For many of the people who finally head afield on a Maine moose hunt, the “hunt of a lifetime” is the culmination of years of waiting.

That’s because gaining the right to hunt moose isn’t easy … and it’s perfectly random.

If your name doesn’t pop out of the cyber-hopper during the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife’s computer drawing, you don’t hunt. Period.

Almost.

Over the past several years there has been one loophole for the high-rolling hunter who’s willing to pay a premium for a moose hunt.

And beginning this year, there will be another.

The Penobscot Indian Nation is putting the finishing touches on a program that will let four hunters hunt for moose on its land.

The catch: The price will be a bit steep for most of us.

The hunts will be the first general open moose hunts allowed on Penobscot tribal land for nontribal members, according to the tribal Web site.

According to John Banks, the director of the Penobscot Nation Department of Natural Resources, the tribe has spent plenty of time studying the issue.

“We’ve been talking about it internally for over 10 years,” Banks said. “We’re aware of what other tribes are doing in other parts of the country to bring in some revenue by having these sorts of hunts, particularly in the southwest part of the nation where some of the Apache tribes have some trophy elk hunts.”

The Penobscots are holding a sealed-bid auction for the four permits, with a minimum bid of $10,000.

And the lucky winners will get far more than the opportunity to bag a moose: They’ll get a full traditional hunting experience, including the services of an experienced Penobscot Indian guide, remote lodging and all meals.

And that’s not all.

A cultural orientation session before the hunt will help the lucky hunters learn more about the tribe and its traditions.

“We don’t want just to provide a hunt where somebody comes in and they shoot a moose,” Banks said. “We want to build in some of the culture and history of the tribe, because we have such a deep tradition of hunting practices in this region. We look at wildlife a lot of times from the spiritual aspect and we show a lot of respect for the animals, and we want to do this in a respectful way that helps educate people about this ecological relationship.”

Banks said one barrier in the past – and one of the reasons the tribe has chosen to offer these hunts to nontribal members now – was the desire to make a sound decision based on science before doing so.

“One of the reasons we’ve held off until now is that we’ve only recently had a big game management plan with a qualified and educated wildlife biologist [on staff],” Banks said.

Banks said his department wanted to make sure that any decision they made wouldn’t affect the sustenance hunting rights of tribal members, who are allowed to harvest one moose per household per year.

Another factor that worked in favor of the “open” hunts was the addition of available hunting land to the tribal holdings.

“We got an additional 25,000 acres of trust land a year ago, so we have not only an expanded land base, but now the additional data and information on [moose] population and habitat,” Banks said.

Banks said an infusion of cash from the auction would go to good use.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” he said. “We also see it as a chance to provide some much needed revenues for our natural resources projects, particularly the Penobscot Nation Warden Service.”

In order to give each permit-holder a quality hunt, each will be assigned to a different parcel of tribal land.

The top bidder will get first choice of zone, with the others making their choices in order.

One hunter will be in Argyle, with others in the Matagamon-Grindstone area, the Mattamiscontis/Williamsburg area, and the Lakeville area.

The hunt will run from Oct. 1-5, and the deadline for bids is Aug. 31.

More information is available at the tribe’s Web site: www.penobscotnation.org, and those wishing to talk to Banks about the auction or the hunt can call him at 817-7330.

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