The following charts were sent to me by a reader. In discussions that have been ongoing in Maine about the condition of the moose herd, some, including myself, wondered what, if any, adjustments would be made to next year’s allocation of moose permits.
Some in Maine have been stating that for at least the past 2 or 3 years, there are not as many moose that can be seen as some have come to expect, even though there doesn’t appear to be any noticeable indications of this in the 2013 moose harvest data.
For the 2013 moose hunting season, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) authorities issued a total of 4,110 moose permits, most of which were doled out by lottery drawing.
The proposal sent to me, suggests lowering the number of permits by 25 (twenty-five), so essentially no change in number of permits. The differences in permit allocation can be found in a decrease in moose permits for Wildlife Management Districts (WMD) 1, 2, 3 and bigger increases for WMD 7 and 9.
*Note: Due to the passage of LD738/S304, which became law by default because Governor LePage would not sign nor veto the legislation, 94/95 moose permits will be taken away from the proposed 4,085 because the law states that 10% of moose permit allocations above 3,140 will be sold to special interest groups, cheating Maine residents out of opportunity to bag a moose.
