Vermont 2026 Moose Hunt Takes 51 Moose on 85 Permits in WMU E

Vermont hunters took 51 moose on the 85 permits issued for 2026, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department said in its results posted November 9. The October 1 to 7 archery season and the October 17 to 25 regular season were open only in Wildlife Management Unit E, the Northeast Kingdom corner of the state.

The permit count fell by more than half from the 180 the Fish and Wildlife Board approved in each of 2023, 2024 and 2025, and the harvest fell less. Hunters took 68 moose on 180 permits in 2025 and 62 on 180 in 2024, so the share of permit holders who filled a tag rose from 34 percent in 2024 and 38 percent in 2025 to 60 percent this year. Of the 85 permits, 79 went out by lottery to a pool of nearly 6,000 applicants, about the same number who applied for 174 lottery permits in 2025. The first five lottery permits go to Vermont military veterans, three non-lottery permits go to people with life-threatening illnesses, and three are auctioned to raise money for conservation.

On April 1 the board set the 2026 allocation at 65 either-sex and 20 antlerless permits, five more either-sex permits than the department had proposed in February, and forecast a harvest of 40 to 50 moose, about 6 percent of the unit’s moose. The department’s 2026 harvest recommendation, presented to the board on February 18, called the 85-permit plan a 53 percent cut and projected about 42 moose, 29 bulls, 11 cows and 2 calves, within a range of 32 to 56. Hunters beat the April forecast’s top end by one. Its target was roughly 30 adult bulls, about 15 percent of the unit’s bulls, and 10 to 12 adult cows, about 3 percent of the cows.

The hunt is a winter tick measure. “Moose are more abundant in WMU-E than in other parts of Vermont,” Nick Fortin, the department’s moose biologist, said in the release. “This hunt helps to reduce moose density and improve the overall health of WMU-E’s moose population.” The recommendation puts the 2023 to 2025 rolling density estimates at 1.32 moose per square mile in WMU E1 and 1.09 in E2, against a 2020-2030 Big Game Management Plan objective of one moose per square mile, with population estimates of 403 and 355 moose in the two sub-units and 1,474 statewide. No permits were issued in the other 19 units, which cover 93 percent of Vermont, because densities there remain below the plan’s hunting thresholds. Heavy tick loads can kill more than half of a year’s calves in late winter, and a 2017 to 2019 study that collared 126 moose in the unit found that only 49 percent of calves survived their first winter.

A lottery application cost $10 for residents and $25 for nonresidents, with a drawn permit costing $100 for residents and $350 for nonresidents. Hunters who held a permit within the past five years cannot apply or buy a bonus point, and up to 10 percent of permits may go to nonresidents.

The department sets moose permit numbers each year through a recommendation to the Fish and Wildlife Board, and the 2026 plan went to the board on February 18, 2026. The density estimates behind the next recommendation come from the moose sightings deer hunters report during the November rifle season.