2005 Vermont Code - § 33. — 2006 Moose Season

§ 33. 2006 Moose Season

1.0 Authority

1.1 This rule is adopted pursuant to 10 V.S.A. § 4081(a). In adopting this rule, the Fish and Wildlife Board is following the policy established by the General Assembly that the protection, propagation, control, management, and conservation of fish, wildlife and fur-bearing animals in this state is in the interest of the public welfare and that the safeguarding of this valuable resource for the people of the state requires a constant and continual vigilance.

1.2 In accordance with 10 V.S.A. § 4082, this rule is designed to maintain the best health, population and utilization levels of the moose herd.

1.3 In accordance with 10 V.S.A. § 4082, the Board may establish open seasons; daily, season and possession limits for game; territorial limits; prescribe the manner and means of taking moose; establish territorial limits for the taking of moose; and establish restrictions on taking based upon sex, maturity and other physical distinctions.

1.4 In accordance with 10 V.S.A. § 4254, this rule establishes a process to auction up to 5 moose permits.

2.0 Purpose The purpose of this regulation is to establish a moose season, to establish the procedures to be used in applying for and issuing moose permits, to establish the administrative framework for regulating the taking of moose, to establish open Wildlife Management Units (WMU's) for the taking of moose, and to establish limits on the number of moose to be taken.

3.0 2006 Moose Season There shall be a split moose season containing two 6-day hunting periods with the first split open for six consecutive days beginning Saturday, October 21, 2006 and ending Thursday, October 26, 2006, both dates inclusive. All either-sex permits, along with the antlerless permits in WMU O1, shall be valid only during this the first split. The second split shall be open for six consecutive days beginning Saturday, October 28, 2006 and ending Thursday, November 2, 2006, both dates inclusive. All antlerless permits in WMU's D2, E1 and E2 shall be valid only during the second split.

4.0 Possession Limit The possession limit for moose shall be one moose per moose hunting permit.

5.0 Moose Hunting Permits

5.1 Moose hunting permits shall be required and will be issued by the Department. At the time of issuance, permit recipients and designated subpermittees must also hold a valid Vermont big game hunting license. When issued a guide pass under paragraph 7.12, the individual to whom the guide pass is issued must hold a current valid Vermont big game hunting license.

5.2 Ten (10) percent of the moose hunting permits in any W.M.U. shall be issued to nonresident hunters.

5.3 Moose hunting permits are valid only within the W.M.U. designated on the permit and only for the sex specified on the permit.

6.0 Permit Application Process

6.1 Application must be made on an official moose hunting application form provided by the Department.

6.2 The Department will consider only complete applications. For an application to be complete it must be legible, must contain all the information requested by the Department, shall contain no false statements, must bear the applicant's official signature, and must be accompanied by any required application fee. Facsimile transmissions will not be accepted as complete applications.

6.3 The Department will consider no more than one complete application from any permit applicant in any one year.

6.4 No person who has held a VT moose hunting permit in any of the previous three calendar years may apply for a moose hunting permit in the current calendar year.

6.5 Only applications received by the Department during the official application period will be considered. Applications must have a Federal Post Office postmark no later than June 1, 2006, or be delivered by 4:30 p.m. on that day to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department in Waterbury, VT.

7.0 Permit Selection Process

7.1 Upon receipt, complete applications will be sorted by applicant's residency status (resident or non-resident). Within each category, applications will be serially numbered from one (1).

7.2 The serial number will be used to select successful applications in the event that more applications are received than permits are authorized in any unit.

7.3 If a selection process is needed, a computer selected list of random numbers will be used to select from the applicants. Selected applicants will receive a permit for their WMU of preference until the permit quota for their preferred WMU is filled at which time a permit will be awarded for their second choice WMU, and so on.

7.4 Complete applications must be received at the Department's Headquarters in Waterbury either by mail postmarked no later than June 1, 2006 or hand-delivered by 4:30 p.m. on this date.

7.5 Successful applicants will be notified by mail, and will receive a permit form to complete.

7.6 The Commissioner may grant a one time, one year deferment to successful applicants for reasons of personal or family illness, temporary disability, or military deployment. Requests for deferment shall be submitted in writing to the Commissioner no later than 14 days prior to the start of the Moose season and shall contain information required by the Commissioner to substantiate the request.

7.7 The applicant may designate one (1) subpermittee who shall be permitted to hunt moose pursuant to the permit. Once the applicant has provided the name of their selected subpermittee to the Department, no change to this selection will be allowed except for personal or family illness, physical disability, or military deployment and then only if an application to the Commissioner is made in writing and received no later than 14 days prior to the start of the first moose season of that same year.

7.8 Subpermittees need not be Vermont residents.

7.9 No person who has held a Vermont moose hunting permit in any of the previous three (3) calendar years may be designated as a subpermittee in the current calendar year.

7.10 No successful permit applicant may be designated as a subpermittee on another Vermont moose hunting permit in the same year.

7.11 No subpermittee shall be named as a subpermittee on more than one permit during the same year.

7.12 In addition to the subpermittee, the permittee may be accompanied by one other person while moose hunting, known as the "guide". The guide shall be allowed to direct, aid, assist and instruct the permittee and subpermittees during the hunt but may not shoot the moose nor carry any firearm or bow. The permittee shall be issued a guide pass which must be carried at all times on the person of the guide while moose hunting. The guide pass may be carried by different persons at any time during the moose hunt, but only one person at a time may serve as a guide for each moose hunting party. One person may simultaneously serve as a guide for more than one moose hunting party but must be carrying the proper guide pass for each party involved.

7.13 All successful permit applicants will receive a moose hunter's handbook with information including moose hunting rules and regulations, hunter safety and ethics and proper care of meat.

7.14 Alternates will be selected as described in paragraph 7.3 to replace those who do not complete and return the permit form by the specified deadline.

7.15 Validated moose hunting permits will be issued to permittees only after the permit form has been legibly completed and returned to the Department.

7.16 The valid permit will show:

7.16.1 W.M.U. designation

7.16.2 Permit number

7.16.3 Permittee's license number

7.16.4 Permittee's name, address and signature

7.16.5 Date of issuance

7.16.6 Subpermittee's name, address, and license number

7.16.7 Department validation

7.16.8 Moose tag number

8.0 Control Measures

8.1 All laws and regulations pertaining to the hunting and taking of big game in VT apply to moose, except as provided below:

8.2 Permittees, subpermittees and guides must hold a valid VT hunting license.

8.3 When moose hunting, the permit holder must carry the permit.

8.4 The subpermittee must always be accompanied by the permit holder. For these purposes, "accompanied," means being able to communicate without the aid of artificial devices except medically prescribed eyeglasses or hearing aids.

8.5 No persons other than the permittee, subpermittee and guide shall participate in a joint hunt to take moose. Once a moose is legally tagged, there is no limit to numbers of persons that can assist with the field dressing and removal of the moose from the kill site.

8.6 Portable radio transceivers and/or cell phones shall not be used in the hunting or taking of moose. Such devices may be used, however, after the moose is legally tagged.

8.7 No electronic devices such as radio telemetry equipment shall be used to take moose.

8.8 No electronic devices shall be used to attract moose.

8.9 Moose may be taken only with the following implements:

8.9.1 Centerfire rifles or handguns not less than .25 caliber.

8.9.2 A single shot, single barrel muzzleloading firearm of not less than. 50 caliber, with a minimum barrel length of 20 inches and designed to be fired from the shoulder, or a pistol of not less than .50 caliber and with a minimum barrel length of 10 inches.

8.9.3 Bows of not less than 60 pound draw weight, based on the archer's normal draw length for traditional bows, and using arrowheads with at least 7/8 of an inch in width with two or more cutting edges.

8.9.4 Shotguns not less than 12 gauge and with slugs only.

8.10 No person shall shoot or attempt to shoot a moose when the moose is within 100 yards of any town, state, or federal highway as defined in 10 V.S.A. Section 4705(f).

8.11 Swimming moose shall not be taken.

8.12 Tagging, reporting, (section 2(a) notwithstanding), and transporting of moose shall be done according to current regulations and statutes pertaining to big game except that moose must be reported by exhibiting the eviscerated carcass to a Department official at a Department-authorized moose check station during its scheduled hours of operation within 48 hours of tagging. The moose head, hide, lower legs, and boned-out backbone and/or ribcage need not be reported, however, the complete lower jaw must be presented. If the moose is a male, the antlers must also be presented and the scrotum containing the testicles must be left attached to the carcass or one of the hindquarters. If the moose is female, the udder must also be left attached to the carcass or one of the hindquarters. No moose shall be transported out of the state without first being reported as required herein.

8.13 The permittee and/or subpermittee must identify the exact kill site on a Department map, and if requested, shall be required to take Department personnel to the kill site and/or the site of carcass evisceration for purposes such as, but not limited to, verification of the kill site or to obtain ovaries or other biological samples left behind.

9.0 Permit Allocation

9.1 A total of 805 permits to hunt and take moose of any sex and age are authorized for the following WMUs:

WMU B C D1 D2 E1 E2 G H1 H2 I J1 J2 L M1 M2 O1 P Q

Either- 5 25 40 170 140 180 20 25 5 30 20 25 20 25 5 20 40 10

Sex per-

mits

9.2 An additional 305 permits to hunt and take only moose that do not have antlers more than 6 inches in length are authorized for WMU's D2 (110 permits), E1 (70 permits), E2 (110 permits) and O1 (15 permits).

10.0 Moose Permit Auction

10.1 Five moose permits shall be set aside to be auctioned off. These permits are in addition to the permits authorized in paragraph 9.0 above.

10.2 The Department may elect to auction one permit through an auction service such as eBay. If that is the case, only four permits will be auctioned off by the process administered by the Department.

10.3 The Department will provide a form for submitting written bids, and will set an annual deadline for accepting bids. Only bids that are complete and received by the Department's Waterbury office by August 1, 2006 will be considered.

10.4 Permits will be awarded to individuals that submit the 5 highest bids or the 4 highest bids if the Department elects to auction one permit off via and auction service such as eBay. Individuals submitting the next 5 highest bids will be notified that they are alternates, and that they are eligible, in order of declining bid value, to receive a permit if higher-ranked bidders do not submit payment within a 15-day period following notification.

10.5 An individual may submit more than one bid, however he/she may only receive one moose permit. If an individual submits multiple bids, only the highest value bid will be included in the auction as an official bid.

10.6 Once notified of winning a moose permit, successful bidders have 15 days to submit their bids, and to indicate: the Wildlife Management Unit they will hunt in, and their subpermittee, if any.

10.7 If an individual wins a moose permit in the auction, and then receives a public chance drawing moose permit, the person is no longer eligible in the current year's auction and the bid amount will be refunded and the next highest unsuccessful bidder will be offered the permit.

10.8 Individuals that purchase moose permits through the auction and who have not won a permit through the public moose lottery during any of the previous 3 years, are exempt from the 3-year waiting period required for submission of public lottery moose. (1993, Fish and Wildlife Board Reg. No. 999, eff. June 12, 1993; amended 1994, Fish and Wildlife Board Reg. No. 999, eff. April 8, 1994; 1995 Fish and Wildlife Board Reg. No. 999, eff. May 15, 1995; 1995, Fish and Wildlife Board Reg. No. 999, eff. May 4, 1996; 1999, Fish and Wildlife Board Reg. No. 999, eff. June 5, 1999; 1999 (Adj. Sess.), Fish and Wildlife Board Reg. No. 999, eff. June 16, 2000; 2003 Fish and Wildlife Board Reg. No. 1000, eff. June 21, 2003; 2005 Fish and Wildlife Board Reg. No. 999, eff. Aug. 6, 2005; 2006 Fish and Wildlife Board Reg. No. 999, eff. Aug. 31, 2006.)