CARIBOU, Maine — Hundreds are expected to convene at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center on Saturday, June 17, for the state’s moose lottery in hopes of being one of 2,080 selected from more than 54,000 entries to hunt the big game animal this year.
Neighboring Presque Isle drew more than 500 people when that city hosted the drawing in 2014. Caribou Marketing and Events Coordinator Christina Kane-Gibson says the drawing, which will begin at 2 p.m. at the center located at 55 Bennett Drive, will be livestreamed on the City of Caribou Facebook page for hunters unable to make the trip.
The selection process typically takes 3 to 4 hours before all names are called.
Gibson said she is anticipating a large turnout for this year’s moose lottery, and that 62,000 people have viewed online ads for the event which also features a variety of activities and entertainment for guests, with festivities kicking off at 9:30 a.m.
Numerous vendors will be offering goods and services ranging from guided hunting trips to handmade crafts and foods. There will be monster truck rides, a wild animal show courtesy of a New Hampshire wildlife encounters group, an L.L. Bean (a major sponsor for this year’s event) booth with games, an inflatable play area for children, and informational booths from the Caribou Public Library and Nylander Museum.
To build hype for the event, Gibson said she and others at the recreation center have placed large wooden moose outside local businesses in Caribou, built by members of the Loring Job Corps and painted by local artists.
“You can go into any of the locations with a moose outside and pick up a game card,” Gibson said. “Each card has a clue to another moose, and you get a stamp for each one. If you find all 10, you’re entered into a drawing to win a $300 gift card from L.L. Bean.”
Notable local figures, such as Mayor Gary Aiken, Cary Medical Center CEO Kris Doody, and former state Senator Leo Kieffer, are expected to draw names during the ceremony.
Maine’s moose hunt is designed to manage the moose population, according to the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
“By modifying the number and type of moose permits available to hunters, the department can manage the moose population in order to provide for hunting and viewing opportunities, maintain a healthy moose population, and limit the number of moose/vehicle accidents,” according to a statement released Monday by the department.
Before 1999, the lottery was held in Augusta, but since then, wildlife officials have rotated the event around the state, including in Oquossoc, Greenville, Presque Isle, Bethel and Kittery.
“We hold the drawing in different areas of the state so that people can have the opportunity to be part of it first hand,” IF&W Commissioner Chandler Woodcock said in the statement. “Nothing pleases us more than to have members in the audience react to being selected.”
Shawn Haskell, a wildlife biologist with Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in Ashland, said in a phone interview that the hunt is “absolutely for population control reasons.”
Department biologists estimated the state’s moose population in 2014 at between 60,000 and 70,000. For the 2016 season, the overall success rate was 75 percent for bagging a moose during the season that is split into varying sessions in September, October and November depending on which of the 29 wildlife management zones is selected. Twenty five of the zones will be open to moose hunting this year. Success rates are typically much lower — 19 percent in 2016 — in southern Maine areas and higher in the more traditional northern moose hunt wildlife management districts — 78 percent in 2016.
Hunters harvested 1,609 moose out of 2,140 permits issued last year, according to the wildlife agency.
Haskell formerly worked as a deer biologist in Vermont, and said, by contrast, moose lottery winners in the green mountain state have had only a 60 percent success rate.
While Aroostook County has numerous areas with high density moose populations in comparison to other parts of New England, Haskell said the moose all grow to be roughly the same size, and that hunters won’t start seeing larger moose unless they venture out into other areas like Montana or Alaska. Every year though, several harvested moose exceed 1,000 pounds dressed weight in Maine, according to the department.
Areas in The County with the highest moose density, according to Haskell, are in northern Aroostook in the “Allagash and St. John Valley area,” as well as remote areas where most hunters don’t go.
Haskell added that most of the moose are on private land in northeastern Aroostook and, while hunters can get their moose on public land in northwestern Aroostook, the herds there are not quite as dense.
Those interested in learning more about the lottery event can visit the Caribou Recreation Center or go to the city of Caribou’s Facebook page to find the event posting.
The names of permit winners will be posted on IF&W’s web site at mefishwildlife.com starting at 6 p.m. on June 17.
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- Courtesy/Wildlife Management District
