NH Moose Hunt Opens

(Concord, NH) - The 2015 NH Moose Hunting Season opens today. For the next 9 days, lucky permit holders and their hunting partners will have the experience of a lifetime.

There were 105 permit holders selected in a random computer drawing from a pool of over 95-hundred applicants. Two other hunters got permits by being high bidders in the annual auction that benefits the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of New Hampshire, and one permit was granted to a youth with a serious medical condition through the "Hunt of a Lifetime" program.

Each hunter with a moose permit is assigned to hunt in one of 22 wildlife management units throughout the state. Most have spent the past several weeks or months scouting out potential hunting spots in their assigned areas. After taking a moose, hunters must have the animals registered and inspected at one of six check stations around the state.  There, wildlife biologists check each moose to collect information about the overall health of the moose herd.  Moose check stations draw many interested onlookers, a reminder of the economic and symbolic importance of moose in New Hampshire, particularly in the North Country.  You can find a list of moose check stations at www.huntnh.com/hunting/moose.html.

Hunters are reminded to avoid consuming moose liver and kidney. Studies conducted byFish and Game and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have revealed high levels of cadmium in some moose livers and kidneys sampled. As a result, officials from the Environmental Health Program at the N.H. Department of Environmental Services recommend that no moose kidney be eaten, and preferably no liver. If individuals do choose to eat moose liver, it should be from moose no older than 1.5 years. If the moose is older than that, consumption should be limited to a maximum of two meals (assuming six ounces per meal) of moose liver per year. Biologists at moose check stations can determine the age of the animal for hunters. If you have questions about this issue, call David Gordon, DES Environmental Health Program, at 603-271-4608.