Another win for Rowdy.
The state of Maine held their annual moose lottery over the weekend, the drawing by which the state allocates their annual allotment of moose hunting tags.
Maine is home to the largest moose population in the lower 48 states, with an estimated 60-70,000 living in the state. Because of the large population, the state often receives tens of thousands of applications for moose hunting tags, forcing them to use a lottery to allocate the extremely limited right to harvest a moose during hunting season.
This year, the state gave out only 3,705 permits for the 3 week season that starts in late September. And one of those permits was awarded to the late NASCAR driver Kyle Busch.
When the list of lottery winners came out yesterday, eagle-eyed fans noticed Busch’s name on the list, along with his hometown of Denver, North Carolina.
While the number of applicants this year hasn’t been released yet, last year’s lottery saw over 76,000 applications from hunters for the approximately 4,000 permits, meaning there’s about a 5% chance for an applicant to get a moose tag. And the numbers are even lower for those outside the state of Maine: Residents of the state are guaranteed at least 90% of the permits, while tags for out-of-state residents are capped at 8%, with up to 2% going to hunting lodges through a separate process.
Busch, of course, passed away back on May 21 from a case of severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis. But he was an avid hunter, thanks in part to his team owner Richard Childress and the team’s relationship with Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris.
Childress spoke about bonding with his driver over hunting during a recent press conference:
“We went hunting. I carried him probably on – I thought maybe one of his very first hunts, and he really got into hunting. He started taking Brexton and we had other plans.”
And a couple years ago, Busch talked about his then-newfound love for hunting:
“The hunting stuff has been kicking up, ramping up a lot more this year.”
When asked about his favorite hunt and even mentioned one of his hunting buddies up in Maine:
“As crazy as it sounds, it was a bighorn sheep, longhorn sheep in Texas. So that was pretty cool. Actually, Samantha wouldn’t let me have the mount so it’s with a buddy of mine up in Maine who loves hunting and stuff like that. So he’s got it.”
Unfortunately, Busch won’t have the opportunity to use his moose tag, which would have given him the opportunity to hunt a bull (antlered) moose during the second week of the season, which falls from October 12 to 17 this year.
Maine state law says that in the event a permit holder dies before or during moose season, if a moose has not yet been harvested, the permit shall be shall transferred “to a family member who meets the eligibility and permit requirements” and who “is not otherwise prohibited from holding the moose permit.”
Maybe his son Brexton wants to go on a moose hunt?
