Please Excuse My Son's Absence from Class. He will be Moose Hunting.

We used to ask our college students to inform us in advance if they knew they were going to miss a class. One Friday a young man came up to me after class and told me that he might miss class on Monday.

"Why?" I asked.

"I'm going moose hunting with my family," he explained.

"And why is that a valid excuse?" I pressed him.

"It is special because we have one of the few permits that are awarded by lottery in Minnesota each year for moose hunting."

"Can't argue with that," I agreed.

"If we kill a moose by Sunday I will be in class on Monday. Otherwise not," he explained.

"And exactly how does one find a moose to kill?" I probed, not having learned much about such things growing up on East 68th Street in Manhattan.

"If it snows, it's easy to track the moose. If not It's a bit harder," he said.

I nodded and made a note of his possible absence. Best excuse I ever heard.

Now twenty plus years later, The New York Times has caught on to how special a moose permit can be:

New Hampshire Holds Lottery for Moose Hunt 

In one of the few states with enough animals for a hunting season, an annual lottery drew 13,400 people who hoped to secure one of 275 permits to hunt moose...

By the way: Yes, Moose is kosher when slaughtered and prepared properly.

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