AUGUSTA – The final numbers are in from this fall’s moose hunt and with 3,000 permits issued, 2,545 hunters were successful in their quest for a moose.

That converts to an 84.8 percent success rate for the two-week split season. This was the first time since 1990 moose hunters could hunt in September. The first week was Sept. 24-29 and the second week was Oct. 8-13.

Last season there were 2,552 moose registered with 3,000 permits issued. This year’s success rate is nearly identical to last year’s 85.1 percent.

Hunters enjoyed an 84.3 percent success rate in the September season and an 84.9 percent rate in the October season. Hunters in Wildlife Management District 9, east of Moosehead Lake, enjoyed the highest success rate, 98 percent, as 98 of 100 hunters bagged a moose.

WMD 8 in the Jackman region had the highest number of moose registered, 421, and 95.6 percent of the hunters in WMD 8 were successful.

Hunters were least successful in WMDs 11, 13 and 18, where success averaged between 63 and 64 percent. WMD 11 includes the area west of East Grand Lake, WMD 13 includes southern Franklin and Somerset counties and WMD 18 includes Penobscot and northern Hancock counties.

This year there were 85,275 people who applied to hunt moose in Maine. Of those, 63,266 were residents and 22,009 were non-residents.

State wildlife biologists staffed many of the 29 tagging stations dispersed through the state during the two-week season, gathering statistical and biological data on the moose harvested.

At many stations, moose were weighed. Ages were noted on calves and yearlings, a tooth was pulled from each adult moose and antler circumferences and beam width were measured on bulls.

By reviewing a cross-section of the tooth’s root under a microscope, biologists can determine the age of the moose. That, combined with the weight and antler measurements, can be instrumental in determining the relative health of a moose.

Information gathered by biologists will be used in conjunction with other data to be collected. These results, along with the severity of the upcoming winter, will be instrumental in determining moose permit numbers for the 2002 season.

This new moose season kept the season length the same in areas such as Greenville, increased the hunting season length Down East, where huntable acreage expanded, and looked to stabilize the moose herd in areas where there is a high frequency of moose-vehicle accidents such as the Route 11 and 201 corridors. It also spread hunters out more and reduced potential conflicts with other moose, bear and grouse hunters, anglers and tourists.