McGrath-Yukon-Kaltag

This is a forum for general discussion of dogsled racing, with a special focus on Alaska, and is open to all. It is expected that this area will see the most activity during the months leading up to, and during the annual Iditarod sled dog race. Pictures from races can be posted here. Hosting is provided by the Bering Strait School District (BSSD), and the area is open all year. Care to be one of our volunteer moderators? Contact us!

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Re: McGrath-Yukon-Kaltag

Postby Leaddog » Mon Mar 14, 2022 3:20 pm

Seems like it is always a decision each year for each musher whether to load their sled down with extra unnecessary weight...like a pistol with sufficient caliber to alter the behavior of a moose (i.e., not a .38 like Bridgett was carrying when she was attacked during training). It is not a trivial amount of weight. But aggravated moose have been MUCH more prevalent this year, so I suspect there were quite a few mushers that opted to carry that weight.
This was right down the road from where Matt lives and trains, so it was probably not a question at all for him when he started packing his sled. Note the date on the video - about 2 weeks prior to the start of Iditarod.
https://weather.com/news/trending/video/moose-attacks-dog-sled-team-in-alaska
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Re: McGrath-Yukon-Kaltag

Postby JLJ » Mon Mar 14, 2022 4:36 pm

Breeze wrote:There is an apocryphal story about Susan Butcher taking down a full grown moose with the axe required to be in the sled. . .


That one is only sort of semi-apocryphal. In the 1985 Iditarod, Susan, who was leading the race, and many thought had a good chance of winning, was attacked by an angry moose, and fought it with her axe and, it was reported, a parka. She was incredibly fit and no doubt her adrenaline was surging, so it was quite a fight, and it's possible that she 'took it down' at some point, as it stomped her dogs, killed two, and injured nearly all the others, but if it did go down I believe it got up again, until another musher came along and shot it.

Those who thought she might well have won Iditarod that year weren't just dreaming, as she had been 2nd in 1982 and 1984 and then did win in 1986 and 1987 and 1988, then another second in 1989 and first again in 1990.

But the moose taking Susan out in 1985 did create the opportunity for Libby Riddles to win that year.

Susan ran Iditarod four more times after 1990, with three top five finishes and one top ten finish. In the 1990's she quit racing to concentrate on children. By 2005 the children were old enough that she was hoping to return to racing the following season but that autumn it was discovered that a blood irregularity she'd had for several years had progressed/morphed into leukemia, so instead of spending the winter/spring training for and running Iditarod, she spent it fighting the cancer -- with exercise equipment in her hospital room to maintain her fitness through the blood marrow transplant prep treatments to kill off the cancer cells and prepare for them to be hopefully replaced by healthy transplanted cells. (Though she was able to come up and visit the 2006 Iditarod during a break in the treatments.)

So many cared about her that they maintained a nearly daily blog of developments, discouragement, hope and humor, sometimes by her, often by her husband. Finally came the day when he wrote of how they sat together, looking at the bag that contained the cells to be injected into her system to hopefully restore her health, and talked of the future.

But this moose didn't go down. The doctors told her that she could either go back to Alaska and would have at least a little time to spend with family and dogs, or, considering her fitness, they could make a long shot try at going through all the prep again and trying again for a successful transplant. Her husband wrote that anyone who knew even a little bit about Susan would know what she'd choose.

But not long into the second try the moose was just too much for her to fight any longer, and took her down, still fighting with her axe and her parka and everything else she could summon to make her very best effort to win even a nearly hopeless battle. I suspect she found quite a number of tail wagging canine spirits waiting for her at the rainbow bridge.
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Re: McGrath-Yukon-Kaltag

Postby fladogfan » Tue Mar 15, 2022 4:27 pm

Still brings tears to remember Susan Butcher and the fight she lost. Don't know if it still holds true but I think she encouraged Alaskans to sign up to donate marrow, especially for native Alaskans.
Susan was one in a million.
All my children have four feet and fur.
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Re: McGrath-Yukon-Kaltag

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 15, 2022 7:34 pm

Interesting trivia - Brent trained with Susan. From his website:

Later he got an opportunity to train with Susan Butcher and David Monson and learned how a large successful kennel operates— giving him a great start in the world of mushing.
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