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Linda Verville: (603) 271-2461
Kent Gustafson: (603) 271-2461
Jane Vachon: (603) 271-3211
January 24, 2006
Try Your Luck in the 2006 Moose
Lottery
CONCORD, N.H. -- If you want a chance for the adventure of a lifetime hunting moose in New Hampshire this fall, now's the time to get your application in for N.H. Fish and Game's moose hunt lottery. Applications for the 2006 hunt are available at http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us or from Fish and Game license agents statewide. The fee for entering the moose hunt lottery is $10 (nonrefundable). New Hampshire's moose hunt is nine days long, starting the third Saturday in October. This year, it runs from October 21-29, 2006.
Click here to enter the moose hunt lottery online or click here for a print-and-mail application (PDF file, 348 KB). Moose hunt lottery applications for 2006 must be postmarked or submitted online by midnight Eastern Time, May 26, 2006, or they may be delivered to N.H. Fish and Game headquarters in Concord prior to 4:00 p.m. that day. Winners will be selected through a computerized random drawing on June 23, 2006.
In 2005, 15,837 applicants entered the lottery for the chance to win one of 525 permits issued for the moose season. Those who are lucky enough to take part in the hunt have an excellent chance of success. About three-fourths of New Hampshire permit holders get their moose. Permit holders can choose another hunter of any age to accompany them on the hunt, but only one moose may be taken per permit.
Each applicant can enter the moose hunt lottery once each year. A bonus point system improves the chances for unsuccessful applicants who apply each consecutive year. Hunters who get permits are not eligible to enter the lottery for the following three years. It is not necessary to have a current hunting license to enter the lottery, but hunters who are offered and accept a permit must buy a $100 resident or $300 nonresident moose hunt permit, as well as a New Hampshire hunting license.
Both state residents and nonresidents can enter the moose lottery. The number of permits available to nonresidents is capped, based on the prior year's sales of nonresident hunting licenses (recently about 14 to 18 percent of the total). The chance of winning a New Hampshire moose hunt permit is about 1 in 24 for residents, and 1 in 62 for out-of-staters, giving New Hampshire some of the best odds in the nation for moose hunting.
On the Fish and Game website, you can find a moose hunt Q&A (click here for Q&A) and a gallery of photos and stories from past New Hampshire hunts (click here for 2005 moose hunt photo gallery), including these successful 2005 hunters:
 | Robert McAlister of Canaan, N.H., shot a bull moose
weighing 865 pounds with 18 points and a 58-inch spread with a 30-06 at 50
yards. |
| Chuck Esser, of Fair Haven, Michigan and his sub-permittee,
Steve Grosso, scored a nice bull near Pittsburg on opening day. "New
Hampshire is a beautiful state, a veritable sportsman's paradise, and
everyone we encountered was friendly and supportive," he wrote. "Our
bull's rack had a spread of 47 1/2 inches, and it weighed out at 725
pounds dressed." |
| Roger A. Forcier of Allenstown, N.H., submitted a photo of the cow moose he and his sub-permittee took in the 2005 hunt, which dressed out at 685 pounds. He wrote, "We had a great time...and are eating some mighty fine meat these days." |
All proceeds from the sale of moose hunt lottery applications and permits are used to support New Hampshire's comprehensive moose management program, which includes education, research, protection and management. The state's current moose population is estimated at about 6,500 animals. N.H. Fish and Game is the guardian of the state's fish, wildlife and marine resources.
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