Alaska Administrative Code
Title 5 - Fish and Game
Part 3 - Game
Chapter 92 - Statewide Provisions
Article 20 - Definitions
5 AAC 92.990 - Definitions

(1) "airport" means an airport listed in the current Federal Aviation Administration Alaska supplement and aviation chart;

(2) "animal" means any species with a vertebral column (backbone);

(3) "antler" means the annually cast and regenerated bony growth originating from the pedicle portion of the skull in members of the deer family;

(4) "antlerless" means the absence of an antler;

(5) "ATV"

(6) "bag limit" means the maximum number of animals of any one game species a person may take in a unit or portion of a unit in which the taking occurs; an animal disturbed in the course of legal hunting does not count towards a bag limit;

(7) "bait" means any material excluding scent lures, that is placed to attract an animal by its sense of smell or taste; "bait" does not include those parts of legally taken animals that are not required to be salvaged as edible meat if the parts are not moved from the kill site;

(8) "barbed" means, in the case of an arrowhead, having any fixed portion of the rear edge of the arrowhead forming an angle less than 90 degrees with the shaft when measured from the nock end of the arrow; a notch or space of no more than two millimeters between the base of the blade and the shaft shall not be considered a barb;

(9) "big game" means black bear, brown bear, bison, caribou, Sitka black-tailed deer, elk, mountain goat, moose, muskox, Dall sheep, wolf, and wolverine; "big game", for the purposes of a youth hunt, does not include bison or muskox;

(10) "boat" means a vehicle, vessel, or watercraft operated in or on water deep enough to float it at rest and includes hovercraft, airboats, personal watercraft, and amphibious vehicles;

(11) "bow" means a long bow, recurve bow, or compound bow that is a device for launching an arrow which derives its propulsive energy solely from the bending and recovery of two limbs, and that is hand-held and hand-drawn by a single and direct pulling action of the bowstring by the shooter with the shooter's fingers or a hand-held or wrist-attached release aid; the energy used to propel the arrow may not be derived from hydraulic, pneumatic, explosive, or mechanical devices, but may be derived from the mechanical advantage provided by wheels or cams if the available energy is stored in the bent limbs of the bow; no portion of the bow's riser (handle) or an attachment to the bow's riser may contact, support, or guide the arrow from a point rearward of the bowstring when strung and at rest; "bow" does not include a crossbow or any device that has a gun-type stock or incorporates any mechanism that holds the bowstring at partial or full draw without the shooter's muscle power;

(12) "broadhead" means a fixed, replaceable, or mechanical/retractable blade-type arrowhead that is not barbed, with two or more sharp cutting edges having a minimum cutting diameter of not less than seven-eighths inch;

(13) "brow tine" means a tine emerging from the first branch or brow palm on the main beam of a moose antler; the brow palm is separated from the main palm by a wide bay; a tine originating in or after this bay is not a brow tine; an antler point or tine originating within two inches from the base, and less than three inches in length, will not be counted as a brow tine;

(14) "brown bear" means Ursus arctos including grizzly bears; the terms brown bear and grizzly bear are synonymous;

(15) "buck" means any male Sitka black-tailed deer;

(16) "bull moose" means a male moose;

(17) "calf" means a moose, caribou, elk, muskox, or bison less than 12 months old;

(18) "closed season" means the time when game may not be taken;

(19) "crossbow" means a bow, mounted on a stock, which mechanically holds the string at partial or full draw, that shoots projectiles which are generally called bolts or quarrels;

(20) "cub bear" means a brown/grizzly bear in its first or second year of life, or a black bear (including the cinnamon and blue phases) in its first year of life;

(21) "deleterious exotic wildlife" includes

(22) "dire emergency" means a situation in which a person

(23) "domicile" means the location of a person's primary residence; evidence of domicile includes

(24) "drainage" means the area of land drained by a creek, stream, or river, unless further defined in regulation;

(25) "drawing permit" means a permit issued to a person who is one of a limited number of people selected by means of a lottery held for people who have submitted a valid application for the permit and who agree to abide by the conditions specified for each hunt;

(26) "edible meat" means, in the case of a big game animal, except a bear, the meat of the ribs, neck, brisket, front quarters, hindquarters, and the meat along the backbone between the front and hindquarters; in the case of a bear, the meat of the front quarters and hindquarters and meat along the backbone (backstrap); in the case of small game birds, except for cranes, geese, and swan, the meat of the breast; in the case of cranes, geese, and swan, the meat of the breast, the meat of the legs (femur and tibia-fibula), and the meat of the upper wings humerus; however, "edible meat" of big game or small game birds does not include meat of the head, meat that has been damaged and made inedible by the method of taking, bones, sinew, incidental meat reasonably lost as a result of boning or a close trimming of the bones, or viscera;

(27) "falconry" means the sport of taking game by means of a trained raptor;

(28) "field" has the meaning given in AS 08.54.790;

(29) "front quarter" means the front leg and shoulder, including the scapula, as far as the distal joint of the radius-ulna;

(30) "full-curl horn" of a male (ram) Dall sheep means that

(31) "fur animal" means a beaver, coyote, arctic fox, red fox, lynx, flying squirrel, ground squirrel, or red squirrel that has not been domestically raised; "fur animal" is a classification of animals subject to taking with a hunting license;

(32) "furbearer" means a beaver, black bear, coyote, arctic fox, red fox, lynx, fisher, marten, mink, least weasel, short-tailed weasel, muskrat, land otter, red squirrel, flying squirrel, ground squirrel, Alaskan marmot, hoary marmot, woodchuck, wolf, or wolverine; "furbearer" is a classification of animals subject to taking with a trapping license;

(33) "handicraft" means a finished product in which the shape or appearance of the natural material has been substantially changed by skillful use of the hands, such as by sewing, carving, etching, scrimshawing, painting, or other means, and which has substantially greater monetary and aesthetic value than the unaltered natural material alone;

(34) "harass" means to repeatedly approach an animal in a manner which results in the animal altering its behavior;

(35) "harvest objective" is the human consumptive use goal set by the board in consultation with the department, and means the number of animals to be made available for human harvest from a game population or portion of that population on an annual basis;

(36) "hide" means any untanned external covering of any game animal's body, but does not include a handicraft or other finished product; "hide" of a bear means the entire external covering with claws attached;

(37) "highway" means the driveable surface of a constructed road;

(38) "hindquarter" means the hind leg, excluding the pelvis, as far as the distal joint of the tibia-fibula (hock);

(39) "household" means that group of people domiciled in the same residence;

(40) "hunting area" for a species means that portion of a game management unit in which a season and a bag limit for that species are set out in 5 AAC 85;

(41) "inboard motor" includes a motor located within the confines of a boat;

(42) "invasive species"

(43) "jaw spread" means the distance between the inside of the jaws of a trap measured on a line perpendicular to a line drawn through the jaw pivot points when the trap is in a set position;

(44) "jet aircraft" means an aircraft powered by an engine or engines that have no external propellers;

(45) "mechanical blade-type broadhead" and "retractable blade-type broad head" means a broadhead with cutting edges that are retracted during flight and open upon impact to a minimum cutting diameter of not less than seven-eighths inch and does not lock open after impact to create fixed barbs;

(46) "moose antler" definitions:

(47) "motorized land vehicle" means a motorized vehicle operated on land, and includes hovercraft and airboats;

(48) "motorized vehicle" means a motor-driven land, water, or air conveyance;

(49) "Muridae rodent" includes true mice and rats, gerbils, and their relatives;

(50) "muzzleloader" means a firearm for which firing components are loaded into the muzzle end of the firearm;

(51) "naturally shed antler" means any portion of an antler that has the base (burr) intact and that has not been physically removed from the skull by cutting, sawing, or breaking;

(52) "nonresident" includes a nonresident alien as defined in AS 16.05.940;

(53) "nuisance wildlife" includes

(54) "open season" means the time when game may be taken; an open season includes the first and last days of the period prescribed;

(55) "peace officer" means a police officer of the state or a person authorized by the commissioner of the Department of Fish and Game under AS 16.05.150;

(56) "peak draw weight" means the peak poundage at which a bow is drawn through or held at full draw by the shooter at the shooter's draw length;

(57) "pelt" has the same meaning as "hide";

(58) "permit hunt" means a hunt for which a permit is issued on a drawing, registration, subsistence, or targeted hunt basis;

(59) "person" means a natural person and does not include a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association, organization, business trust, or society;

(60) "personally accompanied" means staying within 100 yards of the person being accompanied at the point where an attempt to take game is made;

(61) "point" means any antler projection that is at least one inch long, and that is longer than it is wide, measured one inch or more from the tip; an antler point or tine originating within two inches from the base, and less than three inches in length, will not be counted as a tine;

(62) "poison" means a substance that is toxic or poisonous upon contact or ingestion;

(63) "population objective" means the desired size of a game population or portion of that population, set by the board in consultation with the department;

(64) "possession limit",

(65) "processed for human consumption" means prepared for immediate consumption or prepared in such a manner, and in an existing state of preservation, as to be fit for human consumption after a 15-day period;

(66) "property" means

(67) "registration permit" means a hunting permit issued to a person who agrees to the conditions specified for each hunt; permits are issued in the order applications are received, and are issued beginning on a date announced by the department and continuing

(68) "regulatory year" means July 1 - June 30;

(69) "road-connected area" means the location of domiciles that are normally accessed by motorized highway vehicles operating on constructed roads that connect to the main highway system in the relevant area, including roads that can be negotiated during any portion of the year; in this paragraph, "normally accessed" means that it is reasonably feasible to transport persons, food, and other supplies to domiciles by motorized highway vehicles;

(70) "salvage" means to transport the edible meat, heart, liver, kidneys, head, skull, or hide, as required by statute or regulation, of a game animal or small game bird to the location where the edible meat, heart, liver, or kidneys will be consumed by humans or processed for human consumption in order to save or prevent the edible meat, heart, liver, or kidneys from waste, and the head, skull, or hide will be put to human use;

(71) "sealing" means the placement of an official marker or locking tag (seal) by an authorized representative of the Department of Fish and Game on an animal hide or skull, and may include;

(72) "7/8 curl horn" means the horn of a mature male Dall sheep, the tip of which has grown through seven-eighths of a circle (315°), described by the outer surface of the horn, as viewed from the side, or with both horn tips broken;

(73) "skin" has the same meaning as "hide";

(74) "small game" means all species of grouse, hare, other than Belgian hare, ptarmigan, waterfowl, crane, and snipe;

(75) "snowmachine" means a motor vehicle of 850 pounds or less gross vehicle weight, primarily designed to travel over snow, and supported, in part by skis, belts, or tracks; "snowmachine" includes the motor vehicle commonly known as a snowmobile;

(76) "targeted permit" means a permit issued on short notice and a lottery basis to an applicant who has previously registered and is willing to participate in a hunt under short notice;

(77) "3/4 curl horn" means the horn of a mature male Dall sheep, the tip of which has grown through three-quarters of a circle (270°), described by the outer surface of the horn, as viewed from the side;

(78) "Tier I" means the circumstance where the board has identified a game population that is customarily and traditionally used for subsistence and where it is anticipated that a reasonable opportunity can be provided to all residents who desire to engage in that subsistence use;

(79) "Tier II" means the circumstance where the board has identified a game population that is customarily and traditionally used for subsistence and where, even after nonsubsistence uses are eliminated, it is anticipated that a reasonable opportunity to engage in that subsistence use cannot be provided to all residents eligible at Tier I who desire to participate;

(80) "tine" has the same meaning as "point";

(81) "transport" means to ship, carry, import, export, or receive or deliver for shipment, carriage, or export;

(82) "trophy" means a mount of a big game animal, including the skin of the head (cape) or the entire skin, in a lifelike representation of the animal, including a lifelike representation made from any part of a big game animal; "trophy" also includes a "European mount" in which the horns or antlers and the skull or a portion of the skull are mounted for display;

(83) "unclassified game" means any species of game not otherwise classified in this section as "big game," "deleterious exotic wildlife," "fur animal," "furbearer," or "small game";

(84) "unit" means one of the 26 geographical areas defined in 5 AAC 92.450;

(85) "within the second degree of kindred" means a mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, spouse, grandparent, grandchild, brother- or sister-in-law, son- or daughter-in-law, father- or mother-in-law, step-father, step-mother, step-sister, step-brother, step-son, and step-daughter;

(86) "year" means calendar year unless another year is specified;

(87) "youth hunt" means a hunt limited to a child aged 10 to 17 and an accompanying adult; if the child is a

(88) "wireless communication" means electronic communication of any form that is transmitted through the air without requiring any cable or wires between two or more devices;

(89) "previously purchasing" means fully paid for and in possession of the hunter before hunting, pursuing, or attempting to take game; in this paragraph, "take" has the meaning given in AS 16.05.940.