Moose Hunting in NH
It's my day! Moose hunt lottery winner Tricia Currier and her dad, Brett, are all smiles after hearing Tricia's name called.  |
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2012 N.H. Moose Hunt Highlights:
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Largest bull: 810 lbs, taken in WMU B by Paul Freeman of Strafford, NH
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Largest cow: 665 lbs., taken by James Brunt in WMU A2
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Greatest antler spread: 58 inches, a bull taken by Paul Wallace in WMU B
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Oldest hunter: Lionel Veillette, age 78, who took a 365 pound, yearling cow in WMU A2
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Youngest hunter: 12-year-old Teagen House, who took a 5.5 year old bull with a 52.5-inch spread in WMU A2
New Hampshire's moose hunt is nine days, starting the third Saturday in October. The 2013 hunt will take place from October 19-27, 2013. By permit only. Permits are distributed by lottery. The moose hunt lottery is open!
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Enter the NH Moose Hunt Lottery today!
Applications must be postmarked by May 31. |
Moose Hunt Auction: In addition to the lottery, the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of New Hampshire is authorized to auction five moose hunting permits to the highest bidders each year. Proceeds benefit programs of the N.H. Fish and Game Department. Click here for info.
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How many N.H. moose hunting permits will be distributed in the 2013 lottery?
Fish and Game will issue 275 moose hunting permits through the lottery in 2013. In addition, five hunters will have the chance to hunt moose by being the highest bidders in an annual auction that benefits the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of N.H., and up to two permits may be granted to youth with serious medical conditions through the Hunt of a Lifetime program.
What are the odds of winning a NH moose hunt permit?
The odds change from year to year, depending on how many permits are issued; how many people apply; how many points you have accrued; and whether you are from NH or out-of-state. Click here to see the most recent available statistics on the moose hunt lottery applications, permits drawn, and odds.
Do I have to apply each year to keep my bonus points?
Yes. Applicants lose all accrued
points if they do not apply to the lottery for one year, or
if they are offered and accept a moose permit. Click for more on the bonus point system.
History of the NH moose hunt.
Thanks to the recovery of moose populations, N.H. has had an annual moose hunt since 1988. That year, 75 permits were issued for a three-day hunt in the North Country. The availability of moose hunting permits, with some issued for every area of the state during the nine-day season, is made possible by careful management of moose populations. The resulting sustainable annual harvest of moose helps to regulate moose numbers and provides a unique recreational opportunity considered by many the adventure of a lifetime. |
Click on a moose hunt topic:
- Moose Hunt Lottery
- NH Moose Hunt Regulations - 2012 - NOTE: 2013 regulations will be posted when available.
- 2012 Moose Hunt Outlook by biologist Kristine Rines
- Harvest and success rate by region and WMU
- Choosing moose hunt WMUs - Click for statewide map.
- Moose hunt check stations and overview map of WMUs with town boundaries.
- Moose Field Techniques and Game Care
| Moose hunters: click here for a moose hunt Q&A |
More about the moose hunt:
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Moose Season Quick Facts - Moose Hunt Basics
- License and Permit Fees
- Lottery Drawing/Unit Assignment
- Notification
of Winners
- NOTE: You must have landowner permission before using an ATV on privately owned land. All hunters should be prepared to get their moose out of the woods on foot.
Respect landowner rights:
Hunters are advised to seek landowner permission before hunting on any properties, including timber company lands. ATV use is prohibited in the state of the New Hampshire without written land owner permission. Please respect landowner’s rights and never tamper with closed or locked gates or block roads.
Moose Season Quick Facts
- The heaviest moose taken in 2012 was a 810-pound bull shot in Millsfield by Paul Freeman of Strafford on the seventh day of the season.
- Average dressed weight of all yearling bulls taken in 2012 was 410 pounds. The average dressed weight of all bulls aged 5.5 and older in 2012 was 700 pounds.
- The largest bull moose ever taken in N.H. weighed in at 1,040 pounds, dressed weight, taken in 1993. Live weight of this moose would have been approximately 1,400 pounds. The largest cow ever taken dressed at 815 pounds. These two animals came from Zone A2 and both were taken in 1993.
- Greatest antler spread measurement for moose taken in New Hampshire is 68.5 inches, taken in A-2 in 2010 by Jack Middleton.
- Moose have been taken with the use of conventional firearms and archery, handguns, muzzleloaders (including flintlocks) and the longbow. In 2012, 97% of hunters took their moose using conventional firearms (rifle or shotgun).
- 40% of the harvest occurred in the first 3 days of the 2012 season.
Moose Hunt Basics
Each permit holder (permittee) may select one person of any age (subpermittee) to join him or her on the moose hunt.
Both either-sex and antlerless-only permits may be issued in some units.
The limit is one moose per permit, which may be shot by either hunter. Those drawing an antlerless-only permit may take one antlerless moose. All other permit holders may take either an antlered or antlerless moose.
Archery, muzzleloader, and regular firearms hunting are
allowed, according to the hunting license type the hunter possesses.
Hunting is permitted by unit assignment, made as a result
of the preferences listed on the application form and the order
in which the applicant ranks in the drawing. Hunters may hunt
only in the unit assigned to them.
The percentage of permits issued to nonresidents is the same as the percentage of hunting licenses sold to nonresidents in the previous year (recently about 15 to 17 percent of the total.)
The odds of winning a New Hampshire moose hunt permit in the 2012 lottery were 1 in 36 for New Hampshire residents, and 1 in 120 for nonresidents, some of the best odds in the nation for moose hunting.
Moose hunters must carry their valid moose permit and N.H. hunting license with them at all times while hunting and registering their moose.
Resident |
Nonresident |
|
Hunting |
$
22.00 |
$103.00 |
Archery |
$
22.00 |
$
73.00 |
Moose Permit (regular hunting or archery license also
required) |
$150.00 |
$500.00 |
Moose Hunt Lottery
Moose hunting permits are offered to successful lottery applicants following a computer-generated random drawing. Anyone who obtained a moose permit in 2010, 2011, or 2012 is not eligible to obtain a permit in 2013.
- Click here for FAQs about the lottery.
- Click here for more about how the lottery process works and odds of being drawn
Bonus Points: N.H. Fish and Game has a bonus point system to improve the chance of success for unsuccessful applicants who apply each year. Unsuccessful applicants accrue one point for each consecutive year that they apply for the lottery. Each point translates to a chance in the drawing. Don't forget: Applicants lose all accrued points if they do not apply to the lottery for one year, or if they are offered and accept a moose permit. Click here for more about the bonus point system.
Lottery Drawing/Unit Assignment
Permittee candidates
are selected through a computer-generated random number draw.
The 2013 drawing will take place on June 21, 2013.
Each applicant selected in the lottery drawing is assigned to hunt within a unit of his or her choice, except when the permit quota for that unit has already been filled. In cases where the quota in the applicant's first choice unit has been filled, the applicant will be assigned to the next unfilled unit of his or her choice, as indicated on the application. Applicants are considered for antlerless-only permits if no either-sex permits are available and the application indicates the applicant is willing to accept an antlerless-only permit. Any unit not ranked on the application form indicates that the applicant does not wish to hunt in that unit, even if it is the only unit where a permit quota has not yet been filled. Alternate candidates are selected to fill any permits not taken by the original applicants selected.
Notification of winners
Successful applicants
are notified within 10 working days of the drawing. Moose hunting
information packets are mailed in mid- August, and permits are mailed in mid-September.
If your name is drawn, a nonrefundable payment of $150 for residents and $500 for nonresidents must be postmarked no later than midnight July 19, 2013, or received at Fish and Game headquarters in Concord, N.H., no later than July 31, 2013. Failure to submit payment by the deadline will result in disqualification of the applicant and the permit will be offered to an alternate candidate.
