GREENVILLE (AP) – With a stiff wind, clear skies, warm temperatures and mating season in full bloom, the first week of Maine’s split, two-week moose hunting season got under way Monday.
Hunters who were awarded permits headed into woods that still had most of their summer leaves. A brisk breeze blowing across northern Maine posed an added a challenge for hunters, said Matt Libby Sr., a guide who owns hunting camps 45 miles southwest of Ashland.
Moose and other big game tend to move around less when the wind is blowing, said Libby, whose camps are putting up five moose hunters this week and five more during the second week of the season, which runs Oct. 9-14.
Adding to the challenge are the balmy temperatures, which are expected to be in the mid- to upper 70s Tuesday in northern Maine. Moose move around less when it’s warm. And hunters have to move quickly getting moose they shoot out of the woods when it’s warm so they can avoid having the meat spoil.
The National Weather Service said temperatures are expected to cool off after Tuesday, with clouds and scattered showers in northern Maine.
Hours into the hunt Monday morning, trophies began showing up at tagging stations.
In the Moosehead Lake area, the first specimen to be tagged at the Kokadjo station weighed in at 836 pounds dressed, said state game biologist Randy Cross. By late afternoon, only four moose had ben tagged Kokadjo, said Cross.
State biologists estimate Maine’s moose population at about 29,000 and say the herd overall is stable and healthy.
“The moose are doing very well. They’re quite abundant,” said Cross.
Nearly 2,900 hunters were awarded permits at the annual moose-hunting lottery in June. The first portion of the season runs through Saturday.
During the 2006 season, the success rate for hunters was 82 percent, with 2,329 moose killed out of 2,825 permits issued.
While temperatures and windy conditions worked against hunters as the season opened, the timing with moose in their rutting season could work to committees’ advantage. When in their mating season, moose are more receptive to calls. The rutting season will be over when the October segment of the season arrives.
AP-ES-09-24-07 1619EDT
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