Despite warm temperatures during the start of the hunting season and a declining moose population, northeastern Minnesota moose hunters were more successful bagging animals this season than last year.
According to THIS Minnesota Department of Natural Resources media release, 51% of the the 213 parties issued moose licenses in 2010 killed an animal. The rate was up from 46% last year. A total of 109 moose were killed during the season.
The season, which opened on October 2 and closed on October 17, began in unseasonably warm conditions which the DNR said slowed the moose rut. After temperatures cooled later in the season, moose activity — bull moose pursuing cows — increased.
The northeastern moose population has declined to an estimated at 5,500 animals, according to the DNR. The allowable harvest is set at approximately 5 percent of the population, which is divided among state and tribal hunters.
Minnesota holds a once-in-a-lifetime lottery for non-tribal hunters wishing to obtain a moose hunting license.