Maine’s 2012 fall moose hunting season ended with a record 2,895 moose taken by hunters, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said. With a total of 3,725 permits allocated by the department, that means the hunt had a 78 percent success rate. That’s up 12 percentage points from the previous year. Game officials said Friday that outstanding fall conditions, including cool temperatures that keep moose on the move, were a factor in making the 2012 hunt successful. Maine’s moose population is estimated by the game department at 76,000, up from about 30,000 in the 1980s.
AUGUSTA, Maine