HALIFAX—Hours after 95-year-old Laura Wood returned home from a hunting trip in Newfoundland with a moose she felled with a single shot, she was already looking forward to her next conquest.

The hunter of 79 years from Yarmouth County, N.S., was making plans to head out to the family cabin the next day to prepare for this fall’s deer season. In all the years she’s been hunting them, she’s only come up empty-handed once — last year.

Wood’s dream of bagging a moose came true on her final day at Sandy Lake Lodge in Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L. The lifelong hunter, who had been barraged with calls of congratulations since her return last week, couldn’t see what all the fuss was about.

“Well I just shot it,” said Wood, a mother of four. “Since I’ve been back people have been so good to me. The phone’s been ringing off the hook. I don’t know why they call me. I’m not worth it.”

While in Newfoundland she was accompanied by a handful of family members, including her son Laurie, who arose with her each day at 4:30 a.m., traipsed through miles of backcountry and endured the effects of tropical storm Leslie over two full days. But their determination paid off when Wood dropped the 600-pound cow with deadly precision.

“It wasn’t a surprise for me because I’m used to it,” said Laurie. “That’s my mom. She was just so elated to finally get her moose, it was a pretty special thing to witness. We’re all so proud of her.”

Laura’s work ethic is legendary to those who know her best. Her son remembers her quitting the family mink ranching business six years ago because she was no longer the fastest worker on staff.

The journey to her prized possession was paved with a few obstacles. Moose hunting is banned in Yarmouth County and the rest of mainland Nova Scotia and allowed only in Cape Breton, where hunters are picked through a lottery system. Twenty years ago, Wood was one of the lucky ones selected but came up empty-handed. Six years ago, she made her first hunting trip to Newfoundland, a moose-hunting mecca, but failed to get a glimpse of the animal.

Wood decided to give it one more go this year.

“I thank the Lord that I got a moose,” she said. She credits her father Alfred Hamilton, a long-time game warden, for her hunting prowess.

Dick Fevens, owner of Sandy Lake Lodge, said he’d never seen a client with more ambition and enthusiasm since opening the business five years ago, recalling one incident where she crawled under a fallen tree lying across a hunting path.

“She’s 95 years old,” said Fevens, who was Wood’s hunting guide. “She’d hunt in the morning and we’d bring her back at about 10 a.m., she’d have a little nap and have dinner, then she’d want to play cards. Then we’d hunt in the evening and she would come back, get her supper and then want to play more cards before bed. She’s an inspiration.”

Wood says she has no secret formula for her longevity, other than a rigorous daily schedule and never-say-die attitude.

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That, and a lot of help from above.

“I thank the Lord who gives me strength to get around,” said Wood. “I can walk. At my age I’m quite fortunate. The Lord must want to have me around for a while.”