Since 1980 (save a one-year hiatus in 1981), Mainers and nonresidents alike have sent in their entry fees, crossed their fingers and waited to see whether their name is drawn in the state’s annual moose permit lottery.
And since 1980, some have grumbled about the process, claiming, “there’s no way I’m ever gonna win.”
Of course, that hyperbole. There is a way you’re going to win. And it all starts with this: If you want to have a shot at winning the hunt of a lifetime, you’ve got to keep playing. Even when you’re frustrated. Even when you’re angry. Even if there’s “no way you’re ever gonna win.”
Because as Mark Ostermann of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife points out, there is a chance that you’ll win. And the more times you’ve entered the lottery consecutively, the better your chance becomes.
Many of this year’s prospective winners will head to Rangeley on Saturday for the annual drawing. The Rangeley Lakes Region Moose Lottery Festival began on Friday and runs through Sunday. The lottery itself will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 23.
Want a number to chew on? Try this: If you’re a Maine resident who has been putting your name in the computer-hopper for the past 14 years (the first year that “preference points,” or extra chances, were awarded for consecutive years of unsuccessful participation), you’ve got a very, very good chance of going on a moose hunt this fall.
How good? Well, you’ve got a 33.9 percent chance, if you’ve been playing the game since 1998 and have never been drawn. Of course, that also means that you’ve got a 66.1 percent chance of not going hunting on your own permit, but the odds are still better than the 1.5 percent shot a first-time prospective Maine hunter has this year.
It all depends on whether you want to view your glass as one-third full or two-thirds empty. And if you’re still frustrated, consider this: Membership in our exclusive “Maine resident” club has its privileges. A nonresident hunter who purchases a single entry into the lottery and has no preference points has just a 0.2 percent shot at success. The reason for that lower rate is simple: According to state law, no more than 10 percent of moose permits can be allotted to nonresidents each year.
Some other interesting tidbits culled from state statistics on this year’s moose permit lottery:
• This year a total of 54,338 people took part in the lottery. Of those, 39,681 were from Maine, 14,657 were nonresidents.
• The 54,000 applicants this year mark a substantial increase over last year’s total of 49,887. Other totals over the past five years — 2010: 49,729 applicants, 2009: 56,611 applicants, 2008: 64,450 applicants.
• The average Maine resident participating in this year’s lottery has 5.5 “chances” in the drawing, meaning that the 39,681 applicants have a total of 221,147 individual chances. Picture a chance as a numbered ping-pong ball in the cyber hopper. Though Maine residents were only allowed to purchase a single chance each this year, their preference points account for the other chances that they’ve accumulated.
• The average nonresident has 14.0 chances in this year’s lottery. Why is this number much higher than the total for Mainers? Nonresidents are allowed to purchase as many chances, in blocks of 10, as they like. Because nonresidents are competing only against other nonresidents in the lottery, this fact doesn’t give them an advantage over Mainers. And those who wish to keep purchasing chances pump a lot of money into the state’s coffers.
• If an individual will accept any available permit, regardless of what gender the moose must be or what zone or season the hunt takes place in, the odds of a resident winning on one randomly selected number is 1 in 66. The odds of a nonresident winner on one randomly selected number is 1 in 566.
WE are so very lucky in Maine to have a resource in Maine such as the moose. So fortunate this state and it’s citizens have been for 30 odd years to have had the opportunity to hunt this resource, and to provide the jobs and revenue into the economy of this state. May it live on…..
First the whole thing is rigged as people CAN buy more then one chance per drawing. If EVERY person had ONE entry that woudl be fair.
Of course what the Maine wardens do not tell you is that IF you do win they will SELL your name address and phone number to every person of advertises who wants to buy it. I won a few yaers ago and a couple weeks after I was overrun with mailing and calls for guides, calls, hats and all manner of junk. I called the IFW and asked if I could buy a listing of all wardens names address and phone numbers and was told that woudl be against policy and dangerous. I then asked why they sold the same information about me I got a run around about we have always done that. Once again they have proved that the wardens put themselves above the people. Remember the wardens have stated many times and even on TV in there show that if your in the woods your doing something wrong they have just not caught you yet. The local Le’s as all civil and polite but the wardens all have attitudes and do not care about thing but themselves. We shoudl fire every one of them from top to bottom and start over. Check out the many places on the interment where Maine hunters post and read the stories..
I have won 2 years ago and never got one call from anyone. Also my brothers have won and my friends and never heard of anyone calling maybe they just like you.
Well they do sell the names of all winners. Everybody up here who has won that I have spoke to has told me so. I even got a petition a couple years ago with around two thousand names and sent it to the Maine wardens service headquarters. I got a letter back thanking me for my interest in the moose lottery. The IFW cares about money nothing else.
If what you say is true, then the people buying the list are idiots. They post the list online of the winners for free.
No they post the NAME and TOWN online. Not he full address and telephone number that would be illegal. In fact the guides ( the cheap ones who do not want to spend the sash to buy the list used to do just that and look up the names in the local phone books) people like me who are unpublished woudl never be found.
True except with just Name and Town and a little time online you can get most address and telephone numbers for free.
Unless you have PAID the telephone company extra to keep your number private and you have a po box to keep from getting all the stupid mailings and adverts.
The point is what gives them the right to SELL our private information without our permission. All the while refusing to sell the names and address of the wardens. What if some nutbag PETA person got hold of the list and started to do well who knows.
….
Would love to have my wife or myself get drawn.Love moose hunting.
28/221,147*3725*90% = 42.4%
I ve been putting in since the early 90s Nadda . My dad put in every year since 1980 he got picked in 07 He got tired of waiting and went to New foundland about 10 times.
Jeez, what if everyone who entered got 1 chance for themselves and 1 for whomever put them on as a second shooter. that seem to be the most fair way possible for a chance at the lottery and the state to stop ripping us off!