Maine
Hunters hope for cool weather as Maine moose hunt begins next week
Many people name it the hunt of a lifetime.
And for lots of hunters, the possibility to pursue a moose is particular. In lots of instances, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime alternative.
That explains the large pleasure throughout the open air neighborhood surrounding Maine’s annual moose hunt, which begins on Monday.
The primary wave of hunters — amongst 4,080 who had been awarded permits within the June lottery — will descend on moose nation in Wildlife Administration Districts 1-6, 10, 11, 18, 19, 27 and 28.
The opening week, which can contain 1,050 hunters and their sub-permittees, is for bulls solely. Hunters could solely pursue moose within the designated WMD listed on their allow.
This yr, 69,635 folks utilized for a moose allow, together with 45,302 Maine residents and 24,249 out-of-state hunters. That was down barely from the 71,966 candidates in 2021.
Hunters are hoping for fall situations this yr that function cool days and chilly nights. That mixture helps be certain that moose can be up and about in the course of the day and never hunkered down attempting to fight the warmth.
The climate impacts moose motion. On scorching days and heat nights, as have been common occurrences in recent times in the course of the two bulls-only weeks, moose warmth up shortly due to their thick, black hides.
Final yr, heat temperatures had been a key issue when solely 57 p.c of hunters tagged out in the course of the October bulls-only week. That helped push down the general success price for the state hunt to 68 p.c, the third lowest since its inception in 1980.
These totals don’t embody the particular adaptive hunt in WMD 4A.
A yr earlier, 76 p.c of hunters harvested a moose, the very best harvest since 2012.
The imply temperature in Caribou from 1980-89 was 53.6 levels in September and 42.8 levels in October, based on knowledge offered by the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Over the previous 10 years, the numbers have risen to 57.8 levels (September) and 46.0 levels (October), demonstrating a warming development.
Final fall, the imply temperature was 58.5 in September and 49.9 levels in October.
Heat temperatures not solely hamper moose motion, however imply hunters should get better and extract their moose shortly and effectively after the kill to stop spoilage of the meat.
The forecast subsequent week for Aroostook County, the place a lot of the moose looking can be going down, seems favorable. Rain is predicted Monday with an opportunity of showers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
That, coupled with excessive temperatures that aren’t anticipated to exceed 60 levels from Wednesday by way of Saturday, whereas staying within the 40s at evening, must be conducive to productive looking.
Lee Kantar, the moose biologist for the Maine Division of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, stated there aren’t any large modifications for this yr’s moose hunt.
“We added some cow permits in District 8, which is essential as a result of District 8 is floor zero for our science on moose and the winter tick dynamic,” Kantar stated of the antlerless-only hunt the week of Oct. 24-29.
WMD 8 encompasses the world to the southwest, west and northwest of Moosehead Lake, spanning some 2,000 sq. miles. Kantar stated regardless of a common reluctance to permit cows to be killed within the area, the place moose safaris and moose watching are frequent actions, it’s vital to reap some.
“It had been bulls-only for fairly a very long time,” Kantar stated. “There’s an amazing quantity of moose habitat in District 8, so it’s a extremely mild contact, our harvest is, contemplating what’s on the market.”
Nevertheless, in the course of the first two weeks of the season, Sept. 26-Oct. 1 and Oct. 10-15, solely bulls could also be taken. Hunters can be scanning the roads, tree harvest areas and woods for antlers, looking for trophy-size bulls which might be roaming the Maine woods.
The first objective of all moose hunters is to acquire scrumptious meat. And based on longtime Registered Maine Information and moose knowledgeable Roger Lambert of Sturdy, a mean moose will yield, conservatively, 325 kilos of meat.
Throughout the previous 10 years, hunters in Maine have harvested a mean of two,160 moose, which represents roughly 702,000 kilos of meat per yr.
“This yr, minimal, there can be 351 tons of high-protein, low-fat, chem-free native meals that’s going mainly to the New England ladder,” Lambert stated.
Within the span of a decade, that equates 7 million kilos of Maine moose meat.
The 2022 Maine moose season:
Sept. 26-Oct. 1: (bull solely) WMDs 1-6, 10, 11, 18-19, 27-28
Oct. 10-15: (bull solely) WMDs 1-14, 17-19, 27-28
Oct. 24-29: (antlerless solely) WMDs 1-6, 8
Oct. 29: (any moose) Maine residents solely, WMDs 15-16
Oct. 31-Nov. 26: (any moose) WMDs 15-16