# Right for Most of Alaska. Wrong for Kodiak. > A Kodiak court file holds an AI answer's September 1st, the law's October 8th and a September 5th snipe hunt. Published 2026-09-30 by Alaska AI. 9 slides. Canonical: https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-09-30/ ## The story Right for most of Alaska. Wrong for Kodiak. On September 5th, a Kodiak hunter took three snipe. She had searched "Snipe season" on her phone. She told a trooper that, according to Google, the season began September 1st. Kodiak's zone opens October 8th. The zone was in the parentheses. "ADF&G sets the Wilson's Snipe hunting season in Alaska generally from September 1st through December 16th (or matching general migratory bird/waterfowl windows depending on the specific zone...)" Five zones. Two opening days. Southeast, Gulf Coast and Northern open September 1st. Kodiak and the Pribilof and Aleutian zone open October 8th. Unimak Island goes with the Gulf Coast. Same length. Only the start moves. She called troopers on herself the same afternoon. No contest. A $150 fine. The charge was a Class A misdemeanor. She pleaded no contest and was fined $150, the Alaska Beacon reported. "I expect we'll see more of this type of thing in the future." Spokesman Austin McDaniel says it's the first time he thinks the department has seen AI cited, and it doesn't track these cases. Google's own help page says AI Overviews "can and will make mistakes." Read the zone before the date. DPS says the one source of truth for hunts is ADF&G's regulations and emergency orders. ## What we verified - The charging complaint says the offense happened on or about September 5th, at or near Kodiak. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - The trooper's affidavit says the hunter went to Bull Lake in Pasagshak on Kodiak Island and harvested three snipe. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - Dispatch received the hunter's call at 1430 hours on September 5th, the same day as the hunt. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - According to the affidavit, the hunter told the trooper she had searched Google for snipe season and that, according to Google, the season began on September 1st. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - Trooper Wick wrote that he ran his own Google search using the words Snipe Season Alaska. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - The affidavit quotes the AI Overview as saying ADF&G sets the Wilson's snipe season in Alaska generally from September 1st through December 16th. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - The AI Overview text quoted in the affidavit hedged with the word generally and added that dates could match migratory bird windows depending on the specific zone. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - The trooper wrote that the 2026-2027 Migratory Game Bird Hunting Regulations would have shown snipe can be legally taken from October 8th through January 22nd. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - The citation charged the hunter under regulation 5 AAC 85.065(a)(4)(I), which sets the snipe season for Units 8 and 10 outside Unimak Island at October 8th to January 22nd. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - The complaint lists the offense as a Class A misdemeanor. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - The affidavit says the breast meat from the three snipe was seized and disposed of. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - Trooper Wick signed the affidavit on September 18th. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - The hunter was issued a citation with a mandatory arraignment on September 25th in Kodiak court. [Alaska Court System, Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR (via DocumentCloud)](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28686379-260918-3ko-26-00162cr-icdf-initial-charging-document/), primary document, 2026-09-18. - ADF&G's 2026-2027 migratory game bird regulations set the Kodiak zone, Unit 8, season at October 8th to January 22nd. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/waterfowl.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-01. - ADF&G's 2026-2027 regulations set the Pribilof and Aleutian zone, Unit 10 except Unimak Island, season at October 8th to January 22nd. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/waterfowl.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-01. - ADF&G's 2026-2027 regulations open the Gulf Coast zone, Units 5 to 7, 9, 10 on Unimak Island only, and 14 to 16, on September 1st through December 16th. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/waterfowl.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-01. - ADF&G's 2026-2027 regulations open the Northern zone, Units 11 to 13 and 17 to 26, on September 1st through December 16th. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/waterfowl.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-01. - ADF&G's 2026-2027 regulations open the Southeast zone, Units 1 to 4, on September 1st through November 30th and December 16th through December 31st, closed December 1st to 15th. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/waterfowl.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-01. - The snipe bag limit is 8 per day and 24 in possession in every one of the five zone tables in ADF&G's 2026-2027 booklet. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/waterfowl.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-01. - ADF&G defines migratory game birds as small game, including waterfowl, sandhill cranes and snipe. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/waterfowl.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-01. - ADF&G's booklet map is titled Alaska Migratory Bird Hunting Zones and Game Management Units and labels five zones. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/waterfowl.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-01. - Google's own help page for AI Overviews says they can and will make mistakes and tells users to check important information in more than one place. [Google Search Help](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/14901683), primary document, 2026-10-01. - ADF&G's hunting regulations page says emergency orders may take precedence over the printed regulation booklets. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildliferegulations.hunting), primary document, 2026-10-01. - The Kodiak relief drawn in the deck is from AWS Terrain Tiles (Mapzen terrarium encoding), zoom 10, resampled to a 0.006 by 0.003 degree grid. [AWS Open Data, Terrain Tiles](https://registry.opendata.aws/terrain-tiles/), primary document, 2026-10-01. - ADF&G defines Game Management Unit 9 as the Alaska Peninsula and adjacent islands. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Game Management Unit definitions](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=huntingmaps.gmuinfo&gmu=9), primary document, 2026-10-01. - ADF&G defines Game Management Unit 8 as all islands southeast of the center line of Shelikof Strait, including Kodiak, Afognak, Shuyak, Chirikof, the Trinity Islands, the Semidi Islands and the Barren Islands. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Game Management Unit definitions](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=huntingmaps.gmuinfo&gmu=8), primary document, 2026-10-01. - Kodiak's zone and the Pribilof and Aleutian zone open 37 days after the three zones that open September 1st. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/waterfowl.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-01. - The September 5th hunt was 33 days before Kodiak's October 8th opener. [Alaska Department of Fish and Game, with Kodiak District Court case 3KO-26-00162CR](https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/waterfowl.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-01. - The Alaska Beacon, republished by Alaska Public Media on September 28th, reported that incorrect information from a Google AI overview caused a Kodiak woman to hunt snipe illegally on September 5th. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - The hunter took three snipe. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - Alaska Wildlife Trooper Alex Wick wrote in an affidavit attached to the citation that the hunter called troopers to self-report the violation. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - Trooper Wick said he ran a Google search he described as identical to the hunter's and received the same incorrect information. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - The hunter became suspicious after learning that duck season did not open until October 8th. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - Trooper Wick wrote that after her own research the hunter learned snipe are not legal to take under the general season until October 8th, and then contacted dispatch to turn herself in. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - The hunter pleaded no contest to the citation. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - The hunter was fined $150. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - Austin McDaniel, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Public Safety, said he thinks this is the first time the department has seen AI cited. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - McDaniel said the Department of Public Safety doesn't keep track of cases involving false information provided by AI software. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - McDaniel said he expects more cases like this in the future. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - McDaniel said the one source of truth for hunts is the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's regulations and emergency orders. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - McDaniel said the consequences for self-reporting a hunting violation versus being caught can be pretty dramatic. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - Google did not respond to the Alaska Beacon's email seeking comment. [Alaska Beacon (James Brooks), republished by Alaska Public Media](https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-09-28/misleading-google-ai-instructions-cause-kodiak-woman-to-be-cited-for-illegal-snipe-hunt), report, 2026-09-28. - The Petersburg Borough Assembly considered starting a temporary data center moratorium on September 21st. [KFSK (Olivia Rose)](https://www.kfsk.org/2026/09/28/data-center-moratorium-proposal-fails-in-petersburg-assembly-stalemate/), report, 2026-09-28. - The Assembly tied 3-3 and so did not start the moratorium process. [KFSK (Olivia Rose)](https://www.kfsk.org/2026/09/28/data-center-moratorium-proposal-fails-in-petersburg-assembly-stalemate/), report, 2026-09-28. - Petersburg's Planning Commission asked the Assembly for a year-long freeze on data center applications or permits while local standards are developed. [KFSK (Olivia Rose)](https://www.kfsk.org/2026/09/28/data-center-moratorium-proposal-fails-in-petersburg-assembly-stalemate/), report, 2026-09-28. - Assembly Member Scott Newman supported a moratorium because he wanted protections and local control. [KFSK (Olivia Rose)](https://www.kfsk.org/2026/09/28/data-center-moratorium-proposal-fails-in-petersburg-assembly-stalemate/), report, 2026-09-28. - Petersburg Utility Director Steve Harbour said residents are squeezed at the gas station and everywhere else. [KFSK (Olivia Rose)](https://www.kfsk.org/2026/09/28/data-center-moratorium-proposal-fails-in-petersburg-assembly-stalemate/), report, 2026-09-28. - OpenStreetMap places Bull Lake in the Kodiak Island Borough at about 57.438 north, 152.459 west, beside Pasagshak Bay on the east side of Kodiak Island. [OpenStreetMap Nominatim](https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/search?q=Bull%20Lake%20Kodiak%20Alaska&format=json), report, 2026-10-01. Slides and the deck PDF are linked from the canonical page.