Moose Droppings

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has announced a significant change for next year’s lottery with the elimination of paper applications.

Notice: Beginning in 2009, moose permit applications will only be accepted online. Paper applications will no longer be printed or mailed. The online application process will be available starting in early January of 2009.

There is no doubt that many wildlife agencies are moving towards utilizing the internet. For example this turkey season I tagged both my turkeys on line with NCWRC.

I can’t help but wonder if all the residents who hunt have access to the net and feel comfortable enough with conducting such a transaction on line. I got to admit that I was surprised that the 2000 census shows that Maine is slightly above the national average with 43 % of the homes having internet access.
I’m aware that many people do not feel comfortable doing credit card transactions over the net so it will be interesting to see how well this goes. I completed my moose application for this year’s draw on line so it will not make a difference for me because I’m pretty comfortable in doing such transactions over the web. What do others think? I wonder if they should of went to an on line as well as applying at license retailers for the first few years instead of making such a big leap.

Story and Photo by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose