FILE - In this May 31, 2018, file photo, a pair of bull moose pause while feeding in the Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge in Wentworth's Location, N.H. A study by University of New Hampshire researchers finds that winter ticks are posing an increasing threat to the region's embattled moose population. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
FILE - In this May 31, 2018, file photo, a pair of bull moose pause while feeding in the Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge in Wentworth's Location, N.H. A study by University of New Hampshire researchers finds that winter ticks are posing an increasing threat to the region's embattled moose population. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File) Credit: AP file

CONCORD — Three-quarters of the 50 hunters who took part in the state’s annual moose hunt were successful this year, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

Hunters killed 31 bulls and seven cows during the nine-day season earlier this month, according to preliminary numbers from moose biologist Henry Jones.

That means hunters achieved a 76% success rate, marginally higher than the 72% rate over the previous five years.

Like most states, New Hampshire has shrunk its annual moose hunt because of dwindling moose populations, mostly related to death caused by a huge increase in the number of winter ticks. In 2005, for example, the state sold 675 hunting permits for the largest member of the deer family.