Maine Moose Lottery
 

Well my wife and I sent in for the lottery today. Deadline was fast approaching. I'm just about done sending in for the New England States draws. With the reduction in the amount of tags that is offered I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and go to New Brunswick. I do have 21 bonus point for this years draw. Does anyone else that plays the moose lottery feel the same way?

I went 0 for 6 when the wife and I lived there. Good Luck!

Ya I look at New England strictly as a huge bonus if drawn. If I really wanted to moose hunt no way I'd count on that! I got 15 Maine points this year, and quit NH after drawing with 8 points in 2012. Not worth starting from ground zero again. Good luck.

I also apply in NH and Vermont. How did you do in NH?

I saw only one mature bull in my 2 weeks there. But that is all I needed.
Link with some pics:
http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/nort...ts-posted.html

Oh yeah! Real nice bull, congrats.

It was a hell of a hunt. I camped and got much help from hurricane1, who I met in that HN thread. But a lot of luck was involved as well. It was a shame to see the moose population so low, and it's gone way down since. Unfortunately it has been an easy decision for me to not reapply there. The draw odds are very low, and with the quota being cut bigtime the 2 years since my hunt, it's even worse. I hope this winter killed off some of that tick population, and the moose recover. Wish everyone luck in this year's lottery.

Another amazing thing about my tag for unit C2 was that a guy who moose hunted it twice lived in my same small town here in Illinois! What are the odds? He used to live in CT years ago. I think in 2012 only NR's from 6 states drew tags, including just one other guy from Illinois. And I meet this guy that lives 2 miles from me? Yikes.

I bit the bullet and booked a 2016 Alberta Moose hunt. Of course I will still put in to draw in the states. Now by the time I draw a WY moose tag between the cost of the PP and the tag is half the cost of my Alberta hunt and I have to wait 15 yrs to draw on top of it. So in reality compared to a guided Canadian hunt for states where you have to build points your only saving a couple grand if you don't get a guide. If you get a guide its more or the same to hunt the states with tag and guide cost. You also don't have to wait in Canada and could moose hunt every year if you wanted. Good luck in your draw. Now the other thing is in the peace river region of Alberta you can pretty much expect to see 40-120 moose in a 8 day hunt. The place I'm going the worst week they had the guy "only saw" 70 moose in 8 days 11 of which were bulls which was the worst out of 15 hunters on the season. Now if you hunt fly in camps where bigger moose can be found you will be looking at 10 or less sightings most likely in 8 days and your cost of course goes up too.

I had a great uncle who lived in Maine and I applied with him for years but stopped when he passed away. One thing that turned me off to Maine was you would pay minimum app fee for 1 point but could give extra money to buy more points. I don't know if it's the same way but I found it unfair. I also used to apply in NH but the odds are long. As previous post stated your better off hunting Canada, you don't save much money waiting for Maine or NH if you need to hire a guide and spent all those years buying points.

The number of tags in NH took another big dive
this year down to 124 from 275 last year. Drawing
a tag there for a non-resident will be the about
as hard as winning the lottery.

Oh yes I had a thread going on Bowsite about the ridiculous 10 point packs ripping people off. I attached links to articles quoting the legislators even claiming it was totally unethical, but voted to continue bending over nonresidents anyway due to the extra money it generated from the line jumpers. The residents biatched about it so much they got rid of the 10 packs for them last year. Politicians suck.

Maine Hunting Lodge Moose Permits
 

A new law in 2014 allocates a limited number of moose permits to hunting outfitters. The law defines a hunting outfitter as a person who operates a recreational camp or sporting camp. For more information on this guarenteed moose tag, call 207-267-4166

Getting an early start on your advertising, eh? Have you already been selected as one of the outfitters?

Ya think, LOL! Naw, he wouldn't come on here to make a first post and do that!!!

Information from the state indicates that most of the qualified outfitters will get at least one or more.

Also I see that even if you shot yours you can still apply in order to score the bonus points..

First, I'm definitely not an advocate of this new law that was
slipped into place very quietly. It's just another way to take
tags away from the average person and give them to folks with
the deep pockets. I'm not an advocate of the ten packs for
non-residents either---I say just increase the amount for
1 chance in the lottery the same as they recently did
for residents.

However, I will add the the fellow that started talking about
this will not have to solicit on here ---as hard as it is to
draw a Maine Moose tag if he has an outfitter tag, folks
will be knocking on his door.

It will interesting to see just how much more $$ the outfitters will want to charge above the $1500 tag price added to the cost of what they charged last year to hunt moose.

Sounds to me like the SFW has their foot in the door in Maine now to get some tags out of the pool and into the hands of outfitters and that sucks!!!

Oh great. I pay my dues for 16 years then the Maine legislators grossly cheapen my points by peddling unlimited 10 point packs. Now they further water down my chances with outfitter welfare. Why am I not surprised? They have been whining about welfare for several years now, citing "that's what they do out west". It almost passed last year. And each year they will steal more and more tags. That is how it works. It will never end. There will never be enough to satisfy their entitlement ambitions.

Why am I not surprised? Yet again special interest groups line the pocket of a legislator to abandon the public trust. This time it's Maine's Troy Jackson.

http://georgesoutdoornews.bangordail...its-this-year/

All they got was one foot wedged firmly in the door, and you know what happens next? Paid your dues and waited your turn for 18 year?..........Bend over and grab your ankles:

http://www.mainelegislature.org/legi...s/HP034301.asp

BUMP on-line applications end on the 14th of May.

Good luck to everyone who applies!

Just so that you guys know.. They are cutting the moose permits this year by 2500. This is stated because of a high mortality rate this past year.. They say it is because of a tick problem?? I am not sure exactly what the issue is as I have been seeing a lot of yearlings and cows this spring.. This is also cutting down on how many permits can be taken by guides..

Thanks for the heads up Phil.

From the numbers I've seen, there will be zero outfitter welfare tags issued this year.

That is what it pretty much says.. So most everyone has to be drawn by the lottery or have a heavey bank account in order to hunt them.. Due to a few being auctioned off..

ive been buying blocks of 10 lately and its always a long shot. friend of mine did get a cow tag in 2012 and shot a nice one. is the cow tag a better then average draw?

I believe your odds would be about the same as most permit applications ask if you would be willing to take a cow tag instead of a bull. Also even if you happen to get a cow tag ( here at least ). You can swap to another zone if anyone is looking for a swap which could have you end up with a bull tag in the end..

I have a friend who had a moose permit but could not hunt that year because his wife was sick with cancer. So he had asked about it and they had gave him the following year to hunt for one.. That was quite reasonable of them in my opinion anyway..

I don't think I will try and draw a cow tag. I want a bill like the rest an I'll wait an hope for the day like everyone else. I'm young so I've got plenty of time :)

Results are posted.

No tag for me but I didn't want one this year anyway.

Good luck.

I wanted one but no deal. Still holding out for Vermont.If that doesn't happen I'll still be busy. Mule deer hunting in Wy, bear hunting in WV, and chasing deer here in Ohio and WV.

Thirty some-odd years applying and my best hunting buddy finally got drawn. Bull permit in District 2. Just a little excited!

Congratulations to your buddy! I didn't draw this time.

ATB

Congrats to your buddy hurricane! Distric 2 is a pretty decent zone to be hunting in.. Good luck to him when he gets on his hunt.. I hope you guys can share a couple of pics once you score..

i didnt draw. but thats ok. i have a bear hunt up in allagash anyways and i dont think i could have done both.

If you had the zone in that area sure you could have.. But if you had a zone farther south or east it could be done but a much harder time with it that is all.

Congrats on getting drawn!!!

Anybody looking to swap hunts?

Check out this free site to find a swap......

https://www.facebook.com/SwapyourMoo..._type=bookmark

Started a couple years ago to save folks the fee the state charges to list on their site.