Game wardens expect the success rate of hunters to be lower than usual.

GREENVILLE (AP) – Soaking rain was predicted for Wednesday as the second half of Maine’s split, two-week moose hunting season continued under more restrictive rules aimed at improving the management of the herd.

More than 2,000 permit holders and their helpers are in the northern two-thirds of Maine looking for either bulls or antlerless moose. This is the first season in which moose permits limit hunters to one category or the other as the state seeks to build the herd in some areas and trim it in others.

The first week of the split season was Sept. 22-27. This week’s season ends Saturday.

After the season resumed Monday, hundreds of spectators were drawn to the registration station in an airplane hangar in Greenville, where crowds six and seven people deep stood to watch the huge animals being weighed, said spokesman Mark Latti of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department.

The crowds had thinned out considerably by Tuesday, said Charlie Mann, who works as a volunteer for the game department at Greenville.

While no hard numbers on moose tallies were available, reports from the field indicated that the pace of registrations was a little slower than usual due to several factors, Latti said.

Unusually warm temperatures early in the week kept the moose from roaming around much, and the new bull or antlerless-moose permitting likely restricted opportunities hunters would have had under previous rules.

Because of the new permitting regulation, game officials expect the overall success rate to be somewhat smaller than usual this year, said Latti.

The heavy covering of leaves remaining on trees in the hunting zone could also have an impact because it impedes hunters’ vision, Mann said.

The steady rain and wind predicted for Wednesday might also factor into hunting activity.

The National Weather Service said the temperatures would drop later in the week after the rain stops, and there’s a possibility of snow showers or snow in some areas on the season’s closing day.

Game officials awarded 435 moose permits for the first week of the season, which was limited to selected districts in northern and eastern parts of the state.

Another 2,150 permits were issued for this week. Maine’s total moose population is estimated at 29,000.

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On the Net:

Maine Moose Hunting Page: http://www.state.me.us/ifw/hunttrap/moose.htm

2003 Moose hunting districts: http://www.state.me.us/ifw/hunttrap/moose%20map%20200

AP-ES-10-14-03 1337EDT