Of the 281 permits issued to hunters participating in the 2013 New Hampshire moose hunt, 18% were successful upon completion of the opening weekend of the hunt.
On Saturday and Sunday (October 19 and 20), a total of 50 moose were taken by hunters statewide – 33 bulls and 17 cows.
This year’s results were down slightly from last year’s 25% success rate for the 2012 opening weekend. This was due in part to warm temperatures and windy conditions over the weekend.
“Moose have very heavy winter coats and often bed down in the shade during warmer temperatures, causing them not to be as active,” said Kristine Rines, moose biologist for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.
The largest moose checked in during the opening weekend of the New Hampshire moose hunt was a bull with a dressed weight of 820 pounds and a live weight of approximately 1,200 pounds. The bull, which had an antler spread of 53 inches, was taken by Dan Nocella of Laconia, N.H., in the town of Dixville in Wildlife Management Unit A2.
The largest cow moose checked in during the two-day opening weekend had a dressed weight of 690 pounds and a live weight of approximately 1,000 pounds. This cow was taken by Scott Crathern of Hopkinton in Wildlife Management Unit C2 in Milan.
Frank Reedy, 58, of North Scituate, R.I. was one of the successful moose hunters. He shot his bull moose early Sunday morning in Wildlife Management Unit C1. He was about three quarters of a mile on a logging road and spotted the moose 300 yards away on a steep hillside. After taking the moose, Reedy hiked another 40 minutes over boulders, through briars, and over dead wood from an old logging operation. He boned and quartered the moose on site and packed out over 400 pounds of meat on his own. When Reedy came out with the last bag it was dark. “I had to work my way out with a pen light,” Reedy said.
A successful female permittee from over the weekend was Kathleen Brodeur of Londonderry. She harvested a bull with a dressed weight of 465 pounds and a live weight of approximately 680 pounds in the town of Millsfield, in Wildlife Management Unit B.
Fish and Game manages New Hampshire’s moose population in accordance with density goals defined in its 2006-2015 moose management plan. This plan seeks to meet regional moose population goals by balancing and incorporating social, economic, public safety and ecological factors, using the best available science.
New Hampshire’s nine-day moose hunt continues through Sunday, October 27, 2013. This year, more than 13,000 people entered the moose hunt lottery for a chance to win one of the 275 permits drawn for the New Hampshire moose hunt. In addition, five hunters had the chance to hunt moose because they were the highest bidders in an annual auction that benefits the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of New Hampshire, and two permits were granted to youth hunters with serious medical conditions through the Hunt of a Lifetime program.
For more about moose hunting in New Hampshire, including a list of check stations, visit huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_moose.htm.
Get into the spirit of the adventure with a limited-edition 2013 New Hampshire moose hunt commemorative shirt, available (throughNovember 23) at huntnh.com/mooseshirt.
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department is the guardian of the state’s fish, wildlife and marine resources and their habitats. Visit huntnh.com.
Photo: Londonderry News
