The lottery is open for New Hampshire’s 2014 moose hunt. Enter soon and try your luck on what many consider the adventure of a lifetime. Lottery applications are just $15 for New Hampshire residents and $25 for nonresidents. To enter, visit http://www.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_moose.htm, where you can apply online or get a mail-in application. Or pick up a lottery application from any Fish and Game license agent or at the Fish and Game Department in Concord.
Moose hunt lottery applications for 2014 must be postmarked or submitted online by midnight Eastern Time on May 30, 2014, or delivered to the Licensing office at Fish and Game headquarters in Concord before 4:00 p.m. that day. Winners will be selected through a computerized random drawing on June 20 in Concord.
Keep building up those bonus points! Bonus points improve the chances for unsuccessful applicants who apply each consecutive year. Last year, for example, resident applicants who had a total of 10 points had a 1 in 16 chance of being drawn, and nonresidents with 10 points had a 1 in 58 chance. Don’t miss a year, or you’ll lose your points.
Last year (2013), more than 13,000 people entered the lottery for the chance to win one of 275 permits. In addition, more than 1,300 people continued to accrue bonus points by submitting an application for a point only. Hunters from 18 different states won permits, but the majority of permits (about 85%) go to New Hampshire residents. The number of permits for nonresidents is based on the prior year’s sales of nonresident hunting licenses.
The number of permits being offered in the 2014 lottery is expected to be lower than last year. The exact number of permits for this fall’s hunt is not final, but the proposal under consideration is for a total of 124 moose hunting permits to be issued statewide. This reduction addresses a continued decline in moose numbers in some parts of the state. The final number will be determined through the state’s formal rulemaking process, with public hearings planned for late March/early April 2014. A presentation with more details about the proposal can be viewed on the Fish and Game website at http://www.huntnh.com/Newsroom/2014/Q1/Wildlife_rule_proposal_initial_011714.html.
While permit numbers will likely be reduced in 2014, hunters’ chance of being drawn and offered a permit in the lottery will be improved if they rank all wildlife management units on their application, according to Wildlife Programs Supervisor Kent Gustafson. Hunters will have the option to decline a permit and retain their points if drawn for a unit they prefer not to hunt.
New Hampshire’s nine-day moose hunt starts the third Saturday in October. This year’s hunt runs from October 18-26, 2014. Learn more about moose hunting in New Hampshire at http://www.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_moose.htm.