New Hampshire Moose Hunt Opening Weekend Brings 25% Success
OutdoorHub 10.22.12
One-fourth of New Hampshire’s moose hunters were successful during the first two days of the nine-day season, achieving a 25% success rate on the opening weekend of the hunt. On Saturday and Sunday (October 20 and 21), a total of 69 moose were taken by hunters statewide – 44 bulls and 25 cows. This year’s results were much like last year’s 27% success rate for the 2011 opening weekend.
“Saturday was far too warm, with temperatures hitting 75 degrees in places. Moose are already equipped with heavy winter coats, so they tend to bed down in the shade and are much less visible,” said Kristine Rines, the moose biologist for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. “Luckily, Sunday was cooler, so that helped.”
The largest moose checked in during the opening weekend of the New Hampshire moose hunt was a bull with a dressed weight of 790 pounds and an antler spread of 57.75 inches, taken by Terri Dexter of Monroe, N.H., in the town of Success (Wildlife Management Area C2).
Two brothers from Massachusetts, Michael and Frank Gleason, took a young bull moose this weekend after watching it fight another young bull up and down a clearcut for a half hour. “That’s something most people don’t get to see!” said Rines. The Gleasons may not be done hunting yet, as both men held permits by being high bidders in the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of New Hampshire’s annual moose hunt permit auction.
Fish and Game manages New Hampshire’s moose population in accordance with density goals defined in its 2006-2015 moose management plan. This plan seeks to meet regional moose population goals by balancing and incorporating social, economic, public safety and ecological factors, using the best available science.
New Hampshire’s nine-day moose hunt continues through Sunday, October 28, 2012. This year, more than 13,400 people entered the moose hunt lottery for a chance to win one of the 275 permits drawn for the New Hampshire moose hunt.
For more about moose hunting in New Hampshire, including a list of check stations, visit http://www.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_moose.htm.
Get into the spirit of the adventure with a limited-edition 2012 New Hampshire moose hunt commemorative shirt, available (through November 23) at http://www.huntnh.com/mooseshirt.
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department is the guardian of the state’s fish, wildlife and marine resources and their habitats. Visit http://www.huntnh.com.
