Lucky ‘few’ ready for moose hunt

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If you’re one of the lucky few who finally received your moose permit this year, after 10 or 15 or 20 unsuccessful tries, congratulations.

Monday is your lucky day (if, that is, you’re among the 1,120 who’ll participate in the first week of the two-week split season).

Your wait is over. Your hunt is finally here. Now all you have to do is find your moose … shoot it … and figure out a way to get it out of the woods.

“All the fun in a moose hunt is over as soon as you pull the trigger,” many veteran moose hunters will tell you.

Perhaps that’s true. But while you’re out there on Monday, puffing and panting and sweating, wrestling with an 800-pound pile of moose, just remember one thing: There are 65,946 of us out there who would gladly switch places with you … if the state’s computer would only give us a shot.

Generally, I love computers. And generally (except for those times when my desktop model inexplicably decides to snack on a perfectly good column) most computers seem to like me.

Most. But not all.

Nope, there’s one computer in Augusta that isn’t too darned friendly at all.

For two years, it didn’t give me a turkey permit. This year, it did … then state officials decided that everyone ought to get one.

For the past two years, it has decided that I don’t deserve an any-deer permit (even though I’m always careful to apply for a zone where nearly everyone seems to get one). This year, 14,700 permits were awarded in that zone. I haven’t called to verify this, but I’m quite certain that exactly 14,701 people applied for doe permits in that area.

The first week of moose season includes Wildlife Management Districts 1-6, 11, and 19, which covers the far northern and eastern parts of the state.

Beginning Oct. 10, another six-day season will be held, with 1,775 permit-holders spreading out over a larger part of the state.

According to the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, 49,267 Mainers and 19,574 nonresidents applied for moose permits this year.

And while you’re much more likely to get a permit than you are to strike gold in the Powerball lottery, the odds are still quite low.

The odds of residents having their name selected were 1 in 126 for each chance bought (Mainers can buy up to six chances, and receive “bonus” chances for each year they’ve been unsuccessful). Mainers who bought six chances had a 1 in 21 shot at a permit.

Nonresidents, who can buy as many chances as they choose, faced even steeper odds. Their success rate was 1 in 707 for each chance bought.

Although state officials won’t tell you this, I’ve determined that all of that number-crunching makes absolutely no difference if the computer simply doesn’t like you.

At least that’s my theory.

Hunting site worth checking

Each year more and more people are finding that no matter what their interest, there are countless Internet sites that cater to like-minded folks.

If you’re a hunter, for instance, it’s not hard to find plenty of Web links that provide information, entertainment, and the chance to swap tales with others who enjoy the activity.

The other day I came across one that you may not have heard of … but which could prove to be a valuable source of information.

The site, Maine Hunting Today, can be found at www.mainehuntingtoday.com and is full of tidbits you may find interesting.

The site is owned by Tom Remington and his son, Steven, and has enough links, stories, resources, and photos to keep you busy for hours.

Tom Remington, the site’s managing editor, grew up in Maine and still has a camp in Bethel, though he lives in Florida now.

Steven Remington is the chief editor. He lives in Bangor and says he spends much of his time working on the ambitious site.

The great thing about sites like Maine Hunting Today, I find, is that the more people learn about them, the more helpful the site becomes.

Busy message boards or forums are much more interesting than those that host just a few visitors a week, after all, and the chance of meeting a few new hunting buddies or learning a new tip or two is better if there are more hunters regularly checking in.

Maine Hunting Today hosts forums on topics ranging from Maine humor to hunting for specific species, as well as a buy-and-sell board. You’ll also find forums for fishermen at the site.

Links to news stories about hunting and the outdoors are also featured.

I’ve seen fly-fishing sites in Maine evolve into full-blown communities over the past several years, with members meeting up for fishing trips and conservation-oriented projects.

It appears that the Remingtons may be well on their way to achieving the same sense of community with Maine Hunting Today.

Bucksport forum scheduled

Each year the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife schedules a number of public forums designed to provide information and receive feedback from the state’s citizens.

On Oct. 19, the Bucks Mills Rod and Gun Club in Bucksport will host its popular annual sportsman’s forum.

Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. and the forum will start at 7.

“They’re going to give us some information and then shoot it out to the crowd for questions on things from fish to mammals,” said David Wardwell of Penobscot, a member of the DIF&W’s advisory council.

In addition to plenty of wardens and biologists, DIF&W commissioner Roland “Danny” Martin is expected to attend.

“It’ll be a good chance to one-on-one with the commissioner and his crew,” Wardwell said.

Among the topics sure to arise is the proposal to add more southerly moose-hunting zones in Maine.

And having attended the Bucksport forum for the past three years, I can tell you that in addition to plenty of first-hand information from the state’s fish and game officials, you’ll be sure to enjoy a great meal as well.

This week on ‘Going Outdoors’

We’ll go fishing … more or less … in this week’s “Going Outdoors” segment, which airs on Monday on ABC-7’s 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts and on FOX-22’s 10 p.m. show.

Cameraman Dave Simpson and I spent a recent morning with DIF&W fisheries biologist Ron Brokaw and Dennis Smith as they electro-fished Jellison Brook in Dedham.

We caught and catalogued plenty of young salmon and a few brook trout, and learning more about how our state’s fish and game officials go about their daily work was enlightening.

Got your moose yet?

If you’re one of the lucky folks who received a moose permit this year, I hope your hunt goes smoothly (and you don’t end up spending too much time hauling your critter out of the woods).

If you end up with an interesting story to tell, I hope you consider giving me a call and sharing it. In the weeks to come, I expect to include a few of the more interesting tales in a column or two.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.