BUCKSPORT – After 14 long years of waiting, David Oeser wasn’t too confident of his chances Wednesday in the annual moose hunting permit lottery. After all, the hunter was competing with more than 84,000 other prospective hunters.

Still, the Eliot resident drove more than three hours to Bucksport High School on the hunch that he might be successful and was rewarded when his name was one of the first to be called.

“I just had that feeling,” Oeser said. “It was worth the trip.”

More than 200 people turned out for the annual announcement of the 3,000 lucky individuals with the right to shoot a Maine moose this fall.

This year’s lottery, held at the local Buck’s Mills Rod and Gun Club, was a social event with hundreds of people milling around the gym enjoying a bean supper and sportsman’s fair.

The crowd of hunters from all over the state was the second largest in the history of the lottery, topped only by last spring’s 400-person crowd in Scarborough, said Don Kleiner of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

When the lottery began at 5:30 p.m., however, the crowd grew silent, breaking into applause only when a local hunter got a permit.

Maine residents may buy up to six chances in the lottery. A single chance costs $5, three chances cost $10 or six chances cost $20. Successful applicants are randomly chosen by a computer program.

Fewer Mainers applied for the 2,700 resident-only moose permits this spring, about 60,000 as compared with about 62,000 the past two years and 66,000 in 1999. In fact, the number of native applicants has been on a downward slide since a mid-1990s peak.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife can’t conclusively explain the change. Hunting in general is on the decline, with a long list of potential causes including fewer young hunters, more expensive licenses and less private land open to hunters.

The reduced interest in no way indicates that most Maine hunters have gotten their moose, however.

Many of the local hunters who attended Wednesday’s drawing have been patiently waiting for 20 years.

Tom Atherson of Bucksport has applied every year since the moose lottery began in 1982. His name has never been drawn.

The same goes for his friends Don Lynch of East Orland and Harvey Harmon of North Penobscot.

“This is my year,” Atherson said prior to the lottery’s start. “I bought all the chances I could afford.”

The trio was unsuccessful yet again.

Across the gym, Ed Moreau of Cardville and Sylbio Thibeault of Howland listened to hear if they would be granted the opportunity to hunt for a fifth moose.

“The family has been picked four times, and we never got skunked yet,” Thibeault said.

David Flannery, too, said that a single moose doesn’t satisfy many hunters. The Bucksport man hunted in 2000, and wasn’t eligible this year, but he can’t wait to try again.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “Everyone I know that’s been [on a moose hunt] is just raring to go again.”

Most hunters either spoke of tremendously bad or tremendously good luck with the lottery system.

“Some families seem to get drawn every other year while other families don’t ever get close,” said Lynch with a sigh. “That’s not right.”

The difference seems to be families and friends who band together to pool their chances – a strategy that is perfectly legal so long as all the applicants hold hunting licenses.

The Oeser family has five hunters who apply every year, and the strategy is working very well.

This fall will be their third family moose hunt, and the hunter has no doubts that he will bag their moose in September.

“Every couple years, we get a chance to go,” Oeser said. “We’re getting pretty good.”

Misty Edgecomb is the outdoors writer for the NEWS and may be reached at medgecomb@bangordailynews.net.