Tag: Iditarod

A belligerent moose was punched, shot and field dressed on Day 1 of the 2024 Iditarod

Iditarod rule 34: if you shoot a moose, you’ve got to stick around and prep it for eating.

The Iditarod is a sport unlike any other. That much is clear from the dog sleds alone. But it’s also obvious with a simple perusal of the famous race’s official rule book.

Rule 34 states that any “edible big game animal” that is killed in defense of life or property must be properly gutted and dressed before a musher, or any musher behind them, can continue with the marathon dog sled race. This isn’t a bylaw that comes up often; but when a massive, angry moose threatened participants on day one of the 2024 event, it took center stage.

The territorial beast was first encountered by Jesse Holmes in the run-up to the Finger Lakes checkpoint. He relayed the totally normal, for Alaska anyway, experience of punching a moose in the face.

Dallas Seavey, the next musher up on the course, ran afoul of the animal once more and, once it threatened his dogs, dispatched the moose with his rifle. A third musher coming up behind them then “bounced over” the carcass later in the race.

Since Seavey killed the animal, he was also responsible for gutting it in order to preserve as much meat as possible. Here’s the official Iditarod release regarding the incident.

Race Officials were notified at 1:43 a.m. that Veteran Musher Dallas Seavey (bib #7) was forced to dispatch a moose in self defense after the moose became entangled with the dogs and the musher on the trail. Seavey and his team were 14 miles outside of the Skwentna checkpoint on their way to the Finger Lake checkpoint.

Seavey continued on the trail, stopped to rest and feed his dogs and pulled into the Finger Lake checkpoint at 8:00 a.m. AKST. The Alaska State Troopers were immediately notified by Race Marshal Warren Palfrey. Seavey dropped one dog at the Finger Lake checkpoint who was injured during the moose encounter. The dog was immediately flown from Finger Lake to Anchorage and is currently being evaluated by veterinarians in Anchorage.

With help from snowmobile-aided support in the area, we are making sure that every attempt is made to utilize and salvage the moose meat. I will continue to gather information in this incident as it pertains to Rule 34,” says Race Marshal Warren Palfrey.

The dog injured in the incident was airlifted for veterinary care in Anchorage. Seavey, while bothered, continued on with his race per his team on Twitter:

Thus began the 2024 Iditarod, a race renowned for a level of difficulty that goes above and beyond surviving the frosty Alaskan climate. But if it’s decided an animal is a legitimate threat, well, at least the mushers can get some moose sticks out of it.

Coronavirus impacts famous Iditarod dogsled race

The famous Iditarod dogsled race is continuing on despite the worldwide pandemic, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t being impacted. It is.

Unlike most sporting events in the U.S that have been canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus, the Iditarod dogsled race that began Sunday is mushing on with many racers having reached the halfway point Thursday.

Iditarod

But that doesn’t mean the worldwide pandemic hasn’t impacted the famous Alaskan race from Anchorage to Nome or that officials aren’t monitoring the situation closely, especially since the state’s first confirmed case of coronavirus was discovered Thursday.

Taking precautionary measures, race officials postponed the Meet the Mushers event on March 21 and its Awards Banquet on March 22 in Nome, and urged fans not to show up at the finish line.

“Pretty much we’re telling everybody not to go to Nome unless they are essential race personnel,” race marshal Mark Nordman told the Anchorage Daily News on Friday.

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In another action announced Friday, the official checkpoint in Shaktoolik, the 19th along the northern route, has been moved to outside the community “in the continued interest of public health.” Mushers will still be provided with their food drop bags, straw for bedding and HEET, which allows a team to be fed a hot meal. A similar move was made with the Nulato checkpoint.

But all other elements of the race are continuing as planned.

“We have been taking the normal precautions that everyone should be taking,” Nordman told ADN.

In Unalakleet, the checkpoint will be limited to mushers, race officials and media.

“I know the city is putting up barricades along the slough to keep the public away from mushers coming through and away from that checkpoint so mushers can do what they need to do and get back out,” Bobby Bolen, superintendent of the Bering Strait School District told ADN.

Iditarod dogsled race

Nordman told ADN that the villages along the route are concerned but support the race, as officials continue to be in communication with Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer.

“If the state of Alaska said the race must stop, we’d stop,” Nordman told ADN. “We have not heard that…

“[Actually, the mushers are] in the safest place you could be.”

Nordman also said that health notices are posted at the checkpoints but mushers aren’t being directly advised on the virus, and many were unaware of the past week’s developments on the coronavirus outbreak.

At least one musher felt it necessary to abandon the race. Veteran Iditarod musher Jeremy Keller of Knit, Alaska, scratched Thursday, saying he wanted to be home with friends and family during this stressful time, race officials announced.

As for the race, three of the top 10 leading mushers are women, including Jessie Royer, the current leader as of Saturday morning. A female hasn’t won the Iditarod in 30 years.

Photos of previous Iditarod races by Ezra O. Shaw/Allsport/Getty Images.

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