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I get to go Moose Hunting again this Fall! This will be my fourth time. This time I wasn't the one drawn like the previous three times and will be sub-permitee on my buddies permit. He has a bull permit for the October hunt and we will be hunting the Katahdin Iron Works area. I had a permit for that area in 2003 so we know the area pretty well. There were LOTS of moose in that area the last time we were there in 2006 hunting birds. We had no trouble getting a nice 700 pound bull in 2003. I'm hoping we will have the same success again this year.
The plan is to take the moose to Greenvile to tag it and weigh it. Then we will have it skinned, quartered, tagged and put in a refrigerated trailer for a few days. We then wrap it in new linen cloth ice it all down and bring it back to my barn for a processing party. It's like cutting up four deer all at once. Everyone has a duty. Boning out the meat, slicing, vacuum sealing, labeling sorting then freezing. We'll also be grinding some for moose burger, making sausage, jerky, and tying some roasts for "corned Moose" in the spring. It takes a couple of days to get everything packed and frozen but it makes for a years worth of good eating! Anyone else on the forum going on the Moose hunt this year??
A good friend and his son, both got drawn for cow tags. Each in a different week and zone, both zones I know fairly well. So I guess I will have to go on one, maybe both.
We will be hauling them back here and having our own processing parties.
I've been entering since it began for out of staters with no luck.
This year was interesting as I applied on-line. I used Joe instead of Joseph on the application and unknown to me that was why the on-line program kept blocking my being awarded bonus points. I completed the form and sent in the fee despite not being awarded bonus points.
I called the Maine Dept of F&W and spoke to the lottery guy. He told me the reason why I wasn't awarded bomus points was because I used a different first name. again Joe instead of Joseph. He checked my history and immediately corrected my account to award me the bonus points.
The lottery guy told me what the problem was. this is not me making up a story or interpreting what he said.
I am a bit familiar with programs and exception reports and realized what was happening. The criteria to reject bonus points was too strict and no procedure was set up to review the 'exceptions' kicked out.
Their program worked perfectly in picking up 'differences' but its design specs are in error.
This problem then speaks to the lack of confidence folks have in the moose lottery system. What aother programming flaws are occurring?
Aside from requiring winners to sit out two years, they might have a four or five year layoff as even residents who have been entering every year have not been picked.
A thorough review with associated changes would be in order to boost confidence and increase participants/$$$$$.
Wonder how the paper info gets into the database. Typically through data entry. Anytime data is transcribed it is prone to errors. Industry standard for medical data is for a 2nd person to re-enter the data and compare differences. Have no idea without knowing exact details what if any bias exists in the moose lottery program and procedure but certainly bias is perceived.
The moose lottery is my motivation to stay in shape for as long as I can so in the very rare event I ever get selected I'll still be able to arrow a moose, slice and dice him for transport via canoe and eat a hearty meal.
Anyway....really, best of luck and post some photos of your successful hunt. I'll live vicariously through your moose adventures.
I have worked with and designed databases. You used a different name, therefore you were a different entry. This is not a flaw, it is user error.
It's a lottery. A lottery is gambling and is governed by chance, with the odds dependent on the number of people who enter and the number of winners to be selected. Some people could enter year after year and not win.
In the opinion of many of the people I know and have talked with the old way of drawing moose permits was far better than the new way they are doing it. The bonus points, buying extra chances etc is pretty lame. We'd like to see it go back to one person one chance and you MUST have your hunting license BEFORE you enter the lottery. It should be required that your license number be used to verify your entry (this would not apply to out of state hunters ). Too many people enter everyone in their family and beyond as you do not have to be a hunter to get into the lottery. If they required a hunting license first it would weed out the non hunters from muddying up the lottery with thousands of extra entries. IFandW has been making the moose lottery into a side show and using it as a cash cow. This was never the intent of the moose lottery when it was voted in to law in the early 80's. The legislature needs to get the carnival atmosphere out of the moose lottery and the way it has been run for the last 20 years or so. It needs to be for the licensed hunters of Maine once again and not a free for all for every Tom, Dick and Jane and their kids, grandkids, aunts, uncles, nephews and the paper boy who have never held a rifle in their lives. No more raffling off a permit to some rich dude, no more extra chances, no more special permits for certain areas, make the minumum age sixteen not nine, no more holding the drawing at some sporting good store, make the winners stay out of the lottery five years not two. The moose lottery should be taken seriously once again, lose the circus atmosphere,and return to being for the hunters of Maine once again. Then you may revive interest from the long time sportsmen who gave up trying to win a permit. Yes I have had three permits....it was just pure luck. I don't care and don't deserve to ever get another one but I'll keep entering as long as it's still legal. Maybe they need to put an upper limit on how many times you can win too??
I'm glad Maineah reminded us of the history of the lottery regarding moose permits. I agree with his assessment. In a broader sense, this type of "evolution" concerning hunting and fishing in this country bears some comment.
I am by no means an expert, but as a former hunter and 10 year commercial fisherman I have witnessed politics and economics dominate policy on wildlife and natural resources. There is nothing at all wrong with that if decisions are based on real facts and honest statistics. The problem is that in most cases the side with the most money and best P.R. campaign usually wins. I have shared some of my experiences with NMFS hearings, etc. in past threads so I won't get off on that tangent here.
Too often, the regulators see their duty to manage wildlife as a cash cow for generating revenue. Not unlike other state lotteries, they constantly tweak the requirements like they were managing a used car dealership. Every month they come up with a new gimmick to increase sales and revenue, but the fairness to their employers (the people) is not considered.
Just remember the #1 rule of moose hunting: shoot the bugger as close to a trail as possible.
Hauling 1500 lbs of dead moose out of a swamp takes some of the thrill out of your morning.
That must be a Canadian Moose you're talking about. Moose rarely break 1000 pounds in Maine. I think the record moose for the state is still under 1200 pounds. Your point is very valid. Of the three moose I have managed to get over the years two were right next to the road when they expired. Piece of cake to pull them into a truck or up on to my trailer. One was 500 feet into a clear cut. Two trucks and 600 feet of rope made short work of hauling him out. It was only a 600 pound one though. Real good eating. You'd be surprized how much meat you get off one of those things. Personally I'd rather shoot smaller one than a hat rack. The two smaller bulls I got tasted much better than the larger bull I got in 2003. Your results may vary
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