CONTACT:
Linda Verville: (603) 271-2461
Henry Jones: (603) 744-5470
January 30, 2020
CONCORD, NH – New Hampshire’s 2020 moose hunt lottery is now open. Enter today for your chance at the adventure of a lifetime—hunting moose in the rugged woods of the Granite State. The lottery entrance fee is $15 for New Hampshire residents and $25 for nonresidents.
To enter the New Hampshire moose hunt lottery, visit www.huntnh.com/hunting/moose.html where you can enter online or print out a mail-in application. You can also pick up an application at any Fish and Game license agent, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Headquarters, or at a Fish and Game Regional office.
Moose hunt lottery applications for 2020 must be postmarked or submitted online by midnight eastern time on May 29, 2020, or delivered to the Licensing Office at New Hampshire Fish and Game Department headquarters at 11 Hazen Drive in Concord, NH, before 4:00 p.m. that day. Winners will be selected through a computerized random drawing on June 19 at the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department office in Concord.
Applicants can enter the moose hunt lottery once per year. A bonus-point system improves the chances for unsuccessful applicants who apply in each consecutive year. Each point translates to a chance in the drawing. For example, last year the overall odds of a resident applicant being drawn were 1 in 77, and resident applicants with a total of 16 points had a 1 in 33 chance of being drawn. For nonresidents, the odds increased from 1 in 341 overall to 1 in 153 for applicants with 16 points.
In 2019, 5,875 people entered the lottery for the chance to win one of 49 permits. More than 1,100 people continued to accrue bonus points because they submitted an application for a point only in order to not lose their accrued points. Hunters from five other states won permits in the 2019 lottery.
While people travel from all over the country to take part in the New Hampshire moose hunt, the majority of permits, almost 85%, are awarded to New Hampshire residents. The number of permits available to nonresidents is capped, based on the prior year’s sales of nonresident hunting licenses.
The number of moose hunt permits that will be offered for this fall’s hunt has not yet been determined as harvest and survey data are currently under review. If changes are proposed by the Wildlife Division, final numbers will be determined later this spring.
“While permit numbers may change in 2020, 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,” Wildlife Programs Supervisor Dan Bergeron noted. “You will have the option to decline a permit if drawn for a unit you prefer not to hunt.”
New Hampshire applicants should note that the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles started a new driver’s license numbering format in 2017. As a result, New Hampshire driver’s license numbers will be changing over the next five years. Bonus points are tracked via your driver’s license number. Please pay particular attention when completing your application, and if your license number has changed, indicate this on your application.
New Hampshire’s nine-day moose hunt starts the third Saturday in October. This year’s hunt runs from October 17–25.
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 state’s current moose population is estimated at about 3,000 animals. The availability of moose hunting permits is made possible by careful monitoring of moose populations. The resulting annual harvest of moose provides valuable information on the physical condition and productivity of moose and provides a unique recreational opportunity. Learn more about moose hunting in New Hampshire at www.huntnh.com/hunting/moose.html.