BRYANT POND – Hunters and anglers across Maine are complaining about the Big License, the document being issued temporarily until a new computer system is up and running.

The new license is 8-by-11 inches – three times the size of the 2001 basic license and twice that of the old hunting license with deer and bear transportation tags attached. Holders of the Big License are finding that getting it to fit in its plastic sleeve is like wrestling with a road map.

“No one’s had a good word for it,” said Jessica Hanscombe, assistant city clerk in Lewiston. “Some of the most common things they say are ‘I’ll need a bigger wallet,’ ‘I need a suitcase to carry it.’ One guy said he needed to be an engineer to get it in there.”

Another indignity is that the Big License – as the new version has become derisively known – is not made of the tough, water-resistant paper used for the old licenses.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is issuing the Big License as it works the bugs out of a new computer system – MOSES, or the Maine Online Sportsman’s Electronic System.

MOSES was expected to go online in December, when the first rush of license sales begins, but its widespread use still is months away.

Once the $2.1 million computer system is running, anyone with Internet access and a printer will be able to buy and print a license at any time of day.

“So if it’s Friday night, you’re going hunting tomorrow and you haven’t bought your license, you can get on the Internet and print your license out then and there,” said Rick Record, director of the department’s administrative services.

Those encountering the Big License, meanwhile, have few kind words. The department has been getting calls from five to 10 unhappy customers each day.

“I don’t like it,” said Robin Rugg of North Waterford, who was fishing on Bryant Pond. “It’s disgusting. It’s crazy. There’s no need of it. We’ve had our little licenses forever and a day. Why did they go to this?”

A pained look came over Glenn Scott’s face when he was asked to display his Big License. The fisherman and hunter from Auburn turned the plastic holder over and over before he pulled the paper from the sleeve, ripping the edge in the process.

“It’s a real treasure, I tell you,” Scott said.

Part of the reason the Big License is so big is that it lists every type of license and permit the state sells – plus a lot more information, including a spot for the holder’s e-mail address and a survey on migratory birds killed last season.

The MOSES license will have a lot of information on it as well, but the department’s address and warning about trespassing can be trimmed off, making it smaller than the old licenses. The MOSES license will be the only one a person needs to carry because it lists all licenses and permits.

Once the MOSES system is operating, sportsmen can trade their Big Licenses for the smaller version the next time they buy a permit or license, Record said.

He hopes sportsmen will be able to start buying licenses online from DIF&W’s Augusta office by the end of the month.

Fifteen to 20 license agents will be part of an external pilot program that could begin in March.