CONTACT:
Linda Verville: (603) 271-2461
Henry Jones: (603) 744-5470
May 6, 2021
Concord, NH – If you want to hunt moose in New Hampshire this fall, now is the time to enter the 2021 moose hunt lottery and try your luck on 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. A total of 40 permits have been proposed to be issued this year.
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. Or you may also call 603-271-2461 to have an application mailed to you.
You can also pick up an application at any open New Hampshire Fish and Game license agent. As the COVID-19 public health emergency evolves in the Granite State, applicants should call ahead to ensure that their local license agent is open and stocked with applications before visiting.
Applicants are encouraged to apply online and early, so there is less chance of submitting an incomplete application. Moose hunt lottery applications for 2021 must be postmarked by Friday, May 28,2021, submitted online by midnight Eastern time on Friday, May 28, 2021, or delivered to the Licensing Office at NH Fish and Game Department headquarters in Concord before 4:00 p.m. that day. Applicants should also consult the Department’s proposed rules for the 2021 moose hunting season by visiting https://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/legislative/proposed-rules.html. Final permit issuance is contingent upon approval of the proposed rules, which typically takes place in June. Review of the proposed rules should help inform decisions during the application process. Winners will be selected through a computerized random drawing on June 18.
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 80, while resident applicants with a total of 17 points had a 1 in 30 chance of being drawn. For nonresidents, the odds increased from 1 in 344 overall to 1 in 146 for applicants with 17 points. Your chance of being offered a permit in the lottery will improve if you rank all wildlife management units on your application. You will have the option to decline a permit with no loss of points if drawn for a unit you prefer not to hunt.
In 2020, 6,013 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 exclusively to preserve their accrued points. Hunters from six other states won permits in the lottery.
While people travel from all over the country to take part in the New Hampshire moose hunt, the majority of permits, about 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.
New Hampshire’s nine-day moose hunt starts the third Saturday in October. This year’s hunt runs from October 16-24.
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 their physical condition and productivity and provides a unique recreational opportunity. Learn more about moose hunting in New Hampshire at www.huntnh.com/hunting/moose.html.