GREENVILLE (AP) — The 2009 Maine moose hunting season opened Monday.

The season’s first week ends Saturday, and the second week will be Oct. 12-17 in a number of other areas of northern Maine.

Permit holders will also be allowed to hunt moose in very select areas of southern Maine this year from Nov. 2-28.

Biologists estimate Maine’s moose population at 29,000. During the 2008 season, the success rate for hunters was 74 percent as more that 3,000 permit-carrying hunters killed 2,241 moose.

Every year, several moose exceed 1,000 pounds dressed weight.