First week of moose hunt opens Monday

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Before sunrise on Monday morning, men and women will rise, shake the sleep from their eyes and prepare for a day they’ll never forget.

For some, it will be a repeat performance. For others, it will be the culmination of years of waiting and wishing.

It’s moose season again.

Since 1980 (with a one-year hiatus in 1981) the state of Maine has staged a wildly popular moose hunt. There are only a few ways to get in on the action.

Earn a spot via lottery … buy your way in by spending about $10,000 in a limited auction … or have a lucky (or wealthy) pal who will do one of the above and invite you along.

This year’s season is, again, a split-season affair. Monday’s season opener will be observed in Wildlife Management Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11 and 19 – roughly the northern and northeastern sections of the state.

The first session runs six days, and 1,133 permit-holders will be hunting.

The second season runs Oct. 8-13, with an additional 1,747 permit-holders heading afield. Hunters during that season will be spread around a bit more, with another 11 WMDs open to hunting.

The grand total of hunters this year is 2,880.

If you’re looking to head to a tagging station and listen to the moose tales, here’s something to remember: Greenville’s station at the Stobie Hangar will not be open. The hunting zones on each side of Moosehead Lake are closed during the September session.

Stobie Hangar is among the most popular moose-tagging stations during the second session, but those who show up on Monday hoping for a show will be disappointed (trust me … I made this mistake a few years back).

Instead, here are a few options for those looking to relive the excitement of moose season:

. Gateway Variety in Ashland is one of the state’s moose-hunting hubs and is always busy on opening day … and most other hunting days during both sessions.

Gateway Variety is near a North Maine Woods gate and a convenient tagging spot for hunters who have been assigned some NMW zones.

. Raymond’s Country Store in Northeast Carry isn’t easy to get to – it’s well up the shore of Moosehead Lake – but it’s the tagging choice of many who bag a moose in WMD 4.

If you’ve got some time on your hands, a trip to Raymond’s is never a waste of time, and you’re sure to see some big moose … either being tagged or along the wooded roads.

. The Pine Tree Store in Grand Lake Stream is best known as a base of operations for anglers heading to town, but it’s also a key tagging location during hunting seasons for bear, moose and deer.

Owners Kurt and Kathy Cressey are fun folks to talk to and love to have people stop by and visit.

And if you’re looking to kill some time while waiting for a moose to show up … well … Grand Lake Stream and its famous pools is only a few yards away. Pack your waders and a fly rod, and you’re sure to have a great day.

Warden service promotes four

Four veteran Maine Game Wardens were recognized for their leadership qualities and dedication to their jobs on Thursday when they each earned a promotion.

William Livezey was promoted to game warden investigator, while Kevin Adam, Ralph Hosford and Terry Hughes were each promoted to sergeant.

Adam was honored as Maine’s Warden of the Year for 2002, while Livezey was 2004’s Warden of the Year.

Livezey is a 17-year veteran of the Maine Warden Service. He earned an associate’s degree in applied science in conservation law enforcement at Unity College and has been recognized for his work on several large-scale criminal fish and wildlife investigations. Livezey will be assigned to the Aroostook County region, where he’ll provide regional support to field wardens and supervisors.

Adam is a 15-year veteran of the warden service and will be assigned to Bangor. Hosford, a 13-year vet, will work out of Greenville, while Hughes, a 12-year veteran of the service, will be assigned to Gray.

All three sergeants will serve as front-line supervisors in their regions, overseeing the activities of six to eight wardens in their sections.

Col. Tom Santaguida, Maine’s chief warden, praised all of the promoted wardens in a news release.

“I am very pleased that Warden Livezey will be able to apply his excellent investigative skills as a formal member of our investigative team,” Santaguida said.

And the sergeants would play key roles in the Maine Warden Service.

“The day-to-day direction of our field wardens is extremely important,” Santaguida said. “The selection of high quality officers to perform supervisory duties is a very important responsibility. The promotions of wardens Adam, Hosford and Hughes is a foundation for the future of this agency.”

Maine’s Game Wardens perform an often thankless task under difficult conditions. All four men deserve a hearty congratulations for their past and future service.

Ureneck book released

For 20 years, Lou Ureneck worked at the Portland Press Herald, rising from reporter to editor.

Since then, he has moved on to Harvard University, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and now, Boston, where he serves as chairman of the Department of Journalism at Boston University.

Through all those steps in his professional life, Ureneck has remained an avid outdoorsman, and this week his passions for the written word and the outdoors were unveiled in a new work.

The book, “Backcast,” subtitled “Fatherhood, Fly-fishing, and a River Journey Through the Heart of Alaska,” was released by St. Martin’s Press.

While I just received a promotional copy on Friday morning, I look forward to immersing myself in it as soon as possible and letting you know what I find.

The publishers and the author describe the book as an effort to “mend a rift” between father and son. Ureneck chose to do so in a setting that will likely resonate with many anglers, fathers and sons.

Ureneck recounts the journey on the Kanektok River, which stretches from the interior of the state to the Bering Sea.

Ureneck called this week and admitted that his professional life sometimes gets in the way of the wilderness he loves.

“I’ve got to admit that I’d rather be in Bangor than Boston on a day like this,” he said in the voicemail he left. “What a beautiful day.”

You can take the man out of the woods, after all, but you can’t take the woods out of the man.

Coming up on ‘Going Outdoors’

Twice this week I wrote about one of the area’s most avid young anglers, Beau Peavey of Glenburn.

The 23-year-old is a fly fisherman, rafting guide and kayaker, and for the past two years, he has caught the first Atlantic salmon during the one-month fall season on the Penobscot River.

On Monday, you can learn a bit more about Peavey by tuning in for the “Going Outdoors” segment on ABC-7 and FOX-22.

Cameraman Dave Simpson and I caught up with Peavey at one of his favorite salmon pools and had an enjoyable chat that covered fishing, the ongoing season and some of the reasons he heads to the river nearly every day.

Atlantic salmon fishing is a sport that evokes pictures of older gentlemen on pristine pieces of water, waving slender rods and battling glistening silver fish.

Peavey is among the new breed of anglers, and as you’ll learn, he takes that responsibility seriously.

“Going Outdoors” airs during ABC-7’s 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts, and during FOX-22’s 10 p.m. news.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.