We do, however, see plenty of moose carcasses the next day, draped in the backs of muddy pickup trucks. Hunters bagged some 86 moose in the Greenville region on opening day, says Mark Latti, public information officer for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The overall success rate of 84.5 percent was one of the lowest in the hunt's 20-year history. But compared to the 20-percent success rate for deer hunters, the moose hunt is one reliable venture, he adds. Moose also don't have any predators.
Deer have a flee reflex to run away from something unusual.
For Lindley Fortier, age 70, and family members, the moose hunt was worth the 130-mile trip from Oxford. He, his wife Jelna and a few other relatives entered the woods at 6 a.m. and shot a cow moose before 9 a.m., he says. They used a rope pull and pulley blocks to drag the animal back to the truck. His family will use the moose meat for burgers, roasts, and stews. After the moose cruise, my daughter and I thaw out by the huge stone fireplace in the main lodge of The Birches.