The latest news about Maine lakes and ponds.

Moose Hunt Heads South on Saturday

November 05, 2008 - SEBAGO -- Maine's new moose season moves to southern Maine on Saturday. It has been more than six years in the making, but even as hunters take to the field to cull the moose herds on southern Maine's roads, guides say it won't be as easy for sportsmen to hunt them here as it is for them up north.

This fall, hunters will take to the field from Lovell down to Parsonsfield in York County, and from Cumberland County over to West Paris in Oxford County. The hunt will also extend into the midcoast region.

Registered Maine Guides who live in southern Maine say there are, in fact, many challenges hunters face down here. In southern Maine, there is less moose habitat, fewer access points to hunting land -- and fewer moose.

"It is going to be like a traditional deer hunt," said Paul Hutchins, who lives in North Sebago and sees a lot of moose signs on his land.

And given that the moose rut is over at this point in the fall, hunters will have a harder time finding moose moving around. Guides say calling a moose may be downright impossible.

In addition, while hunters in the North Woods can drive for miles searching for moose on the system of logging roads, down here, they're not going to see moose unless they get out of their trucks and walk around. And then, there will be fewer moose to find.

"It can be a problem accessing the land of private individuals, rather than big lumber companies. There is a population of moose, but you don't see them," said Mark Dufresne, a Registered Maine Guide in Saco.

Maine moose biologist Lee Kantar said there are fewer than one moose per square mile in the new southern Maine moose hunting districts, whereas in the northern tip of Maine there are as many as three to five moose per square mile.

"It's going to be a different mindset for folks. They'll want to adjust," Kantar said. "District 15, at least you have the edge of the White Mountains. But you also have West Paris and Auburn. How many moose are you going to see in Auburn?"

Of course, knowing what moose are looking for may help, guides say.

"You can still get a response when calling, but the call is more of a companionship call than a breeding call," said Hutchins in North Sebago. "With softer cow calls and calf calls, you can get interest. Because we don't have the concentration (of moose) down here, when they do hear one, they'll want to check it out."

The limited hunt in the most southerly district opens in November -- and not during the regular moose season in September and October -- to allow hikers to enjoy the woods free of gunshots earlier in the fall.

"That's a big positive," said Kevin Leconte, a Registered Maine Guide in Gorham. "Up north in September, when you hear a shot, you know someone is moose hunting. Down here, with the moose hunt in November, it won't be an issue. You won't be able to tell the rifle shot from the deer hunters or the moose hunters."

The moose season in November has only 135 permits given out in the new southern Maine sections, with just 25 awarded in the moose lottery in the most southerly section, from roughly Lovell down to Parsonsfield and over to Casco and Auburn.

Moose guides here are not expected to be as busy as they are up north, where the vast majority of the roughly 3,000 permits go each year -- but that too may change, some think.

"I don't have clients (in southern Maine). I expect that to change if they keep the season next year or maybe the year after," Hutchins said. "I'd love to guide for moose. I see moose around my house and in my woods."

DEIRDRE FLEMING, Portland Press Herald, October 30, 2008


Lakes:
Regions: Sebago, Sanford


Print this story

Email this story

return to Lake News