Tag Archives: moose

The story in yesterday’s Lewiston Sun Journal about Mr. Eugene Dackmine lends support to the positive influences of outdoor life on longevity.

Mr. Dackmine, who will turn 92 next week, last month bagged his first moose in 82 years of hunting. And the Lisbon, Maine, man got a turkey a week later. That’s all rather impressive.

I am not a big hunter, but bagging a moose might be fun. My cousin Cindy got one a few weeks ago. If I was up to speed already, I would post the photos she e-mailed to family and friends. She was disappointed that it weighed only 650 pounds. That’s rather impressive, too.

I am not sure if there is a solid connection, but read my moose story. The town where I grew up had a railroad landing and the freight train would come around the lake to transport products to and from the nearby lumber and pulp mills. And every so often a moose would attempt to stand its ground against a locomotive.

Moose are big, powerful animals, but are not particularly near the top of Mother Nature’s intellectual food chain. Moose typically are a few pine cones short of an L.L. Bean decorative seasonal basket, if you know what I mean. Believe it or not, they always seemed to fail in the train vs. moose matchup. Go figure.

As I recall, the regional game warden, who lived just down the hill from where I grew up, would be dispatched to collect a moose hit by a train. His wife used to work as a teacher’s aide and in the cafeteria of the school.  A day or so after the moose had been collected, the lunch menu at the school always seemed to include a deliciously meaty stew.

Now, I am not saying absolutely for sure that the stew contained moose, but if it was moose – and all these years later, I have to believe that it was – the meat was very, very tasty.

Congratulations to Mr. Dackmine.