Sports
MOOSE09-5.JPG
File photo courtesy of Bill Graves BULL MOOSE — This fine bull moose is covered with burdocks after plowing through the woods and brush to investigate cow calls. During hunts, using a moose call is very productive.
File photo courtesy of Bill Graves BULL MOOSE — This fine bull moose is covered with burdocks after plowing through the woods and brush to investigate cow calls. During hunts, using a moose call is very productive.

Have you been waiting forever to draw a Maine moose tag?

Staff, Piscataquis Observer •April 1, 2026

By Susan Bard, Bangor Daily News Outdoors Editor

The Maine moose lottery is open now through 11:59 p.m. May 18. The drawing will take place June 20 in Acton.

New this year, the state is showing how permits are allocated between residents, nonresidents and lodges. In previous years, only the total number of permits available for each zone and season was listed.

You can view the table below or on the state’s website to see that breakdown.

For example, if you’re a nonresident, don’t waste an application on a zone that doesn’t have a permit available to you — like Zones 11 or 19, which have zero nonresident permits for the September bull season.

A total of 3,705 permits will be issued this year. Of those, 3,343 are allocated to residents, 288 to nonresidents and 74 to lodges.

That breaks down to 90.23% for residents, 7.77% for nonresidents and 2% for lodges.

There are 400 fewer permits this year due to the elimination of the WMD 4 adaptive hunt, which concluded its five-year research phase last year.

The September hunt is bull only and runs Sept. 28 through Oct. 3. Depending on the zone, there may be one or two October hunts. The first runs Oct. 12-17 and is also bull only. The second runs Oct. 26-31 and is antlerless.

Applicants can select up to 10 wildlife management districts, ranked in order of preference. The drawing is random, and permits are awarded within separate pools for residents and nonresidents.

Successful applicants are assigned their highest available choice. If those districts are filled, they are assigned the next available district, with season and permit type determined by availability.

Applicants also accumulate bonus points each year they apply and are not selected, which increases their chances in future drawings. These points do not guarantee a permit.

Last year’s harvest registered 2,309 moose from 4,075 permits, for an overall success rate of 57%.

Here’s how last year’s lottery broke down:

2025 totals:

Total applications received: 76,217
Total permits issued: 4,105
Change from previous year: 0
Antlerless permits: 1,460
Bull permits: 2,645

Resident lottery:
Applicants: 48,066
Permits issued: 3,712
Selection rate: 9.8% (about 1 in 10)Nonresident lottery:
Applicants: 28,151
Permits issued: 393
Selection rate: 1.4% (about 1 in 70)

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