Sick boy donates moose to food bank

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:12:00 GMT

BY STEPHEN BEALE

When Keith Locke dreamed of taking down a moose, he never imagined he would also end up feeding as many as 400 people.

In fact, there was a time when 9-year-old Weare boy could never have even contemplated going on a hunt for moose. Two years ago, Keith was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease that left him too weak to even hold a gun.

But after two years of medication, therapy and lots of physical activity, Keith went on a hunting trip Oct. 2 in Coos County with his father, three guides and other organizers.

“It was incredible,” said his father, Tim Locke, who lives in Concord. “To see him when he was so thin and sick and not even able to even pick up a gun or hold anything. He had no strength in his arms – to accomplish the hunt of a lifetime, a moose, which is an incredible feat for anyone, to have a 9-yearold that’s got an incurable disease to do it is amazing.”

This year he was the only hunter in the state of New Hampshire who bypassed the lottery system, in which 15,000 people vied for only a few hundred permits, many with restrictions on where they could hunt and the kind of moose they could kill.

Keith was the first person to benefit from a new program established through legislation passed by state Rep. Bob L’Heureux of Merrimack, who had heard that a national organization had denied a boy from his town the opportunity to go hunting.

“It was brought to my attention that a boy had wanted to go on a hunt of a lifetime,” L’Heureux said. “Eventually the little boy died, and he didn’t get his wish.”

Determined to make sure that never happened again L’Heureux took his idea to the Fish and Game Department, which enthusiastically backed it.

In New Hampshire, moose hunting is a sport for the lucky few. Normally, moose hunting permits are doled out according to a lottery system. This year about 15,000 people paid $15 (or $25 if they live out of state) to apply for about 515 permits, according to Glenn Normandeau, the executive director for the Fish and Game Department. The permits assign them to one of many wildlife management regions in the state, where they may be further restricted in the kind of moose that they can hunt.

The new program passed in 2007 makes sure that the opportunity to bag a moose is granted to someone 21 or under who has a serious or terminal illness. Under the new law, two permits will be set aside each year for someone with a life-threatening sickness. Those permits are awarded not through the lottery but a nonprofit agency which manages the Hunt of a Lifetime program in New Hampshire.

Billed as a pilot program, L’Heureux hopes to expand it after five years. Keith was the first and only child to participate this year.

After spending a day out in the woods in Coos County with his father, Tim Locke and three guides, Keith took down an 800- pound bull moose on his own in two shots.

“We were all screaming and hollering,” Keith said. “It was really exciting because it was very big. I just thought of that after I shot it.”

Not only was his hunt a success, but Keith himself became a benefactor of a good cause, donating the meat from his kill to the New Hampshire Food Bank. Michele Garron, the operations manager for the food bank, said it was the first time her organization had received a such a donation from someone so young.

“This is really something unusual,” Garron said. “It’s great that he did it. That he was able to go on the hunt and at 9 years old bag an 800-pound moose and then make the choice to donate to the food bank. That’s what really makes the difference here.”

The meat was prepared by Lemay and Sons Beef in Goffstown, where Keith presented his donation in Oct. Garron said the several hundred pounds of moose meat would be provide low-fat, high-protein meals for 400 people.

The hunt was organized by the New Hampshire chapter of Safari Club International, which represents Hunt of a Lifetime, a national program, in New Hampshire. SCI coordinated donations of clothing, a rifle, and other materials and services from local businesses, worth a total $10,000, according to Dale Carruth, the New Hampshire president. About 30 people were involved in the project.

Weare News : Food bank

Sick boy donates moose to food bank