Maine Moose Lottery Info


Maine Moose HuntingThe number of tags awarded in the lottery each year varies with the State Management numbers for the moose population, current numbers are approximately 4000. Applications are accepted only online through the Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website at www.mefishwildlife.com. Maine Moose Lottery applications will be accepted beginning in January and the deadline to enter is May 1st. The drawing takes place on the 2nd Saturday in June.

Residents may purchase 1 chance. Non-residents can purchase 1 chance, 3 chances or blocks of 10 chances for $55. One bonus chance is awarded for each year you apply and are NOT drawn. The drawing works just like a raffle ticket drawing, so there is no mathematical formula to determine exactly how long it takes to win a moose permit. Every year there are tags awarded to people making their first application, and also to people who have been at it for 15 years or longer. The average seems to be between 4 – 7 years for a successful draw.

Ross Lake Camps offers both guided and non-guided moose hunting opportunities in wildlife management district’s 4, 1, 5 & 2. These hunting zones are all inside the area commonly known as the “North Maine Woods”. It is all private property owned and operated by the major logging and paper companies in the Northeastern part of the country. The timberlands here are mostly rolling with hardwood maple and beech ridges, softwood stands of spruce, pine, and poplar trees, and cedar swamps in the low lands.

We are located in Zone 4, but are only 9 miles from Zone 1 and are also centrally located to easily hunt the most remote portions of Zone 5 and 2 as well.

We have conducted 187 successful Moose Hunts here over the past 12 seasons and have a 98% success (tag out) rate compared to the current statewide 72%.

The location of our lodge and cabins is very deep inside this working forest. We are 83 miles from the nearest US town and the absence of any residential or commercial development provides us with the most prime habitat anywhere in the state of Maine. Lodging facilities and services in this part of the woods are very limited. We at Ross Lake Camps are the only full time residents within a 40 mile radius. Our continued presence in the area has allowed us to gain extensive knowledge of our hunting zones, and also to put together a team of some of the most experienced moose guides in the state. If you would like to come on a hunt with us here at Ross Lake Camps be sure to list WMD zone 4 as your first choice of hunting districts followed by WMD zone 1 as your second choice. Follow these choices up with zones 5, 2, 3, 8, 9, 7, 10 and 19. All of these zones are fairly easy to swap permits for in the event that you are not immediately drawn for your top choice.

Click on the following link to the Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website to enter the permit lottery drawing and also to read more detailed information regarding the lottery and the hunt. http://www.maine.gov/ifw/licenses_permits/lotteries/moose/index.htm

Come to the wilderness and make your once in a lifetime moose hunt truly an adventure to be remembered.

Click here to visit our photo gallery and see photos of past hunting and fishing seasons at Ross Lake Camps.