Brown bears, moose, caribou and wolves may be the first species of big game you think of in Alaska, but there are elk in the Last Frontier. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) recently announced a new elk hunting opportunity.
Elk numbers on Raspberry Island, found southwest of Anchorage in the Gulf of Alaska, are within the management objective of 150 to 200 so ADFG announced the allocation of 25 cow elk licenses for Alaska residents. (The drawing took place in late September 2025.)
According to ADFG, archeological discoveries show a subspecies of elk once existed in Interior Alaska during the Pleistocene period. Wildlife officials captured eight Roosevelt elk calves in Washington and moved them to Afognak Island in 1929.
Today, elk live on Afognak Island as well as Raspberry Island.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has a conservation history in Alaska dating back to 1993, where RMEF and its partners completed 152 conservation and hunting heritage outreach projects there with a combined value of more than $6.6 million. These projects conserved or enhanced 8,239 acres of habitat and opened or improved public access to 5,931 acres.
(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)