Moose Hunting

The tradition of moose hunting in Aroostook County reached a milestone in 1980 when Maine reinstated hunting after a 45-year ban, with Gary Cain of Caribou drawn as the very first name from the tumbler and county hunters claiming 102 of the 700 available permits. Since 1999, the state's moose permit lottery drawing has evolved into a traveling outdoor festival tradition, gathering prospective hunters in Aroostook communities like Caribou, Presque Isle, and Fort Kent to hear names read aloud. Fort Kent hosted the festival at Riverside Park and America's First Mile on June 15, 2024, announcing 4,105 permit winners alongside tracking presentations, hunting story sessions, and a field judging contest.

Today, hunting parties set out across Wildlife Management Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 11, relying on gateway communities to reach expansive woods and waters. Ashland functions as an administrative base into the industrial timberlands of the North Maine Woods, while the Oxbow automated checkpoint provides backcountry road access into central and western sectors. To the north and east, Eagle Lake village acts as a community base bordering WMD 2 and WMD 3 for those accessing the Fish River water systems and commercial spruce-fir woodlands, and WMD 1 spans northwestern forests through the Upper St. John River valley. In the remote western river watersheds, century-old historic sporting camps continue to lodge guided hunting groups.

Beyond traditional wilderness hunts, specialized seasons help balance local land uses and evaluate herd health. In eastern and central Aroostook, multi-week controlled hunts coordinated with agricultural landowners help mitigate commercial crop depredation and reduce moose-vehicle collisions, with a dedicated random lottery administered for disabled veterans through the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Maine Bureau of Veterans' Services. Meanwhile, an adaptive unit hunt in WMD 4A tests whether lowering moose density reduces winter tick infestations and improves calf survival, adding to research from WMD 2 where biologists net-captured moose by helicopter to monitor movements via GPS collars.

Bringing an animal out of the woods involves distinct fieldcraft and careful biological study. To manage early-season temperatures and haul animals that can exceed 1,000 pounds, Registered Maine Guides and hunters frequently quarter harvested moose in the field to protect meat quality before packing out to tagging stations. Hunters bring their harvest to registration spots such as the Gateway Variety Store in Ashland, an official field station along the Reality Road in Clayton Lake Township, or the North Maine Woods Caribou Checkpoint station, where state wildlife biologists collect body weights, canine teeth for aging, and female ovaries to analyze reproduction.