Millinocket legislator gets permit Computer draws names of 3,000 to hunt moose

SCARBOROUGH – Finally, 19 years after he first started entering the Maine moose lottery at the age of 10, Rep. Joe Clark, D-Millinocket, heard his name read Tuesday. And, as fate (and state officials) would have it, Clark read it himself.

Like the announcer on the Price is Right, the member of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife paused before his name, unaware it was on the list the computer had recently churned out, and then Clark boomed, “Oh. My. God, Joseph P. Clark of Millinocket.”

Clark’s name was one of 3,000 drawn on Tuesday night and he was one of just seven winners in attendance who were there to hear it. Because those in the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife working at the lottery saw Clark’s name after the computer printed it out, Clark was handed the list of names that had his on it.

While DIFW Commissioner Lee Perry quickly reminded Clark that good things come to those who wait, Clark was already outside the hall at Wassamki Spring Campground, calling his father, Herbie, on a cell phone. While he has entered the lottery every year like his son, Herbie Clark’s name has never been drawn since the hunt was reintroduced in 1982 (after an experimental year in 1980).

“I’m surprised. A lot of people from Millinocket got one. I counted 12 including myself,” Clark said. “Since we began with multiple chances four years ago, I’ve put in more than one chance. The last two years I put in six chances.”

About 300 people showed up at Wassamki Spring Campground to silently wait and find out if they were one of the 2,700 Maine residents who received permits. For the second year, there were 3,000 total permits given out to hunters. Out-of-staters get 300 permits.

Perry started the drawing, pointing out the great misconception about the annual event: that the chances of those who live near where the lottery is held have a greater chance of getting drawn.

“Not the case,” Perry said.

This didn’t hurt Kathleen Bayley’s chances. The co-owner of Bayley Campground, some 10 miles away in Scarborough, was the second among the seven winners there who was drawn. Ten minutes after hearing her name, throwing up her arms, and cutting into the silence with a scream, Bayley was still shaking.

“I’ve entered every year and never been drawn,” Bayley said. “I did tell my husband before we came here that I felt lucky.”

Bayley said raising a family and running a sporting camp has left her little time to hunt. But Bayley, who recently tagged her first turkey after being drawn in that big-game hunt, said at 62 she’s not worried about being out of practice for the moose hunt.

Applicants this year totaled 85,275, of which 63,266 were Maine residents.

This will be the first year a split season will be used with 1,470 permits drawn for a season in the far northern and eastern areas (Wildlife Management Districts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11 & 19) from Sept. 24-29 and Oct. 8-13 and another 1,530 permits drawn for hunting in the other hunting zones in central and western Maine and Down East from Oct. 8-13.

Since the Legislature passed a law establishing an annual moose season in 1982, the hunt has gone from 700 hunters to 3,000. The moose population is currently believed to be between 30,000 and 35,000 by DIFW biologists.

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