4214(111-114).pdf ALCES VOL. 42, 2006 BASE ET AL. - STATUS OF MOOSE IN WASHINGTON 111 HISTORY, STATUS, AND HUNTER HARVEST OF MOOSE IN WASHINGTON STATE Dana L. Base1, Steve Zender1, and Donny Martorello2 1Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2315 North Discovery Place, Spokane, WA 99216, USA; 2Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501, USA ABSTRACT: Since the middle 20th century, moose have expanded their range and population in Wash- ington, especially within the northeastern part of the state. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife opened a limited-entry hunting season on moose in 1977. Permit numbers gradually increased from 3 in 1977 to 98 permits offered in the 2005 hunting season. Hunter harvest is believed to be well within the reproductive capacity of Washington’s moose population. Moose abundance and range are expected to at least remain at current levels into the future. ALCES VOL. 42: 111-114 (2006) Key words: Alces alces, antler widths, bull / cow / calf ratio, limited-entry hunting, management goals and guidelines, population status, range, tooth cementum aging, Washington Until the early 1970s there were few re- cords for moose (Alces alces) within the State included a photograph of an adult bull taken by hunter Pete Lemery on November 16, 1929 near Twin Lakes in Ferry County, Washington on the Colville Indian Reservation (Scheffer and Dalquest 1944). In 1954, Washington De- partment of Game (later renamed Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, WDFW) personnel found a shed moose antler in the Selkirk Mountains of Pend Oreille County in the northeastern corner of the state. The following year, 1955, two agency biologists found the carcass of a calf moose in the same general vicinity (S. Guenther, WDFW, un- published data). By 1972 a well-established resident population of moose was documented in Pend Oreille County that consisted of an estimated 60 animals (Poelker 1972). This population grew to 850-1,000 animals over the next 30 years and greatly expanded in range (WDFW 2003). The assumed subspecies of moose in Washington is Shira’s, Alces alces shirasi, as this subspecies comprises the closest moose population to Washington in both Idaho and British Columbia (Poelker 1972, Compton and Oldenburg 1994). Figure 1 illustrates the estimated range of moose as of 1997 based upon modeling accomplished by Johnson and Cassidy (1997). Moose are still expanding in distribution within Washington as numerous range in northeastern Washington have been made since 1997. In 1977, the Washington State Wildlife hunt of moose within the state. Three tags Fig. 1. Range of moose in Washington State, USA, as of 1997 (indicated by shaded area: from Johnson and Cassidy 1997). STATUS OF MOOSE IN WASHINGTON – BASE ET AL. ALCES VOL. 42, 2006 112 issued by lottery-type drawing were awarded that year. As both the population and range of moose have expanded since 1977, the number of special hunt permits has gradually increased to a high of 98 permits in 2005 (Fig. 2). On a statewide basis the WDFW has the following goals for managing moose: 1. Preserve, protect, perpetuate, and manage moose and their habitats to ensure healthy, productive populations. 2. Manage moose for a variety of recreation- al, educational, and aesthetic purposes and ceremonial uses by Native Americans, wildlife viewing, and photography. 3. Manage statewide moose populations for a sustained yield (WDFW 2003). In 2003, the WDFW developed guidelines for managing the hunter harvest of moose in Washington (Table 1). These guidelines are generally averaged over a 3-year period (1997). Management philosophy is directed at providing a high-quality hunting experience with good opportunity for harvesting a mature bull. Field observations, aerial surveys, hunter success rates, antler widths, and moose ages (Compton and Oldenburg 1994). As the range of moose has expanded, the number of Game Management Units (GMUs) with allocated moose permits has increased from 1 in 1977 to 10 in 2004. Likewise, of the 39 counties within Washington State, the number in which moose can be hunted has increased from 1 in 1977 to 6 in 2005. The annual hunter harvest success rate on both bull and cow moose has been consistently high, ranging from 67% to 100% with an aver- age of 92% and a mode of 100%. A total of 748 moose were legally harvested between 1977 and 2005, including 556 bulls and 192 antlerless moose (cows and calves). The an- nual average age of harvested bull moose as determined by tooth cementum analysis was 5.2 years (range 3.9 - 6.9) from 1990 through 2004 (n = 373 ) (Fig. 3). The oldest bull moose taken by hunters in Washington was aged at 15.4 years. This bull was harvested in 2003. The average antler spread of harvested bulls from 1990 through 2005 was 94 cm (37 inches) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 19 77 19 79 19 81 19 83 19 85 19 87 19 89 19 91 19 93 19 95 19 97 19 99 20 01 20 03 20 05 Year N um be r Permits Harvest Fig. 2. Allocation of permits and hunter harvest of moose in Washington State, USA, 1977 – 2005. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 19 90 19 91 19 92 19 93 19 94 19 95 19 96 19 97 19 98 19 99 20 00 20 01 20 02 20 03 20 04 20 05 Year M ea n an tl er sp re ad (c m ) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 M ea n ag e Mean Spread Mean Age Fig. 3. Annual average antler spread (cm) and age of hunter-harvested bull moose in Washington State, USA, from 1990 to 2005. Guideline Liberalize harvest level Acceptable harvest level Restrict harvest access Average bull : 100 cow ratio > 75 bulls 60 – 75 bulls < 60 bulls Average calf : 100 cow ratio > 50 calves 30 – 50 calves < 30 calves Median age of harvested bulls > 6.5 years 4.5 – 5.5 years < 4.5 years Table 1. Guidelines for managing the hunter harvest of moose in Washington State, USA. ALCES VOL. 42, 2006 BASE ET AL. - STATUS OF MOOSE IN WASHINGTON 113 with an annual mean ranging between 84 and 104 cm (33 – 41 inches; n = 440 ) (Fig. 3). The widest antler spread of any hunter-harvested moose in Washington was 147 cm (58 inches) from a bull taken in 2000. Bull and calf moose ratios as determined from early winter helicopter surveys ranged from 63 to 128 bulls and 26 to 74 calves per 100 cows from 1994 through 2005 (Table 2). The calf ratio appears to be indicative of a stable to increasing population. Percent- ages of bull moose tallied by age class using criteria outlined by Timmermann (1993) and Bubenik et al. (1977) has shown fairly equal proportions of adult and sub-adult bulls since 2000 (Fig. 4). In addition there has been an increase in the proportion of yearling bulls since 2000, probably indicative of a moose population continuing to grow. REFERENCES BUBENIK, A. B., O. WILLIAMS, and H. R. TIMMERMANN. 1977. Visual estimation of sex and social class in moose (Alces alces) from the ground and the plane. A preliminary study. Proceedings of the North American Moose Conference and Workshop 13: 157-176. COMPTON, B. B., and L. E. OLDENBURG. 1994. The status and management of moose in Idaho. Alces 30: 57-62. COURTOIS, R., and G. LAMONTAGNE. 1997. Management systems and current status of moose in Quebec. Alces 33: 97-114. JOHNSON, R. E., and K. M. CASSIDY. 1997. Terrestrial mammals of Washington State. Location data and predicted distributions. Volume 3 in K. M. Cassidy, C. E. Grue, M. R. Smith, and K. M. Dvornich, editors. Washington State Gap Analysis – Final Report. Washington Cooperative Fish Year Number Seen During Survey Bulls:100 cows Calves:100 cowsBulls Cows Calves 1994 14 17 5 82 29 1995 17 20 6 85 30 1996 17 24 8 71 33 1997 58 65 21 89 32 1998 33 47 12 70 26 1999 27 36 22 75 61 2000 55 59 29 93 49 2001 31 49 17 63 35 2002 59 46 34 128 74 2003 62 63 35 98 56 2004 39 47 21 83 45 2005 34 48 20 71 42 Table 2. Bull and calf moose ratios per 100 cows as determined from early winter helicopter surveys in Washington State, USA, 1994 – 2005. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Year Pe rc en t % yearlings % sub-adults % adults Fig. 4. Percentages of bull moose tallied by age winter helicopter surveys in Washington State, USA, 2000 - 2005. The sample size (n) of total of each bar. 55 31 59 62 39 34 STATUS OF MOOSE IN WASHINGTON – BASE ET AL. ALCES VOL. 42, 2006 114 and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA. POELKER, R. J. 1972. The Shiras Moose in Washington. Unpublished administrative report. Washington Department of Game, Olympia, Washington, USA. SCHEFFER, V. B., and W. W. DALQUEST. 1944. Records of mountain goat and moose from Washington State. Journal of Mammalogy 25: 412-413. TIMMERMANN, H. R. 1993. Use of aerial surveys for estimating and monitoring moose populations – A review. Alces 29: 35-46. (WDFW) WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE. 2003. Moose, Game Man- agement Plan, Wildlife Program. Wash- ington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, Washington, USA.