Hunting News

2023 Moose lottery hunt now open; closes May 26

2023 Moose lottery hunt now open; closes May 26

By New Hampshire Fish and Game Department

New Hampshire’s 2023 moose hunt lottery is now open. The fee to enter the lottery is $15 for Granite State residents and $25 for nonresidents.

To participate enter online or print out a mail-in application. Applications are also available from any Fish and Game license agent, Fish and Game Department headquarters or regional Fish and Game offices.

Moose hunt lottery applications for 2023 must be postmarked or submitted online by midnight Eastern Standard Time May 26, 2023, or delivered to the Licensing Office at Fish and Game, 11 Hazen Drive in Concord, N.H., before 4 p.m. Winners will be selected through a computerized random drawing and announced June 16.

Applicants can enter the moose hunt lottery once per year. The bonus-point system improves the chances for unsuccessful applicants who apply in each consecutive year. Each point translates to a chance in the drawing. As an example, in 2022 the overall odds of a resident applicant being drawn were 1 in 96, and resident applicants with a total of 19 points had a 1 in 33 chance of being drawn. For nonresidents, the odds were 1 in 410 overall and 1 in 157 for applicants with 19 points.

New Hampshire’s nine-day moose hunt starts the third Saturday in October. This year’s hunt will run from October 21–29.

Last year 6,033 people entered the lottery to win one of 40 permits. More than 1,190 people accrued bonus points because they submitted an application for a point only, to not lose their accrued points. Hunters from five other states won permits in the 2022 lottery.

While people travel from all over the country to take part in the moose hunt, almost 85% of permits are awarded to residents. The number of permits available to nonresidents is capped, based on the prior year sales of nonresident hunting licenses.

The number of moose hunt permits to be offered for this fall’s hunt has not yet been determined as harvest and survey data are currently under review. Final numbers will be released later this spring.

“While permit numbers may change in 2023, your chance of being drawn and offered a permit in the lottery will be improved if you rank all wildlife management units on your application,” said Dan Bergeron, Wildlife Programs chief. “You will have the option to decline a permit if you are drawn for a unit you would prefer not to hunt.”

New Hampshire has had an annual moose hunt since 1988, when 75 permits were issued for a three-day hunt in the North Country. The current moose population is an estimated 3,000 animals. The availability of moose hunting permits is made possible by carefully monitoring moose populations. The annual harvest of moose also provides valuable information on the physical condition and productivity of moose and offers a unique recreational opportunity.

To learn more about moose hunting in New Hampshire, click here.

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