Maine's Moose are on the Loose!

Historically, Maine has been the premier moose hunting and viewing destination in the lower 48 states. Along with a healthy moose population comes the task of managing it at levels that are socially acceptable; this can be done effectively only if you know how many animals you have in the population. However, this objective is often significantly more difficult than you might think. There are a variety of methods that could be used to count individuals; most have been employed by Maine IFW biologists at some point to determine our beloved moose population. Accuracy of these methods vary; the last method we had tried prior to 2010 seemed to be the simplest. Deer hunters were surveyed about how many moose they spied during their hunt. Those numbers, along with what landowners and biologists were seeing, were plugged into a population estimate model and a population estimate was determined. While this method worked okay at first, as northern Maine deer hunter participation dwindled, so did the legitimacy of our moose counts. That is until our moose biologist, in his search for better, more accurate population estimate techniques, discovered New Brunswick’s double count aerial survey technique. At the time, New Brunswick was using this for their deer population. Upon inquiring further, our biologist was informed that it is very accurate provided you have decent visibility and a healthy number of individuals in the area you are surveying. In other words, this may not be the most accurate technique for our deer in our North Maine Woods, or for our moose in southern Maine, as both populations are not large enough to be accurate. However, for moose in northern Maine, it was a match made in moose biologist heaven! The double count technique entails 2 observers, observing independently with no contact between them, one at the front of a helicopter and one in the back on the same side, and a data recorder. The area to be surveyed is broken down into a grid and transects are flown through the grid with both observers reporting numbers of moose seen on a transect line to the data recorder. The data recorder tells both observers when the transect starts and stops, so they are both counting the same area at the same time. At the end, the number of individuals seen by each observer is compared. The information obtained can be used to determine on average how many individuals per area exist; for example, 5 moose per square mile. In the winter of 2010-2011, our biologists took to the skies above WMDs 2, 3, and 6 with help from the Maine Forest Service and funds from The Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund to try out the new double count survey technique on our moose. In a short period of time it was decided this technique was far more accurate and efficient. The following winter, with funding from the Federal Pittman-Robertson Fund, the double count survey technique was done again, this time on more WMDs. What they found was shocking. The previously estimated population of moose in Maine was wrong; a population of 76,000 was more accurate. Talk about a jump! No, our moose didn’t have a huge population boom, the difference was the survey technique! Now, you might be asking, how is flying over land with a helicopter more efficient than just talking to hunters? Although the helicopter time is costly, this counting method requires fewer people, fewer man hours, and more reliable, accurate information, making it significantly more efficient and accurate than any other method previously tried. Ultimately, it means the coming years are the perfect time to see or hunt moose in Maine! [embed]http://youtu.be/oaqOi5lPoK4[/embed]