Moose meat doesn’t come cheaply or easily

Looking at her husband’s 900-pound moose, Diane Morency could think only of the feast to come. But a cheap feast it would not be.

“We could have filet mignon every day for a year and it would not cost as much as coming up here and catching this moose,” Morency said.

That after only a day of hunting. For those who spent more than one day looking for a moose during the moose hunt, the cost of the hunt would have added up quickly, especially with the price of gasoline. And 80 percent of those who had success tagged their moose after the first day.

The preliminary numbers for the 2000 moose hunt released Monday by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife showed 2,536 of 3,000 permit-holders bagged a moose during the six-day hunt that ended Saturday. That’s an 84.5 percent success rate, down from last year’s 87 percent. The rate hasn’t been so low since 1984, when 81 percent of permit holders bagged a moose.

However, biologists and DIFW officials say that since the permits were increased to 3,000 last year, reaching the 90th percentile is not as easy as when there were only 1,500 permits.

DIFW biologist Rich Hoppe, who worked in Ashland (which led the hunt with 351 moose tagged), said the drop in percentage is deceiving. For one, Hoppe said, the final figures are not in and could boost the success rate. Then there was the snowstorm on Monday and Tuesday, which affected the hunt early on, Hoppe said.

“With the snowstorm, the moose hunker down and are not moving,” Hoppe said. “But, part of the problem is that people are under the perception that because in years past it’s been 90 percent or better, that’s what you’re going to get. That’s not sound thinking. The habitat has changed tremendously with clear-cuts growing in. A moose takes two steps in from the road now and he’s gone. You can’t just ride the roads, which is the tradition [of the hunt].”

Dennis Beaulier, owner of Gateway Variety Store in Ashland, said the snowstorm had an effect and it only dusted the Ashland area. The first day there were 25 fewer moose tagged than last year, Beaulier said, while every other day matched last year’s numbers.

Farther north, the storm had more of an effect.

In Fort Kent, where there were 17 less moose tagged than last year, Lonny Soucy at G&T Handy Mart said there was as much as 14 inches of snow through Wednesday.

“Some guys came in on Friday and had the moose packed in snow,” Soucy said.

Of the 2,536 hunters who bagged a moose, 20 percent (or 700) tagged them on the first day, making their hunt easier, their adventure cheaper.

Marcel Boisvert got lucky.

Boisvert, of Biddeford, waited 20 years for his moose permit and needed only one day to find his 845-pound moose. It cost Boisvert approximately $635. And that’s splitting the cost of the butcher with his subpermittee and staying in his buddy’s camp.

To say it was worth it for Boisvert is an understatement.

“If you compare the money verses the meat, you probably will go shopping at Shaw’s [and get more for your money]. For me, it’s a way of relaxing, I enjoy to hunt,” Boisvert said. “And I enjoy wild meat. I’m not home half the time. I’m always hunting. I hunt anything I can: duck, turkey, deer. I love turkey. It’s very lean.”

Mind you, Boisvert could have done the moose hunt for less. He said he spent about $470 on food, gas, 1,000 pounds of ice, rope, cable and chains. In the end, he needed little of it.

He spotted his moose before noon Monday near Moxie Lake in Somerset County. He shot it in the woods, then when the moose made its way to a tote road, Boisvert intercepted it and shot it again. It fell right in the road.

“I used just 16 feet of rope, and I had 2,000,” Boisvert laughed. “My group was happy to see it fall in the road.

“We had 16 inches of snow in parts of the Forks [the next day]. It took us an hour to get out of the camp. We had to use a chain saw to get to the main road. That was the most difficult part of the hunt.”

Gregory York, a master guide in Maine, was on his sixth moose hunt, his first with a permit. Some may have thought he’d get his moose on the first day, but York didn’t bag his 994-pound moose until Wednesday.

York spent approximately $550, paying $300 to a butcher, about $50 for lodging he shared with his family, and around $200 for miscellaneous supplies, including gas. York said most hunters spent at least $25 a day on gas.

“I saw [a moose] on Monday that I was not able to shoot. But I saw five the previous Sunday,” York said. “It was slow the first couple of days. You needed to have a plan and scout out the area. It was after the rut. I would have liked to see it a week earlier, to put it during the rut. It’s a lot more fun. They come right to you when you call them.”

Information gathered by DIFW biologists during the hunt will be used in conjunction with data collected this winter during a population survey to determine the moose-permit numbers for next year.

Final numbers on this year’s hunt will be released by DIFW early next year after registration booklets are collected.

Deirdre Fleming covers outdoor sports and recreation for the NEWS. She can be reached at 990-8250 and dfleming@bangordailynews.net.