequently, both recreational and subsistence hunting for Emperor Geese was closed in 1987.
Hunting for this iconic Alaskan bird remained off-limits for thirty years. Time and conservation efforts of state, federal, and non-government agencies have successfully reversed the species' dramatic decline.
In 2015, the population hit an estimated 177,000 birds, soaring past the estimated numbers from 1964. That figure is about 60,000 birds above the threshold to sustain legal hunting. With this apparent population recovery, tribal, state, and federal representatives in the Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council developed a plan to open a subsistence and general harvest for Emperor Geese.
Alaska’s first Emperor Goose subsistence hunt opened in April 2017 with no permit or bag limit. It had been almost a generation since Alaskans had legally tasted Emperor Goose.
In the Fall of that same year, recreational hunters got their chance to harvest these sturdy and elusive birds. For recreational hunters, the season is strictly limited. Alaska’s Fish & Game authority only offers Emperor Goose registration permits to approximately 1,000 Alaska residents. There are only 25 permits available by lottery for non-residents. For most waterfowl hunters, pursuing Alaska’s Emperor Goose is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Recreational hunters are limited to one bird per hunting season. Successful harvests must be reported within 24 hours (or 72 hours, depending on the hunting zone). To ensure the Emperor Goose population remains healthy, the season is closed by emergency order when the quota for a zone is reached.
Emperor Geese breed mainly along Alaska’s western coast, with 80 to 90 percent of the population nesting from Kuskokwim Bay to Kotzebue Sound and on St. Lawrence and Nunivak islands. Most Emperor Geese winter in the Aleutian Islands. Some scattered birds may make the Alaska Peninsula their winter home. During a mild winter, some geese may even winter along the Gulf of Alaska and Cook Inlet's shores. Modest numbers can sometimes be found even further south into British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.
