For years there have been five moose permits available to the five highest sealed bids in the Maine Moose Permit Auction. Officially, this is the first year that ten permits will be awarded in this fashion. I say "officially", because the law that allows this increase actually took effect late last Spring (May '07) after the bids had been opened for the '07 Auction. Subsequently the Fish & Wildlife Dept. decided to award permits to bidders #6 through #10 from last year's bidding. So, when folks bid last year, they rightfully thought that they were competing to be one of the top five bids, and bidding reflected that. Bids one through five for '07 ranged from $10,800. up to $11,725.00, well within the historical range from recent years. However, while bids 6 and 7 were competitive and over 10k, bids 8,9,&10 fell into the $5,001. to $7,500. range. I'm a believer in supply and demand economics, and am guessing that with the additional five permits this year, the overall average should go down. Part of the new law gives the Fish & Wildlife commissioner the disgression to reject any bid that he feels doesn't reflect the true value of a Maine moose permit. I don't think anything at 5k or less will be accepted, but we'll see. Bear in mind that individuals permitted by this method pick the season, district, and permit type when they accept the permit in April. This in itself adds value to these permits.
April 1st, 2008 Update:
I guess it's a good thing I'm not one of the government economists! My above prediction of lower bidding for this year was blown out of the water. The top ten bids ranged from around $8,500. up to around $12,600. Average was over 10 K. I'm going to stick with the guiding end of the business from now on!
guy
Guy Randlett - Registered Maine Guide (207) 633-4549
