Tagged: moose

New Hampshire Fish and Game is working to catch Moose poachers in Northern New Hampshire. But earlier this fall, the department worked to catch two Canadians poaching over the US – Canadian Border.

Fish and Game officials are seeking tips from the public about who shot a moose last week off of Kilkenny Loop Road in Berlin. Conservation officer Geoff Youngblood says the moose sustained multiple gunshot wounds, and tracks in the snow show the shooter finished the job at point black range, and then walked away, taking no meat.

October is the annual breeding season, "the rut" for the largest denizens of New Hampshire's North Country: Moose.  It's also the annual moosehunting season.

Following the initial recovery of moose populations, an annual moose hunt has occurred since 1988. That first year, 75 permits were issued for a three-day hunt in the North Country only. Last year, 400 moose permit hunters took 290 moose.

This year 275 coveted moose hunting permits were awarded by lottery from among more than 13,400 applicants for the nine-day season.

Warm winters have been tipping the balance between New Hampshire moose and the winter ticks that feed on them.

The ticks have benefited from warmer temperatures, and their increasing numbers have become a problem for moose.

When too many ticks latch on to the moose, it suffers blood loss, hair loss, becomes sick, and sometimes dies.

Kristine Rines, a wildlife biologist with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, says the real enemy is weather.