Great story and photos. Congratulations!
I got a chuckle from your reference to heater hunters. When I was in Maine, I was like you - scouted a few days, found a hot spot the day before season and got my moose the first thing opening day. We had a couple of days to kill while the meat was getting processed and my brother and a friend were waiting for their flight out of Maine. About mid-week, we asked a local what all of the road hunters did as the season progressed. His response was, “They drive faster.”