{"id":872043,"date":"2026-10-05T21:36:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/872043\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T21:36:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:36:18","slug":"call-of-the-moose-in-maines-northern-reaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/872043\/","title":{"rendered":"Call of the moose in Maine\u2019s northern reaches"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMore people come to view live moose than to hunt them.\u201d says Chris Young, 47, owner of Young\u2019s Guide Service of Moosehead Lake.<\/p>\n

\"ChrisChris Young drives north at 5 a.m. seeking moose. “They don’t think like other animals, they don’t act like other animals, they don’t look like other animals. They look like an animal that’s made up of multiple other animals. They’re just their own unique thing.”Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Now is the best time to see moose. It\u2019s breeding (rut) season and the foliage is ablaze. Bullwinkle has one thing on his mind, and it\u2019s not posing for photographers . . . <\/p>\n

A great moose caller can lure a moose out of the deep woods and into focus, with a promise he obviously can\u2019t deliver.<\/p>\n

Young\u2019s fascination with Maine\u2019s official state animal began when he was 4 years old, when a giant bull moose stood tall, blocking the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow is there an animal so big that they can keep my dad from driving down the road in a big truck?\u201d he recalls wondering. \u201cAnd I was hooked. All I wanted to do was go look for moose.\u201d<\/p>\n

He won the Maine Moose Calling Championship in 2013 when his friends entered him without his knowledge.<\/p>\n

\"AA bull moose wanders away from the other moose after answering grunts from Young.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff\"YoungYoung mimics a cow moose in an attempt to call a bull.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Greenville, located on the southern banks of Moosehead Lake, is the state\u2019s unofficial moose capital. The local Chamber of Commerce once claimed it had three moose for every person. Tourists come from all over the country and pile into vans for 3 1\/2 hour moose viewing safaris. <\/p>\n

For this private 5 a.m. tour into the Great North Woods, Young makes no guarantees. This year, he has seen less moose than ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a kid coming down this road right now, you could not drive 45 miles an hour without having multiple close calls with moose,\u201d he says as an owl swipes by the headlights. \u201cWe had too many moose, they were everywhere. It was dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not so much anymore. <\/p>\n

\"SunsetSunset over Moosehead Lake. The area still posts moose warnings along the road but no longer boasts having three moose for every person.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff\"AtAt Lazy Tom Bog, a well-known spot for spotting moose, tourists feed Canada jays who eat sunflower seeds out of their hands. “We’re not leaving ’till we see a moose in the wild,” says Monica Platt of Philadelphia on her fourth day in the woods. “It’s a bucket list thing.”Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Despite having the largest moose population in the 48 contiguous states, Maine has steadily lost the animals, state data show.<\/p>\n

Last year, the state had an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 moose, compared to 76,000 in 2012, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. <\/p>\n

\u201cWinter tick is far and away the most prominent cause for that decline, and we\u2019ve documented over 12 or 13 years of work,\u201d says Nathan Webb, the state\u2019s director of wildlife division.<\/p>\n

The state has outfitted \u201chundreds and hundreds\u201d of moose with neckbands containing radios \u201cto understand what\u2019s happening with the moose population here in Maine,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

An avid hunter, Young has a freezer full of moose meat. His living room has two stuffed moose, shot by him and his wife, Beth, a former vegetarian.<\/p>\n

\"BethBeth and Chris Young in their Greenville home.
\n“The moose above Beth and I is the one I shot. 54 inch spread, 900 pounds. The moose coming out of the wall is Beth’s moose. 56 inch spread, 886 pounds.”Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Still, this year he started the Maine Moose Coalition because he says moose population is being \u201cannihilated\u201d by overhunting and inadequate management by the state. <\/p>\n

Webb disagrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely not, no,\u201d he says of overhunting. ” Under hunted, if anything.”<\/p>\n

The state believes cutting the density of moose will reduce the tick problem.<\/p>\n

This year, they have reduced the number of moose-hunting lottery permits by 400, but they still allow antlerless hunting.<\/p>\n

Young believes this is a mistake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe killing of cow moose in the moose hunt leaves the calves abandoned to die,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cStop hunting pregnant cow moose. If we don\u2019t do that, we are going to lose our moose herd.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung checks for moose on Spencer Pond near Big Spencer Mountain.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff\"TheThe view of Moosehead Lake, a gateway to moose hunting.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Last year, community pressure stopped a proposed second week of hunting in the Moosehead area, but later this month a new proposal will be revealed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fighting to save something that doesn\u2019t have a voice,\u201d says Young.<\/p>\n

After 45 minutes driving north, we arrive on a overgrown path off a private logging road. No power lines, no sign of anything that gives a hint we are in the 21st century.<\/p>\n

Before he opens the door of his Toyota Sequoia, Young\u2019s face gets all serious. Do not slam the door, he says. Do not run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want you to know when I get out, I won\u2019t be talking.\u201d<\/p>\n

We walk in silence for 10 minutes. <\/p>\n

As daylight beckons, he spots a pair of moose 100 yards away and does a long high-pitched cow bellow.<\/p>\n

No response. <\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung thrashes a moose shoulder blade against the brush to imitate a bull moose.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Then he tries a bull call, a series of short grunts that sound like he\u2019s channeling a drunk John Belushi. A bull moose grunts an answer from somewhere. Young moves closer and rakes a moose shoulder blade against the brush.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds just like his antler when he\u2019s raking them,\u201d he explains later. He grunts again and the bull answers, but this time it\u2019s 20 feet closer.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re imitating another bull coming aggressively saying, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m gonna take your cows.\u2019 And that bull says, \u2018no, you\u2019re not gonna take my cows, I\u2019m gonna come kick your butt.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

The brush 40 yards away shakes violently, like bait fish scrambling in the water to flee bluefish. <\/p>\n

Suddenly there he is: a wide eyed 3-year-old, nearly 700-pound bull moose heading right at us.<\/p>\n

\"AA startled bull moose heads toward Young after hearing his call.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he comes in, his heart\u2019s just pumping. He\u2019s not thinking clearly,\u201d Young recalls later. <\/p>\n

Moose are nearsighted. Young holds the shoulder blade up over his head, like he\u2019s waving a cross to Dracula.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, when he comes out \u2026all he sees is another moose. He just rolls his eye back like a shark. Like he\u2019s gonna come after me. And then he smells the human scent. He\u2019s like, \u2018Whoa, what\u2019s not right with this picture? Like, oh my goodness, those are people.\u2019 And then he\u2019ll turn around and just leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young laughs. It\u2019s still a rush for him even after all these years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was fun, I could hear your heart. I could hear your heart going\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge blessing to come out here and witness something that should be here for our kids and our grandkids to see\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this not heaven on earth? Look at what you\u2019re looking at.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA moose heads back to the woods after finding out that a moose call was from a guide and not another bull. “We’ve depleted this area of big mature bulls so bad,” says Chris Young.Stan Grossfeld\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Stan Grossfeld can be reached at stanley.grossfeld@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMore people come to view live moose than to hunt them.\u201d says Chris Young, 47, owner of Young\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-872043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}