Recently, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W) released a summary of last fall’s moose harvest. Of the 3,025 hunting applicants who were issued a moose tag, almost a third — 2,022 — brought home a moose. If you crunch the numbers, 65 percent of last fall’s moose hunters were successful. This is the lowest success rate since the inception of Maine’s moose hunt 35 years ago!

Is there reason to be concerned?

Whether you are talking deer, bear, or moose, state wildlife biologists always include harvest rates as part of their management calculations and harvest quotas. If you examine the 35-year period, and divide it into roughly three decades, there has been a steady statistical decline in the success rate of moose hunters. The first year of the hunt, in 1980, 91.2 percent of moose hunters were successful.

When I asked Mark Latti, a spokesman for MDIF&W, for a breakdown of the hunter success rates over the past 35 years, he cautioned me not to jump to conclusions. He makes some valid points, as follows:

“As you compare seasons to seasons, I might just add is that the hunt has changed over the years. i.e., there are now multiple seasons, antler/ antlerless permits instead of an Any-moose permit, a November season in northern Maine that is cows only, and the southern Maine moose hunt. Not that all of these have lowered the success rate, rather all of these changes make it very difficult to compare seasons directly…”

Lee Kantar, the wildlife biologist responsible for managing Maine’s moose herd, points out as well that weather can play a key role in hunter success rates.

“Moose tend to travel less and spend more time in cover when it’s hot. Hunter effort also declines,” Kantar said.

Not insignificant either is winter mortality. Kantar notes that last winter severe infestations of moose ticks took its toll on wintering moose, especially yearling moose. Kantar, according to the Bangor Daily News, estimates current moose numbers in the low 60,000s. Three years ago, the state’s moose population was estimated to be around 75,000.

There is another factor that does not escape the Maine moose population calculus. Of all the pieces of the equation, it is the most difficult to measure, but it cannot be ignored: Moose, like any wild critter, learn to be wary when enough hunting pressure is applied. These majestic horses of the woods have had 35 years to smarten up. There must be some kind of Darwinian effect taking place as the smarter ones survive and pass along their “smart” genes.

As you might imagine, the folks who manage our moose have their work cut out. A lot to weigh in deciding what next fall’s moose hunt quota should be. Soon the regional biologists, in concert with Mr. Kantar, will give us next fall’s numbers. Given the importance of moose as a tourist attraction and a desirable big game critter, all of the rest of us, whether sportsman or merely moose watchers, should expect that next fall’s moose quota reflects a concern for the changing numbers.

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WQVM-FM 101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected] . He has two books “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook” and his latest, “Backtrack.” Online information is available at www.maineoutdoorpublications.com or by calling Diane at 207 745 0049.