Alaska Caribou — Unit 23
Alaska Unit 23 covers 30,143,557 acres and lies 34 miles north-east of Noorvik and 65 miles east of Kotzebue. In 2025, 579 people hunted caribou here and took 488 — 84% of them killed something. The 2025 draw put up 300 nonresident tags here for 666 first-choice applicants.
Your chance of drawing here
Every caribou license type on offer in Unit 23, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.
Chances are from the 2025 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.
Simple view Odds at every point level-
45% Real chance
| Hunt | Your odds | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DC923 ↗ Unit 23 | 45% Real chance | — | 300 / 666 | Aug 1 – Sep 30, 2025 |
What these columns mean
- Your odds —
- the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2025 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
- The badge —
- plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
- Points needed —
- the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2025 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
- Tags / applicants —
- tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.
What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)
| License | Up front | Gone if you miss | If you draw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per application | $165 | $165 | $815 |
Application window: opens Nov 1, closes Dec 15, 2026 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
The country
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
How the hunting has gone
What Alaska Department of Fish and Game publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. Alaska's figures come from mandatory harvest reports and sealing certificates rather than a hunter survey, so they are counts of animals reported, not estimates.
| Season | Hunters | Harvest | Success | Days per animal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 579 | 488 | 84% | 2.1 |
| 2024 | 573 | 489 | 85% | 1.7 |
| 2023 | 651 | 468 | 72% | 3.7 |
| 2022 | 413 | 281 | 65% | 2.6 |
| 2021 | 761 | 567 | 74% | 3.8 |
Boundary: Alaska Game Management Unit and Subunit boundaries (wc_public/GMUSubunits)