Moose hunt lottery to be held in southern Maine for first time

PORTLAND – The drawing to award the state’s 3,000 moose hunting permits will be held in southern Maine for the first time since the moose lottery began in 1980.

The location at the Wassamki Springs Camping Area in Scarborough was determined by the toss of a coin.

Rep. Ron Usher, D-Westbrook, and Rep. Royce Perkins, R-Penobscot, members of the Legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee, each wanted to have the moose lottery in his area this year. Rep. Matt Dunlap of Old Town, the House chair of the committee, settled the question with the toss of a coin.

Perkins had to settle for getting the lottery in Bucksport in June 2002, while Usher is planning a good turnout on June 12.

“We’re going to have 300 people, at least,” he said.

That would be triple the attendance at the first lottery. The 1980 lottery, nicknamed the “Moose Rush,” was held at the Bangor Civic Center and broadcast live on public television. It was designed to pick 700 Mainers for the first moose hunt since 1935, when the moose population fell so low that hunting was banned.

The 36,636 applications were placed in a huge rotating drum and names were drawn by the dozen by Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

In 1982, the lottery moved to the Augusta Armory, where it stayed until 1998.

During the first years in Augusta as many as 1,000 people would crowd the armory. But as the novelty wore off, attendance dropped. After the drawing was computerized in 1995, it drew about 100 people a year.

State officials have decided to drum up interest by holding it in other locations around the state.

It was held in Millinocket in 1999, then moved last year to Boothbay Harbor where it drew about 200 people.

Since the moose hunt was revived in 1980, the lottery has been held in only four locations: Bangor, Augusta, Millinocket and Boothbay Harbor.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife received about 83,000 applications for this year’s moose lottery, according to Don Kleiner, DIF&W director of information.

Residents and nonresidents pay for chances for a hunting permit, bringing in about $1.2 million a year.

“It’s been very, very popular. People apply from Texas and all around,” Usher said. “It’s brought a lot of income into the state. It’s a healthy hunt and it’s run very well.”

This year will be the first in which there will be a split season for moose hunting. The first week, Sept. 24-29, is mostly in northern and eastern Maine. The second week, Oct. 8-13, is primarily in western and central Maine.

The split season is designed to control hunting pressure, reduce conflicts with bear hunters and bird hunters and ensure that some bulls are harvested in September, when their condition is prime. It also will ease the burden that the previous six-day season placed on meat processors.