ELK NOT HER ILK; DEER? NO DICE : WOMAN MAD ABOUT MOOSE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Seated at her computer, wearing a blouse decorated with moose silhouettes and shoes that leave mooselike footprints, Meg Bookout recalled her only face-to-face encounter with one of the knobby-kneed woodland behemoths.

At age 8, during a visit to Yellowstone National Park, Bookout was standing in a stream looking at the reflection of a sunset. Suddenly ripples appeared in the water and she heard a grunting sound.

``I looked up and saw kneecaps and looked up more and saw the biggest thing I'd ever seen in my life,'' Bookout said. ``It was munching on water grass. I slowly walked away. It was huge.''

Thirty-five years later, Bookout - nicknamed ``Meg-a-Moose'' - has something of a moose fixation.

Hundreds of items of ``moose-abilia'' fill her Littlerock home, which has a metal lawn art moose piece in the front yard, a moose crossing warning sign in the living room window and a moose emblem on the door knocker.

She has created an Internet page with links to everything related to moose.

Her family is very tolerant of her moose fixation, Bookout said, but ``my husband drew the line at moose sheets.''

Yes, Bookout says, she does have a life. She's been married for 23 years to a childhood sweetheart, Tom, a Hollywood dolly grip. They have three children - sons Jesse, 16, and Jed, 9, and one daughter, 14-year-old Jodi.

Bookout edits a school newsletter and is a docent at the Antelope Valley Indian Museum. When she isn't talking moose, Bookout is talking up the latest activities at the museum.

``I'm really a normal person,'' Bookout said.

Bookout's moose interest did not come from the Yellowstone encounter. It came from another moose, Morty, or rather the show that Morty was on - ``Northern Exposure,'' which ran on CBS from 1990 to 1995 and whose opening credits showed Morty ambling through town.

Bookout, a fan of the show, used her computer to seek out other fans. A group of Northern Exposure fans formed, calling themselves the Mooseketeers.

``I've met Northern Exposure fans all over the world,'' Bookout said. ``I've talked with fans in Slovenia, Australia, and the United Kingdom.''

The Mooseketeers get together Tuesday nights through Internet relay chats. Mooseketeers also have arranged face-to-face gatherings called Moosefests. Two of the Mooseketeers got married after meeting in person, Bookout said.

In the Bookout living room is a poster from the 1994 Moosefest in Roslyn, Wash., the town that appeared as Cicely in the filming of Northern Exposure. The poster depicts a moose relaxing while using a personal computer.

Bookout and fellow Mooseketeer Lori Jensen of Michigan compiled ``Canned Moose: the unauthorized Northern Exposure Cookbook'' with recipes from other Mooseketeers.

Interest in the show and the Mooseketeers spilled over into collecting moose items, Bookout said. Bookout is not sure how many items she has, but guesses the collection numbers in the hundreds: moose slippers, moose shirts, bumper stickers, American Indian art and moose ornaments.

``I have a mood moose I got from one of my Mooseketeer buddies from Seattle,'' Bookout said. ``Antlers go up on good days, antlers are down on bad days. One up and one down means take your chances.''

Bookout has taken items from her collection to show the students at Pearblossom Elementary School. Bookout says the students call her ``the moose lady.''

Bookout said she reads the book ``If You Give a Moose a Muffin'' during her school visits.

Bookout does not have any idea how much the collection is worth. The majority of the items were given to her by friends and family. Her mother sent her a ceramic ``Chris-moose,'' depicting a moose sitting and holding a Christmas wreath.

The lawn moose was another gift, given to Bookout by her sister-in-law.

Bookout's moose webpage, http://www.qnet.com/bookout, includes links to a variety of moose-related resources or things that have moose in the name. The links include information on moose photo safaris in Maine, moose sanctuaries, a Rocky and Bullwinkle episode guide, and the Halifax Mooseheads Hockey Club.

MOOSE FACTS

Get a horse: Sweden experimented with moose as cavalry mounts 300 years ago. The animals have better stamina and mobility on uneven terrain than horses and could be trained just as well except in one respect: trainers could never get them to quit running away from cannons, muskets, pikes and other weaponry.

They've got man on the run: Moose are estimated to outnumber the 32,000 residents of Canada's Yukon Territory about two to one.

Communter strees: Moose are wandering into Alaskan cities, where they suffer additional stresses from such things as car horns, barking dogs and children throwing snowballs at them. Motorists were warned to be careful. ``You do need to give moose a wide berth,'' a Department of Fish and Game spokesman advised.

Loose in the spruce: Moose are spreading throughout the northeastern United States. They are reported establishing for the first time resident populations in Connecticut; have been sighted in Iowa, which is well south of their natural habitat; and are roaming wild in Wisconsin for the first time since 1866.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--color in AV Edition only) Meg Bookout of Littlerock displays her moose memorabilia and her moose home page.

(2--ran in AV Edition only) Meg Bookout first encountered a live moose as a child during a visit to Yellowstone National Park.

(3--ran in AV Edition only) Moose miniatures not least among Meg Bookout's prodigious ``moose-abilia'' collection at her Littlerock home.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News