Would this be legal?

[DallanC]

Was bored at work discussing misc things with a co-worker and we got to talking about shed hunting and finding a complete skull with antlers still attached. According to at least Utah law it would be illegal to take them, or have them in your possession as you can only take naturally dropped antlers with the rounded pedicule.

This implies if you do have antlers attached to the skulls at your home, they came from animals harvested / tagged with a legal license. Which then brings up an interesting question.

Question is this: If say you were hunting and you found a previously dead antlered deer skull, could you legally tag the head with your hunting permit and take it home? Or is there some restriction on even this?

As I said we were just shooting the crap over lunch and to be honest, I'm not sure. If forced to answer I'd say "I'd guess it would be legal" but to be truthful, I havent really thought about it before.

Anyone know / have opinion?


-DallanC

 

[huntinman]

well #1 why would you want to waste a tag like that?
#2 if you want to tag the head you better take the meat rotten or not. Because it is illegal to take an animal for just the head or horns. I understand your ? but that is fish and game rules.
huntinman

 

[DallanC]

I shoulda posted this in the shed collecting forum.

No, lets say its opening day of the deer hunt and you stumble across a skull of a 9x9, 38" wide buck (yes this is hypotheical example lol...) that had died during the previous winter. There is no meat, just bones.

I cant imagine anyone NOT wanting to take something like that home but under the law its illegal... unless it is legal to take it if tagged...?

That was my question.


-DallanC

 

[YELUM]

Dallen
In UT, An animal must be retrieved during the season that it was harvested to legally claim it. So No, you could not legally put your tag on a head not taken during the season which your tag was valid for.
Yelum

 

[rost495]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-23-04 AT 06:27AM (MST)[p]Not sure where you are from. Here should be most of the info for TX and the same incident.

First, head and hide etc legally harvested and at home. Home is final destination and you no longer need tags. So anything you have already legally taken doesn't need to retain a tag.

Ok now to picking up. You can't possess the antlers without them being legally tagged. So can you legally tag a deer head, hit by a car? First a car is not a legal weapon in TX, secondly there is never a legal season on a road right of way. You could tag that one and it still be illegal in every way.

Now find a dead(from whatever cause) animal in national forest here. Technically according to our game warden you can tag the head and take it. If thats what you want to do with your tag. Its still only one dead deer so the balance of the harvest is the same(actually less). Have never asked about the waste of game issue.

Personally I'd still stick to the fact of taking the head out and giving it to the local warden.

Best bet is, as mentioned, ask your local warden first. And it never hurts to call the state and ask. IE the local warden might choose to ignore it while another may not. Had a house here for sale, new warden, off duty in civi clothes, went to view. Found an illegal animal mounted on the wall and asked to take pictures. Was allowed and came back with a warrant shortly. Actually it was an owl that was so ancient that it was exempt and they dropped the case, but you never know who sees what and when.

Sorry its probably not helping you for the TX rules.

Jeff

Should have added FYI that if you pick it up on an out of state hunt and transport across one state line it becomes a felony from what I understand. Its sure not worht that.

 

[Foreman4x4]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-23-04 AT 07:35AM (MST)[p]As you probably well know, the whole intent of the law was to stop poachers from killing a buck on the winter range, out of season, or whatever the case might be, marking it's position with a GPS or other means, and returning to retrieve the animal later claiming to have "found" it dead.

I don't know if it's legal or not, but if it were legal to do what you're asking, wouldn't it defeat the whole purpose of the law? Getting a tag for the specific area might be difficult, but I'll bet there are plenty of unethical guys who'd be willing to take the chance if they found a loop-hole in the law that allowed them to tag a "found" buck, especially a 38" 9x9. I know there are a few guys who poach for meat, but it's mostly about the head gear.

 

[Hornseeker]

MT law:

Hunters may possess, transport, sell or purchase naturally shed antlers, or the antlers with the skull or portion of skull attached from a game animal that has died from natural causes and that has not been unlawfully or accidentlyally killed. Road Killed animals have not died from natural causes. The carcass or parts of protected or regulated species may not be salvaged or possessed. It is illegal to possess a sheep head picked up in the wild.

ID law:

Antlers and horns of deer, elk, moose, pronghorn and mt. goats; elk teeth, parts of black bears, mt lions and animals that have been lawfully taken or have died of natural causes, may be recovered, possessed,purchased, bartered or sold if ccompanied by a statement showing that the animals were lawfully taken.

It goes on to say that bighorns that have died of natural causes may be recovered, but not sold.

 

[DallanC]

Yup, we actually talked about this too. I wasnt sure and was just curious what others thought. And no, I dont know of any 9x9 38" wide deer alive nor dead lol.


-DallanC



>As you probably well know, the
>whole intent of the law
>was to stop poachers from
>killing a buck on the
>winter range, out of season,
>or whatever the case might
>be, marking it's position with
>a GPS or other means,
>and returning to retrieve the
>animal later claiming to have
>"found" it dead.
>
>I don't know if it's legal
>or not, but if it
>were legal to do what
>you're asking, wouldn't it defeat
>the whole purpose of the
>law? Getting a tag for
>the specific area might be
>difficult, but I'll bet there
>are plenty of unethical guys
>who'd be willing to take
>the chance if they found
>a loop-hole in the law
>that allowed them to tag
>a "found" buck, especially a
>38" 9x9. I know there
>are a few guys who
>poach for meat, but it's
>mostly about the head gear.
>

 

[vegasbroker]

I heard a crazy story the other day from a guy here in NV who was selling his home a few years ago. He is a rock climbing guide and was in the back country of AZ and came across two old bighorn sheep skulls lying in a pile of bones at the bottom of a wash.
He brought them home with him and during an open house somebody spotted these skulls hanging in his shed area. Two days later his home, belongings and autos were seized--charged with felony poaching!! It took him 3 days of pleading and several hundred dollars to get his things back. His life was turned upside down.
He never owned a gun in his life, nor had he ever hunted in his life (tree hugger), however as a paid guide he "should have known"

Billy