Most of the numbers are in, and it looks like 2003 was a typical Maine moose hunt.

Of the 2,585 moose hunters, 2,075 killed one of the animals during the two-week split season. This translates to about an 80 percent success rate.

“It’s preliminary, but it’s not far off,” Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife moose biologist Karen Morris said Friday.

A handful of record books have yet to be turned in to the department, but it’s believed that the missing books are empty, she said.

Last fall, there were 2,964 hunters and 2,375 moose were killed, a success rate the same as for this year.

Maine’s total moose population is estimated to be about 29,000 animals.

This fall marked the first time in the hunt’s 20-year history that the number of moose permits offered to hunters in the spring lottery was decreased. The department had been concerned that winter tick infestations in some parts of the state were increasing calf mortality and putting the herd at risk. So DIF&W scaled down the hunt by 17 percent, against the protestations of groups like the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.

This summer, however, with the state at near-record moose crash fatality numbers, the public sentiment shifted.

DIF&W has proposed increasing the hunt in northern Maine by 550 permits for next fall, which would give Maine it’s largest hunt since the modern moose season began just over 20 years ago. A public hearing on the hunt increase has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 6 at the Presque Isle Fish and Game Club.