Moose harvest down slightly during season’s opening week

By Pete Warner, Bangor Daily News Staff

Seasonable temperatures, mating season dynamics and hunter effort were the key factors in a solid start to the Maine moose season last week.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s preliminary tally shows that 744 moose were harvested in WMDs 1-6, 10, 11, 18, 19, 27 and 28. That represents a 71 percent success rate.

Permits were expected to be issued to 1,050 hunters for the first “bull only” week in one of 12 Wildlife Management Districts that were open to hunting. Some permits may have been deferred or not utilized.

The first-week total is down slightly from 2021, when 77 percent of hunters (808 of 1,050) shot a moose. The net reduction was 64 animals.

Last year’s harvest during the entirety of the traditional statewide hunt — not taking into account the inaugural special adaptive hunt during October in WMD 4A — was the third lowest in terms of hunter success rate since the hunt was started in 1980. Of the 3,480 permit holders, only 2,353 tagged out — fewer than 70 percent.

The weather wasn’t perfect for the opening week of the current season as temperatures in northern Maine averaged a high of 63 degrees. However, it did not exceed 66 degrees on any hunting day.

Warmer weather can lead to reduced moose activity and lead them to hang out in wet or shaded areas, out of view of hunters.

Hunters killed fewer moose last week in five of the six zones where the most permits are allotted. WMDs 1-6 accounted for 925 of the 1,050 available permits for the first week.

That included 65 percent in WMD 4 (129 of 200), a drop of 11 percent from 2021, and 63 percent success (111 of 175) in WMD 2, compared to 72 percent last year.

The lowest harvest by percentage came in WMDs 27 and 28, along the Down East coast, where only 20 permits were issued and 12 moose killed. Permit holders may hunt in either of those zones.

WMD 3 bucked the trend with 77 percent success (77 of 100), a net gain of six moose over last year’s first week.

Leading the way were WMD 11, where 22 of 25 permits (88 percent) were filled, while 87 percent (26 of 30) hunters in WMD 10 harvested a moose.

The next wave of hunters will hit the ground Oct. 10-15, which is the second of the two bull only weeks. That season includes WMDs 1-14, 17-19 and 27-28 with a total of 1,580 permits having been issued.

The remainder of the 2022 Maine moose season is scheduled as follows:

Oct. 24-29: (antlerless only) WMDs 1-6, 8

Oct. 29: (any moose) Maine residents only, WMDs 15-16

Oct. 31-Nov. 26: (any moose) WMDs 15-16