Four-time Iditarod champ King says charges in moose killing are 'bogus'
Published Friday, April 11, 2008
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Iditarod champion Jeff King has been charged with illegally killing a moose inside Denali National Park and driving an all-terrain vehicle in the park. The four-time Iditarod champ from Denali Park called the charges “bogus.”
“I look forward to having my side of the story aired,” King said by phone Thursday.
The charges stem from an incident that occurred on Sept. 6, 2007.
According to an affidavit filed in Fairbanks federal court on Monday, King, who finished a close second to Lance Mackey in this year’s Iditarod, is accused of killing a young bull moose just inside the 6-million acre park and using an all-terrain vehicle called an Argo to take it back to his camp, which was located about a third of a mile outside the northeast border of the park.
Only federally qualified subsistence users, which King is not, are allowed to hunt within park boundaries.
National park ranger John Leonard and Alaska State Trooper Thomas Lowy contacted King and his daughter, Cali, in the camp as they were conducting a routine patrol on the Rock Creek Trail, according to the charging documents. They found the Kings in camp with several pieces of a freshly-killed bull moose and an Argo.
The Denali Park musher told the ranger and trooper that he had killed the moose earlier in the day, pointing to the general area where he shot it, and his daughter invited them for coffee, King said. The topic of the park boundary came up and King told Leonard that the park service needed to mark the boundary better, according to court documents.
While he has hunted in the area for several years and has “a general idea” where the boundary, King said pinpointing it is difficult. He had a GPS system with him, King said, but he didn’t have the coordinates to determine exactly where the park boundary was located. He also told Leonard and Lowy that he could find only one silver park boundary marker in the area. Without two markers to line up, it’s difficult to identify the boundary because it’s a straight line, King said.
“We’ve dealt with that for years,” King said of trying to locate the park boundary.
According to King, the moose fell about 600 feet inside the park boundary. The moose may have covered all or part of that distance after the first time he shot it, King said.
“I shot it once, it ran, I shot it again,” he said. “I did not believe I was in the park.”
Following the initial contact with King, park rangers returned to the Kings’ camp on Sept. 8 during another patrol and found a pile of bones about 300 feet north of the park boundary and a mile from King’s camp. Investigators returned in a helicopter the next day and located the kill site of King’s moose. They theorized the bones had been moved from the kill site, which was inside the park boundary about three quarters of a mile from King’s camp, the affidavit says. They also determined the tracks of the vehicle that dumped the bones were made by an Argo, based on the width and tread marks, according to the affidavit.
Park service rangers served King with a search warrant in late September and confiscated the moose, but King said he didn’t hear anything more about the case until an Anchorage reporter called him Wednesday with the news that he had been charged.
Ironically, King’s main sponsor is Cabela’s, the world’s largest retailer of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear. Whether or not the current charges, or a possible future conviction, will have any impact on the company’s sponsorship of King is uknown.
“At this point, we can’t comment on the matter,” Cabela’s corporate communications manager Joe Arterburn stated via e-mail from company headquarters in Nebraska on Thursday. “We will follow the case closely and continue to gather information as it becomes available.”
The thing that bothers King most is the perception that he tried to deceive authorities by moving parts of the moose outside the park after it was shot. In fact, King said he took the moose back to his camp and cut the meat off the bones to make it easier to haul out before dumping the bones near the original kill site about a mile from his camp.
“The fact they think I was hiding something ... the whole thing is humiliating,” said King, who has lived in Denali Park for 30 years. “To think that I would fool anyone with an armload of femur bones as being a kill site, that’s ludicrous.”
The well-known musher said he planned to return to the camp to hunt with another family member and didn’t want to attract any bears to the area.
“We fully intended to come back hunting again. We’re not about to leave bones where we camp,” he said.
Besides, King said, if he wanted to make it appear he shot the moose outside the park by dumping the bones, he wouldn’t have put them right next to the gut pile.
The park service should better identify the park boundary by using some kind of topographic feature such as a mountain or creek to identify the park border similar to what the state does to distinguish game management units. At the very least, the park service should put more boundary markers out, King said.
“All it would have taken is a backcountry ranger with a roll of flagging tape and there would be one more moose in the park today and I wouldn’t be in this humiliating situation,” he said.
Chief ranger Pete Armington referred questions to the U.S. Attorney’s office and said the affidavit filed in court “speaks for itself.”
“All we’re trying to do here is protect the park wildlife, which is the fundamental reason the park was formed,” the ranger said.
Both charges are misdemeanors. Each of the charges carry a penalty of up to six months in prison and a maximum $5,000 fine, assistant U.S. attorney Stephen Cooper said.
King’s arraignment is set for May 8 in Fairbanks.
Contact staff writer Tim Mowry at 459-7587.
Community Discussion
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Justice will prevail Jeff. The whole story is ridiculous! Hopefully it will be over soon. I am sure that Jeff King knows that land like the back of his hand, thus he can hunt "near" the park boundry and not worry about being inside the park. Surly a decent judge will drop this stupid case.
Alaska State Troopers: "Doing whats easy, NOT whats right" They will show up and harrass a legal hunter and accuse him of something he didn't do but they won't show up at my house when I found an attempted theft? I have also found it to be worse when they are running around with federal law enforcment. It's kinda like a feeding frenzy. I hate to say it but I've seen it with my own two eyes. Way to go AST!
NPS Rangers are a bunch of clowns on power trips. Just because they carry a badge they think they can harass people who are doing nothing outside the law. I know of individuals who have been ticketed and taken to court only to be found NOT GUILTY, then what does the park sevice do? Change the way that the laws are written to serve the "wants" of some ranger who thinks things should be done his way.
Kings story makes sense and hopefully the judge see it that way also. The moose was shot outside the park and then ran into the park. What was he suppose to do? Leave it rot, and then be charged with wanton waste? Park Rangers need to get a real life and leave innocent people alone. Bet that Ranger is a member of PETA.
But...but...but...
It's the "Kings" deer!
Fed king that is.
As far as I'm concerced, Jeff is a subsistence hunter. He regularly hunts to feed his family. Idiot and divisive laws.
What a job for the boys!
All the toys and money a person could want to play in the woods! Helicopters are fun! Yeah!!
When-oh-when will Alaskans wake up. I've been soooo ready for a storm-the-Bastille party for so many years.
How much did it cost taxpayers to fly around in a helicopter to try and determine where the moose was killed. You would think that this was a murder investigation. Maybe the feds need to bring in a complete forensic team to determine where the bullet was shot from.
Jeff next time you hunt that area make sure to hire a survey team to get boundries and of coarse go through the book of paper work associated with doing this with the Park Service, BLM and all other regulatory agencies involved. This should only take a few years and several thousand dollars.
Funny, yesterday the mob was already calling for his head on a pike in the town square and now the park rangers are the bad guys just for doing what they're paid to do, investigating. Its not up to them to determine innocent or guilty, is it?
I suppose we should put the Department of Fish and Game up on the firing line too for coming up with those stupid hunting laws in the first place. Since they are financed by government, we better get them too. Damn, something else we can blame on Bush!!!
I had a similar problem with finding Park boundaries to determine where it was legal to ride my snow-go...if you look at the topo map it is shown as a red line about a quarter inch wide...so I called the Park office- 683-2294- and nobody knew the bearing for the boundary line. It looked like a straight line running for about 30 miles east to west (just like the boundary where Jeff was hunting) on the map so I just wanted the bearing to load in my gps and then I could just stay north of that line. so I emailed them from their website- www.nps.gov/dena to ask and they still didn't know....after about a week someone up there told me the bearing.
I'm sure they would be happy to hear from interested hunters who want to be sure they know where the boundary is...Chief Ranger Pete_Armington@nps.gov should know...
If you are ready to 'storm' then I'll be right by your side Corinne and I agree that Jeff is a subsistence hunter. If they had come to the camp and that moose was dead and just left to rot there is no doubt that he would have been charged with wanton waste! If they can't get ya on one thing, they just change the 'rules' and get a on something else.
This is another case of there are more of them than there are of us.Everyone in alaska is a subsistence hunter.The people in that park honestly believe that americans are the enemy.Their pensions should be on the line for harrassing people.
OK, so there is an imaginary line and if the moose is one foot outside the line we can kill and eat it, but if it is one foot inside then we cant? *scratches head*
We create these parks to preserve them for "everyone" but then prohibit outdoor activities in them. Isnt it nice to have a swell place to look at?
I am not saying we should strip mine it, cut all the trees down, pave it and gun murder all the critters but come on, what happened to Freedom?
I think they went and changed the definition out from under us.
I find it interesting that someone who has travelled countless days between Wasilla and Nome not know where they were. The statements don't add up. "The boundary is not marked, I had a GPS, I did not know I was in the park, I watched the moose run in the park, I hauled the bones away from camp not to attract bears" (why not butcher it where it fell, a safe distance from your camp?), "I've been here for 30 years"....
Seems to me there are too many holes in his story.
Most federal and state land in the lower 48 where hunting is prohibited is posted every 30 feet "No Hunting". I am guessing the park has no such line of signs........ sounds like a good winter project for the park's rangers.
LEARN LESSON TO ASKING TO PARK RANGER FIRST ! WHERE PARK'S BOUNDARY LINE ARE ??? THEN ADD INTO GPS UNIT THEN GO AHEAD HUNTING PERIOD!!!! NOT SO SMART FOR NOT CALL OR CONTACT WITH RANGERS
WHICH ONE TO BEST TO DO : CONTACT ANY PARK RANGERS - OR - IGNORED ANY PARK RANGERS THEN GO AHEND HUNTING AND CARELESS ABOUT PARK'S BOUNDARY.
Ow, corine! :-)
Coffee nearly shot out my nose 'cause I laughed so hard at your "King's Deer" comment!
Truth will out, Mr. King. May I recommend "A Land Gone Lonesome" for interested readers' lists? Dan O'Neill's float down the Yukon River and an eyeopener for sure. I don't like NPS, so I guess I have to keep my comments to myself on this one.
But...wait! I hear a horn! Here comes Robin now..... (with apologies to Howard Pyle and his Robin Hood stories)
:-)
What is a federally qualified subsistence user?? People who live by hunting and living off the land?? Can someone clarify that for me? Do you need a "special" card for that? Would they have used the helicopter for a "typical jane or joe?".
Noland, not to be mean, your first sentence doesn't add up. Is Jeff King supposed to remember every tree, hill, and creek that he's passed?? Come on now, Alaska is the largest state and has many many changes throughout the year. And as you said, you have lived here for 30 years. Have you not gotten lost in the woods before?
I agree with AKSoul, "King's Deer" comment was pretty funny.
What else is he going to say? "I did it"? Come on. His lawyer should tell him to shut up.
Every long term hunter near Denali knows where the boundary is down to the foot. Hope to see you all around here on the comments page when he pleads "guilty your honor" in the end.
You notice that not once in the interview did he ever say "I did not do it" or "I'm innocent." Lot's of "I didn't believe that I was..." or "It's all the park's fault." Classic deflection. In his last quote he pretty much admits he is guilty. You guys are such suckers.
I agree with flyer5000. He did it, he knew he did it, and now he's trying to get out of it by blaming the system.
“All it would have taken is a backcountry ranger with a roll of flagging tape and there would be one more moose in the park today and I wouldn’t be in this humiliating situation,” King said.
That quote is an admission of guilt.
It makes me sick that the Park Service and the Troopers are harassing Jeff. I know what he feels like. Trying to hunt in the last few years we have been landed on by helpicopter several times. This is not the Alaska of 20 years ago. The government is oppressing Alaskans with a heavy hand. I wouldn't talk to them and they got abusive. I don['t think I'm required to chat with them - but it made them crazy. They were dangerous - acting crazy when I wouldn't answer their questions. It's awful that Alaska is run out of Anchorage. Unfortunately - I suspect that resistance is futile. Alaska now belongs to the Police and the other terrorist government officials - State, Federal, and City.
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Hi baby butterfly,
My point was that Jeff King has been finding his way around Alaska for 30 years, not that I've been here for that amount of time. I don't think the park boundary has changed much in the last 27 years and If Jeff has been hunting there for a long perdiod of time, perhaps he would know the area well enough not to cross into the park.
Well said Noland. Since Jeff has lived there for 30 years he should know those boundaries like the back of his hand and I'm sure he knew damn well he was inside them. Just because he thinks he is King he can get away with it.
Joy Betain,
While I agree with you that we are turning into a police state, I'm not sure that they were harassing Jeff King.
We had their helicopters land in our moose camp site 25 years ago, there was no moose on-site, dead or alive, and they were performing the tasks that they've always performed; requesting to see licenses, tags, etc.
I can appreciate both the humor and principle in your operationalizing your rights to not respond to questions, too. They are tasked with enforcing the laws, but that in no way means that the citizenry is mandated to forfeit any rights. That includes commmunicating with those who now treat the public as though everyone's inherently a criminal.
I hit a moose at 60 mph in my old truck about 5-6 years ago, at about 3:00 A.M. I totalled it. The ONLY reason that I called the Troopers when I flagged down a passer-by with a cell phone, was that I was required by law to call them. When the wet-behind-the-ears fellow in his early 20s arrived at my scene, after asking for my insurance docs, the very next thing that he did was to examine the shoulder of the highway, next to my disabled truck, with his flashlight, in an apparent effort to see if I'd dumped any contraband.
Hitting a moose that runs out of the shadows in the middle of the night is considered by insurance and other agencies to be an act of God or nature, and doesn't amount to probable cause to search a vehicle.
Therefore, had I possessed any contraband, the best thing for me to have done would've been to leave it right where ever it was, not to dump it on the ground, in relative plain-view, next to my truck.
Not only was his action implict to calling me a criminal at the scene, but his apparent logic was insulting to any thinking being. And I called HIM!! Only 'cause I was required to...
But in Jeff's case, he was inside the park with a dead moose. if there was a question about the legitimacy of the kill when he dropped it, he might've considered calling on a cell phone at the time the moose went down, in order to clear his name. That would've carried a message of, "Hey, this was an honest mistake, the moose ran, and I'm not sure what to do."
I'm, of course, assuming that he had a cell phone. He had a GPS, and I'd bet a cell phone as well, as a matter of precaution.
That's my .50 cents on this.
Thank you Noland for setting me straight! (really not trying to sound like a smart a$$ here). Apologize if anyone see's it differently.
I can relate real well to getting lost in the woods. I've never been hunting around the park, but I've had my fair share of taking the wrong turns and forks in the trails north of Fairbanks.
Is there evidence of blood where King supposedly shot the moose before it "crossed" into the park boundry's? I'm still at a toss up on this subject.
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