The February 3, 2009 edition of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife “Insider” is available for your reading pleasure. Follow this link. This report covers a wide variety of hunting, fishing and Maine outdoor news. Below highlights two reports on the Maine moose and deer hunts of 2008 as reported by Lee Kantar, head deer and moose biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Kantar reports that even though not all the needed data has been entered yet, preliminary numbers indicate that due to favorable weather conditions, most of the Wildlife Management Districts show a slightly higher success rate among hunters for moose. This was not the case for the newly expanded southern zones that seem to indicate very low success rates. Kantar is cautioning that until all the information is collected, we should not speculate on why. Here’s his moose report.
Overall the September and October moose seasons were fortunate to have very good hunting conditions during a majority of the season. In other words, cool, fall weather prevailed with crisp mornings and precipitation overall was scarce.
Moose season is typified by very high participation rates and therefore changes in hunting conditions may be demonstrated by an increase in success rate. For the September-October season, the success rate increased 5 percent over 2007. From 2007 to 2008, there were increased success rates in 8 of 19 WMDs or 42 percent of the districts.
The total harvest was ~2,202 of 2,880 permits. (Note that not all the moose data has been entered in the database.) The 2007 moose harvest was 2,052 so the 2008 season represents an increase harvest of 150 moose, not counting November moose and any September/October registrations that have not been yet accounted for.
The November Moose season, which took place for the first time in WMDs 15, 16, 23 and 26, had mixed results. With a total of 135 permits offered and the registered kill not yet entered into the database, the preliminary numbers appear very low, especially in WMD 26, where as little as 3 out of 45 permits were filled. The November season must be carefully assessed once all the data is in to balance the population objectives for these WMDs as well as ensuring that prospective hunters understand the nature of this hunt, i.e., low success rates, small landownerships, access issues and less moose habitat than in more northern and eastern WMDs.
As was predicted before the deer hunting season began, deer harvest numbers seem to follow what was expected in the harvest of far fewer deer due to the high mortality rate on deer from last year’s record breaking winter. Kantar also reminds hunters that he also predicted before this season began that biologically we can expect another season next year of reduced success rates for deer hunters. Here’s Kantar’s preliminary deer report for the 2008 season in which he explains why.
With deer season over I thought it may be of interest to put this season in context with other jurisdictions. Recall that during the spring permit allocation meeting we figured a fall harvest of ~24,200 deer. This, of course, is based on the deer management system and all the data we use to assess current conditions and ultimately project buck harvest, determine the appropriate harvest prescription, calculate adult doe quotas and expansion factors. After reviewing and gleaning the deer biological data I calculated the predicted fall harvest based on a regression formula using annual biological data collection and the annual registered harvest. This year, using the biological data collection, the predicted harvest looks to be about ~24,100 statewide.
One important point is that this decreased harvest is not unexpected — a drop of 5,000 deer or 17 percent from 2007, if the prediction holds out — and Maine is not alone! If we review adjacent jurisdictions — Quebec, New Brunswick and New Hampshire — and take a quick look at their 2008 harvest, we will see some striking changes across the board in decreased deer harvests: Quebec Zones 2-4, that are adjacent to Maine WMDs 1, 4, 7 and 8 were down 41, 46 and 22 percent respectively; Coos County, NH (the most northern county) is estimated to be down 19 percent, and Carroll County, just south of Coos and adjacent to Maine WMDs 12, 15, and 20, is down 48 percent. New Brunswick harvest, I believe, is down ~20-25%.
The widespread decrease in deer harvest on a generalized scale reflects the harsh winter conditions and lengthy yarding period experienced across the northeast throughout the 2007-08 winter.
As typical for the various deer hunting seasons spanning across the months of September through December, hunter conditions were highly variable including during the November firearms season. Tracking snow conditions were available in many parts of the state during both the firearms and muzzleloader season, which typically translates in increased hunter participation and potential harvest. However, in a large part of the state influenced by a long winter, deer numbers were down.
Each year a large portion of the harvest is comprised of yearlings. For hunting season 2008, that would be the fawns from 2007. It is widely recognized that during severe winters, fawns are most susceptible to winter mortality and hence the following year, yearling deer show a decline in representation in the harvest. Preliminary numbers in Maine would support this decrease and mortality influence. Actual numbers should be available in the next month or two.
Tom Remington
