State’s moose hunt a struggle

AUGUSTA – Maine moose hunters weren’t as successful this fall, and part of the reason was that the weather was too nice.

Preliminary numbers indicate 2,052 hunters, or 71 percent of permit holders, bagged a moose this fall, and wardens say the unseasonably warm weather in the first week of the hunt was one of the factors. The warm weather meant moose were not moving about as much.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said 82 percent of moose hunters were successful last year.