Iditarod Musher Wins After Being Penalized for Inadequately Gutting Moose He Killed During Race

An Iditarod racer, who recently made headlines when he killed a moose that attacked him and his dog team during the race, still won after being penalized two hours for not properly gutting the animal.

According to AP News, Dallas Seavey just became a record-breaking six-time Iditarod champion when he crossed the finish line Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Seavey shot and killed a moose with a handgun after it became tangled up with him and his dog team shortly after leaving the checkpoint in Skwetna. One of the dogs was injured and flown to Anchorage for care.

“It fell on my sled; it was sprawled on the trail,” Seavey told an Iditarod Insider television crew at the Finger Lake checkpoint.

“I gutted it the best I could, but it was ugly,” he said.

Race rules require that a musher who kills a big game animal, such as a moose, bison, or caribou in defense of life or property must gut the animal and report it to officials at the next checkpoint.

Iditarod officials imposed a two-hour time penalty on Seavey for not properly gutting the moose.

A statement from the Iditarod said it had “been determined that the animal was not sufficiently gutted by the musher."

The panel says Seavey spent about 10 minutes at the kill site, and then mushed his dog team approximately 11 miles (18 kilometers) before stopping and camping during a three-hour layover.

Seavey reported the kill at the next checkpoint in Finger Lake.

The Iditarod can give time penalties that can range up to eight hours per infraction if a majority of the three-person panel agrees a rule was broken and that a competitive advantage was gained.

Time penalties can be added to mandatory layovers each musher must take during the race or after he or she reaches Nome.

Seavey’s 2-hour penalty was added to his mandatory layover.

Fortunately, the moose meat was salvaged, processed and will be distributed.

Thirty-eight mushers participated in this year’s race. They travelled approximately 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) across two mountain ranges, the frozen Yukon River, and along the ice-covered Bering Sea. After 10 days of racing, they entered onto Main Street in the old Gold Rush town of Nome for the final push to the finish line.