PORTLAND, Maine — A new aerial survey pegs Maine’s moose population at about 75,000, more than double the number of the last survey more than a decade ago.
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife biologist Lee Kantar conducted an aerial survey in a low-flying helicopter for the second straight year this past winter.
Based on his findings, Kantar tells the Portland Press Herald that the state’s moose population is now estimated at 75,000. The last population estimate was done more than 10 years ago, when the department estimated the population at 29,000.
Maine’s annual moose hunting lottery was being held Saturday in the western Maine town of Oquossoc. This year, 3,725 permits are being awarded.
Maine has the largest moose population by far of any state in the continental United States.
From near extermination of the moose population in the year I was born (1935) – to the first legal moose hunt in Maine (1980) til now (2012) with 75,000 of these critters crossing fields, forests, meadows and roads in Northern Maine is quite a story in and of itself. The short story of why we now have so many moose is that the large landowners clearcut their forests which eliminated most of the winter deer yards that in turn provided perfect habitat for moose. The shorter story is that IF&W managed the moose population with perfection and would have done the same with the deer population had the large landowners harvested their wood with professional forestry practices.
You think they manage the deer population? If you call issuing doe permits “perfection”in management, you are severely out of touch. That is the sole ” management” IFW uses. The constant blaming of large landowners has grown stale. There are now areas that our “professionals” consider ideal winter habitat, guess what, no deer there either. There are very large tracts of public land, on which timber harvest is managed by the State, Guess what, no deer there either. I have had between 15-30 deer wintering on my property for the last 10 years. It does not approach what they declare as winter habitat. Very seldom has a deer not survived the winter here, including the last big one. Care to guess why?
Canis latrans ?
intense management of such, as well as Ursus Americanus, another species “managed” to perfection, so much that their “ideal population” has been well exceeded for many years now.
The industrial clearcutters of millions of acres of Maine land thank you for your defense. But they still aren’t going to buy you that tooth you want.
Typical response from a evolved and highly intelligent know it all.
I think maybe coyote should be thinned out a little. What do you think?
Haven’t seen a moose at all this spring in northern Aroostook county. Last year I seen quite a few and almost tagged one with my car…….no deer either……one small bear.
When I first started making trips up there last fall I didn’t see any. This spring I’ve seen 6 in the past three weekends, all along the side of the road. Still haven’t seen any deer up that way though.
The aerial survey methods are highly flawed and controversial within the wildlife management community. But Mainers only want to hear what they want to hear, so good luck with that.
Your credentials?
Go back to your true home state of massachutsets.
They need to tell us the secret spot where they are seeing all these moose.