AK - Judge: King guilty of moose kill in Denali
Published October 24, 2008
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A federal magistrate says four-time Iditarod
Trail Sled Dog Race winner Jeff King is guilty of illegally killing a
moose inside Alaska's Denali National Park.
Federal Magistrate Judge John Roberts found King not guilty of
illegally operating a motorized vehicle on government land during the
hunting trip in September 2007.
During a two-day trial in August, King argued that the park did not
have properly marked boundaries. But in a decision released Friday,
Roberts said it was Kings responsibility to know the location of park
lands and he could have picked up a map.
Prosecutors say King killed a bull moose about 600 feet inside the
park's northern boundary while on a hunting trip with one of his
daughters.
Only federally qualified subsistence users, which King is not, are
allowed to hunt within park boundaries.
King, who has lived in Denali Park for more than 30 years and hunted
in an area near the park's boundary for the last nine years, said the
moose he shot was actually the third one he saw. He spotted a bull about
20 minutes after setting up camp, but did not pursue it because it was
inside the park's boundary. The second moose he and his daughter, Cali,
saw was outside of the park, but it was a cow.
The third moose seemed to be perfect, he said.
"This was too good to be true to find the moose the first night," he
said. "I told (Cali) I'd be a fool not to go after that moose."
King testified that he might have missed the moose the first time he
shot, as it continued to run toward the park. He said he lost track of
it for a minute, but it fell the second time he shot it.
No sentencing date has been set. King could face a maximum six months
in prison and a fine of $5,000.
