Hunters gathering recently at an annual sportsmen’s meeting in Augusta cheered a speaker’s suggestion that the state should allow them to kill as many as 12,000 to 15,000 moose annually, instead of the usual harvest of fewer than 3,000. Hunters eager for a chance to bag a moose – especially if they’ve been skunked in recent years – are of course likely to support a proposal to expand the hunt. But the moose herd is a state resource, so decisions on how that resource is managed must be made within the broader context of biology and safety, and to some degree, economics.

On those criteria, the case can be made for expanding the moose hunt, at least in a cautious, targeted manner, seeking to gather more data before any permanent policy changes are made.

Topping the list of data sought by state wildlife managers is the actual size of the moose herd. Experts say the herd may be at about 30,000, but could be as large as 60,000. Surveys conducted by air, using infrared technology, provide estimates of the size of the herd, but not definitive numbers. The state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife also asks hunters to report their sightings of moose, which also contributes to the herd estimate.

Wildlife managers like to see the moose population at about 60 percent of the maximum number that could survive in the state, called the carrying capacity, because that ensures a healthier herd. Some, like Vaughn Anthony, a retired federal fisheries scientist with an interest in the moose hunt, believe Maine’s moose herd may be significantly larger than 60 percent of carrying capacity. Others say the decline of clear-cutting in Maine has reduced moose habitat, and the herd is already at or below carrying capacity.

Inland Fisheries and Wildlife officials might be able to dip a toe in the water by offering an increased number of permits for one or two years in one or two wildlife management districts. It would provide an opportunity to test the hypothesis that the herd is bigger than previously thought. The districts should be selected with the safety of more hunters in the woods in mind. Hunters with permits in those districts will have to be faithful in reporting sightings, and of course the kill rates will also go toward creating a more accurate herd estimate.

Other issues raised whenever the moose hunt is discussed, such as herd size and its relation to car-moose collisions, and the positive economic impact of selling more permits and bringing visitors to Maine, are important, but should be tangential to any debate about a policy change.