Moose Season

There are approximately 7,300 moose in northeast Minnesota. They have a non-hunting moose mortality that ranged from 9 to 24 percent. Typically, moose are killed by various illnesses and parasites, vehicle collisions, wolves or old age (after 20 years) and only a small proportion are harvested during the hunting season. I was once able to partake in one of the “harvested” animals.

I remember eating moose meat all one winter. I think we ate moose meat all winter because they’re really big animals and we had a dead one in our freezer. My dad shot that moose and he had a good tale to tell.

The moose he shot was a female, about 900 pounds, and the male that accompanied that female was also killed. Except, the bull moose killed was shot along side a road and the hunters that bagged the bull had a tow truck. They pulled the tow truck up to the dead moose and winched him along, eventually into a very large freezer as a bull moose is upwards of 2000 pounds..

The female my dad shot ran into the woods. His team of friends and fellow hunters followed that moose and eventually tracked in down. The problem was, the moose was out in the woods and it was getting dark outside. He recalls having to butcher the moose in the woods and carry large pieces of moose on their backs out of the woods. The story also went that as they were cutting up that large piece of fresh meat, there were eyes in the forest. A pack of wolves watching.

I remember eating the moose and thinking how good moose meat tasted. Much better than bear and not as good as Kobe beef. I guess it’s hard to massage the muscles of a moose. But I was reminded of all this while reading about the upcoming Minnesota Moose Hunting Season. Only $3.00 to enter the contest. And a wolf pack for no additional charge!

“The application deadline for the 2006 Minnesota moose hunt is Friday, June 16.

This year, a total of 279 permits are available in 30 zones in the northeastern part of the state. There is no hunting season in northwestern Minnesota. The season dates are Sept. 30 through Oct. 15, 2006.

Moose hunters must apply in parties from two to four individuals. An application fee of $3 per individual must be included with the application. Only Minnesota residents, at least 16 years of age, are eligible for the moose hunt.

Permits are issued through a random drawing, except that applicants who have been unsuccessful at least 10 times since 1985 will be placed in a separate drawing for up to 20 percent of the available licenses. A person who is still unsuccessful in this separate selection will also be included in the regular drawing. Because the moose hunt became a once-in-a-lifetime hunt in 1991, hunters who received permits for moose hunts for the 1991 hunt and later are not eligible to apply for the 2006 drawing.

The bag limit is one moose of any age or either sex per party. The license fee is $310 per party. There will be mandatory orientation sessions required for all hunters chosen for moose licenses.

In 2005, 3,060 parties applied for the 284 available state permits. State licensed hunters killed 136 bulls and 27 cows, for a party success rate of 57 percent.”