Vermont biologists have proposed a reduction of moose permits this year to just 14, all in the Northeast Kingdom region of the state, as brainworm and winter ticks continue to ravage the state’s moose herd.
That reduction is stunning, considering how rapidly the moose herd — and the number of moose taken by hunters each year — has declined. According to the Rutland Herald, just 10 years ago, in 2008, Vermont allotted 1,260 moose permits in an effort to reduce a burgeoning herd of moose in the Northeast Kingdom that had grown from about 2,000 to 5,000 over the previous 10 years.
The questions Mainers may be asking themselves: What makes our state different? And why are our biologists proposing a 20 percent increase in permits this year, even as our New England counterparts are on the verge of ending their hunt altogether?
Simply put, according to Maine’s state moose biologist, the states are vastly different when it comes to moose.
“Clearly, one perspective is simply scale,” said Lee Kantar of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, who explained that Maine simply possesses more prime moose habitat than Vermont does.
“That whole part of the Northeast Kingdom [in Vermont] consists of about 2,000 square miles, which is about the same size as our one [Wildlife] Management District 8,” Kantar said. “So, as a size comparison, you’re talking about a big chunk of core range in Vermont which is the size of just one of our units, and we have probably 12 units that comprise our core range. So there’s a big size difference when you’re talking about just sheer permit numbers [from state to state].”
And there’s a huge difference in the size of each state’s moose herd. Maine’s is estimated at more than 50,000, while Vermont has around 2,000 moose, according to published reports.
In addition, Kantar pointed out, Maine’s western study area, near Jackman, has a lot more in common with Vermont and New Hampshire than its northern study area in Aroostook County does. In Aroostook County, with colder winters and less impact from winter ticks, moose calves are surviving at a much higher rate than they do in western Maine.
The comparison between western Maine and Vermont, geographically at climate-wise, makes some sense, Kantar said.
“You’ve got this one dynamic where in that latitudinal area, there may be some similarities between climates, moose numbers and tick abundance, where calves are taking it hard in some years,” Kantar said.
Kantar said it’s important to consider recruitment — the number of moose calves born in a given area — when considering making moose hunting permits available.
“One of the things you can look at is the numbers of moose — the numbers of bulls, cows and calves — how many are produced every year, and of that number of calves, what does that look like compared to the number of permits you put out every year?” Kantar said. “Clearly, if you compare our same land area in district 8 to the whole Northeast Kingdom, we still produce more calves every year than what we harvest for sheer moose numbers in that district.”
Kantar explained that in WMD 8, west of Moosehead Lake, for instance, biologists have proposed allotting 175 bull permits for this year. The number doesn’t worry him, because he knows the moose in that district produce far more than 175 calves each year.
“People need to understand that for the most part, the mortality that you get from our hunting has little to no effect on the moose population,” he said.
And in northern Maine, moose are thriving, Kantar said.
“When we look at our area, we have an area that is, I would guess, four times the size of the Northeast Kingdom — which is the northern part of our state — and which includes our northern research area, which is a pretty stable area for moose,” Kantar said. “We’re not seeing the same things happen [as is happening elsewhere]. So we don’t see, biological and management-wise, the need to [decrease] permit levels in that core area up there. We’re actually looking for increases.”
