moose season

[life (jplife)]

od Race Marshal, Warren Palfrey, convened and a three-person panel comprised of race officials today to discuss (bib #7) Dallas Seavey’s encounter with a moose early Monday morning enroute from Skwentna to Finger Lake.

After further investigation, the details to the event are as follows:

A moose was dispatched approximately 14 miles from Skwentna on the trail towards Finger Lake at 01:32 a.m. on Monday, March 5, 2024.
Approximately 10 minutes was spent at the site of the encounter, to which then the musher and team proceeded approximately 11 miles until 02:55 a.m. where they camped for three hours, departing approximately 05:55 a.m.
Musher and team then proceeded to Finger Lake checkpoint arriving at 08:00 a.m. The moose was later retrieved, processed and salvaged and is being distributed by Iditarod support based in Skwentna.
Rule 51 in part states: Time penalties will be imposed when determined by race officials a rule infraction has occurred and a competitive advantage has been gained. Time penalties require a majority decision of a three-member panel of race officials appointed by the Race Marshal. Time penalties may be imposed up to a maximum of eight (8) hours per infraction and will be added to either the twenty- four (24) hour layover, the eight-hour layover on the Yukon River, the eight (8) hour layover at White Mountain, or after the musher finishes in Nome.

As per rule Rule 34 – Killing of Game Animals: In the event that an edible big game animal (i.e., moose, caribou, buffalo), is killed in defense of life or property, the musher must gut the animal and report the incident to a race official at the next checkpoint. Following teams must help gut the animal when possible. No teams may pass until the animal has been gutted and the musher killing the animal has proceeded. Any other animal killed in defense of life or property must be reported to a race official, but need not be gutted. As per rule 34, it has been determined that the animal was not sufficiently gutted by the musher. By definition, gutting: taking out the intestines and other internal organs of (a fish or other animal) before cooking it.

It has been determined by the panel unanimously that a 2 hour time penalty will be assessed at the musher 24 hour layover.Two other encounters with moose but not needed to be dispatch,one moose punch in nose and other one riden over by dog team

[Another UK Fan]

Thanks for posting this. I'm confused . . . about the other mushers must help to gut it. Do teams who passed by but did not stop to do more gutting get time penalties as well?

[Another UK Fan]

a 2 hour time penalty will be assessed at the musher 24 hour layover.

What does 'assessed' mean? Does it mean that a decision will be made at the 24 hour layover?

[Pippiroo]

I think "assessed" means it will be added to the musher at the 24 hour layover. The timing of everything has me a bit confused with his dog being hurt but Dallas camping 3 hours on the rail. You raise a good question about other mushers going by the moose carcass and not dressing it farther or properly. Hard to tell from where we all sit what happened way out there on the trail...

[elsietee]

a 2 hour time penalty will be assessed at the musher 24 hour layover.

What does 'assessed' mean? Does it mean that a decision will be made at the 24 hour layover?

I think it's just badly written and should say:

"a 2 hour time penalty will be assessed at the musher's 24 hour layover."

Assessed, in this case, means "imposed".

So does this mean that although Dallas shot the moose (and it fell on his sled), he didn't stop to gut it and therefore gets the penalty?

According to reports, the dog who got stomped is still in critical condition - but perhaps its internal injuries that weren't apparent until he camped (and 3 hours is a short camp for him, so perhaps that's when he realised something was amiss, and opted to pack up early and go on to FL to get the dog medical help?).

[Leaddog]

Only the musher that kills the large game animal is responsible for field dressing it to preserve the meat. The subsequent mushers are not allowed to pass a musher field dressing a large game animal that has been killed, and general trail etiquette is that if you have to wait, you might as well help and make the whole chore go faster. But since the musher that killed the animal was not present, the subsequent mushers have no information that this critter was killed by another competitor so it is just "road kill".
Yes, Dallas's mandatory 24 (which was actually about 25 hrs because of the start differential) has become 2 hrs longer. Which is not really punishing him for breaking the rules - it is basically what he would have spent dressing the moose. IMHO, it should be the 2 hrs that would have been required if he had complied with the rules, PLUS more time for not complying in the first place.

[Pippiroo]

Thanks for all the additional info.!

[Another UK Fan]

Thanks everyone - a bit clearer now, understanding 'assessed' to mean 'imposed', 'added to'. And the subsequent teams may not have realised the context of the dead moose.

[Moose]

Did someone call my name?

Lead Dog, thanks for the clarification as to the responsibility of subsequent mushers coming across a not propery "undressed" moose on the trail. I wondered if we'd see a chain of penalties assessed to the passersby. What a mess (literally and figuratively) that would have made.

[tanglefoot]

Thanks lead dog