By Will Tuell

While many dream of having their lucky numbers pulled whenever the next big jackpot comes along, roughly 70,000 souls from Maine and across the country are equally excited when the state’s annual moose lottery rolls around every June. That’s because, unlike deer, bear, or even partridge, the only way the vast majority of hunters can legally claim a moose is if their name is one of 4,000 or so drawn during the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s (IFW) moose lottery, which took place June 15 in Fort Kent.