Maine Moose Permit Lottery Odds of Winning Get Better Every Year
OutdoorHub 03.12.12
IF&W has issued moose permits since 1980. The number of applicants peaked in 1994 with 94,543 applications for 1200 permits, and odds of 1 in 79 applicants winning a permit. Last year, in 2011, there were 49,889 applicants for 3,862 permits; with the odds of 1 in 13 applicants winning – a substantially better chance!
Changes to the 2012 Moose Permit lottery will further improve the odds of a long time applicant’s winning. Since 1998, a bonus point was earned for each year a person applied, but did not win. Last year, the Legislature changed the bonus points earned to one point for years 1 to 5, two points for years 6 to 10, three points for years 11-15 and 10 points for each year over 15. The maximum number of years anyone has accumulated into 2012 is 14 years – equaling a total of 27 bonus points.
In addition, residents can only buy one chance – increasing the value of the bonus points relative to the number of purchased chances. Last year, the long time applicant with 13 bonus points and 6 purchased chances was three times as likely to win as the person with zero bonus points and who purchased 6 chances. This year the long time applicant with 27 bonus points and one purchased chance are 28 times more likely to win when compared to the person buying their first chance. About 3500 people have applied every year since 1998 and not won. With all of the changes outlined above, and if they continue to apply annually; almost all of them will win a moose hunting permit within the next five years.
Applications for this year’s moose lottery are now available online through the department’s website, www.mefishwildlife.com. Completing the application online is a convenience that thousands of hunters are using, because the forms are easy to fill out and they receive instant confirmation that they’ve been entered into the lottery.
