Here's my worthless opinion

I just spent an hour surfing the forums here on MM. First of all there seems to be lots of negative attacking going on. Esp. regarding shed hunting season dates. We're all like minded people here and I bet if we met in person under different circumstances we would be quick friends. For some reason being anonymous on a forum makes some people jerks.
A friend of mine has an interesting opinion on when shed seasons should open. Hypothetically let's say, in all western States, that shed season opens the first Tuesday every April. That keeps everybody in their own back yards. Makes sense to me but I know that will never happen.
Now for my opinion. Far to many shed hunters feel the need to post their awesome skills on facebook, instagram and you tube. Keep posting, eventually you will destroy the very thing you love to do. I challenge any shed hunter to stop posting. Problem is that won't happen because social media has made everyone a narcissist. Look at me.. Look at what I found.. Look how awesome I am. I to tell victim to that same narcissism. I have 10 years worth of shed ATL pics on this website. I felt validated as a skillfull antler gatherer because of those pics. I now realize it only hurts the very thing I love by doing so. ( sorry Brian I won't be sending pics this year ) I also challenge all of you to un-subscribe to any shed hunting channels on you tube that you are currently subscribed to. I did. Lets all go off the radar for the love of shed hunting.
Remember this is my opinion, please don't bully me with words cause you disagree. I well come intelligent opinions. Happy Hunting!

Its already been done. This shed forum is dead compared to 5 years ago.

Its a hobby that has grown and will continue to grow regardless of social media.

+100 i have shared alot of shed pics on mm. I stopped doing that many years ago because I seen what was coming! Me not posting pics didn't stop any of it tho. I think it's harder for the guys like me that have been doing it for 25 years. I miss the days when you could let 20-30 bulls shed then hike in and find 15-20 sets without ever seeing boot tracks! It's like everything else If it makes money and it's fun why not. Problem is 90% of the guys poaching are the ones trying to make a buck! Back in the good days brown elk was $4lb. I wish it would go back!

I can't tell you how much this topic has been on my mind lately.
Social media has done a lot of good and bad for our hunting sport/lifestyle. Social media has tied the community together and allowed us to work together to fight legislation on necessary issues, wildife habitat, game... etc. At the same time I feel like it has been hurting us and turning our sport into a competitive popularity contest.

Over the last ten years it seems like the hunting population has sky rocketed. Especially, in the West. I know nationwide our numbers are still down at 6% compared to the U.S. general population but they are growing rapidly.

Nowadays, everyone has their own Youtube channel with a soon to follow Podcast. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good MeatEater podcast or FullDraw Fulltime podcast along with a Solo Hunter Youtube show thrown in the mix, but I do get tired of watching guys take selfie videos with three other dudes in the background taking selfie-videos, at the same time and of the same content. I know I have side-tracked from the topic a little.

The question that I have often wondered is how long will our public lands and wildlife be able to sustain the rapid increase in popularity that social media is drawing? Gone are the days of just going hunting to shoot an animal. Social Media has the average Joe and first time hunter wanting that 200" buck and 380+" bull.
I am interested in others' comments.

I think it is far to late to stop the social media train.That ship has sailed. You guys are spot on, there are just that many more folks out there nowdays, and that isn't going to change. As times change new challenges arise, and some old challenges fade away. I hear you on the price increase of elk antler having a dramatic effect on the sport, but I honestly believe that if the price dropped way down the same people would still spend the same amount of time pounding the hills. I think that some of the allure of shed hunting is that you can go and enjoy hiking around in some of these insane, impossible to ever draw trophy units and find some piece of a magnificent bull or buck. The beauty of hunting is that you can do it your way, whatever way that you enjoy the most, whether it's road hunting, long range shooting, backcountry hunts, trophy hunting, or just hunting for meat, as long as it is done legally and ethically that's fine with me. I used to get all spun up on guys that would just shoot the first dink they ran accross. Let those bucks get old I would say, just shoot a doe if you want meat I would think, but now I just say great shot and I bet that buck will taste great!

What the heck is a trophy animal anyway? They are all just animals and it is important to remember to put your fellow man first. What is really important is that we don't loose touch with why we are really out there in the first place. To enjoy God's great bounty and fill the freezer. Just because it isn't the way you do things doesn't make it wrong, and it shouldn't empower you make it your life's ambition to shape to sport in your image.

Crazy rant I know, but I am just so sick of everyone trying to push their own agendas on everybody else. I dislike most liberals for that fact, but sometimes our own are just as bad.

PS. I will never be a proponent of a shed season.

Flat brims, smoke stacks ,Social media and money has destroyed an enjoyable weekend with the family, of course they can't pick them all up but a ton of sharty hunters look real good on Facebook killing our animals in their most stressful time of year, and I say sharty hunters because sheds don't think or move, it isn't a tactful sport , hard hikes and good eyes, sure.
Some regulation needs to be applied here so we can quit seeing YouTube videos of shed hunters coming up on dying deer and wondering why they are dying ! Something needs to be done, if not a season , then throw some ideas out . How else do we save the herds from being pressured when they are 2nd -3rd trimester pregnant and have had a harsh winter with little food.
Any ideas folks?!

>Flat brims, smoke stacks ,Social media
>and money has destroyed an
>enjoyable weekend with the family,
>of course they can't pick
>them all up but a
>ton of sharty hunters look
>real good on Facebook killing
>our animals in their most
>stressful time of year, and
>I say sharty hunters because
>sheds don't think or move,
>it isn't a tactful sport
>, hard hikes and good
>eyes, sure.
>Some regulation needs to be applied
>here so we can quit
>seeing YouTube videos of shed
>hunters coming up on dying
>deer and wondering why they
>are dying ! Something needs
>to be done, if not
>a season , then throw
>some ideas out . How
>else do we save the
>herds from being pressured when
>they are 2nd -3rd trimester
>pregnant and have had a
>harsh winter with little food.
>
>Any ideas folks?!

What is the point of all this useless conversation? Shed hunters killing deer; right.

Yes, stressing the animals to the point of exhaustion/death !!!

^^^^bullcrap

It's people like you that are destroying the herds and the sport, congrats big guy! How About being proactive and keep the animals alive and plentiful to hunt and shed hunt instead of being money and ego mongers !
Maybe we can get trump to build a wall around NV too haaaaa!

LAST EDITED ON May-16-17 AT 07:54AM (MST)[p]Nvkid,

Below you will find links to all known cases where shed hunters have harrassed wildife to their death:
























































































































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Gatheringsheds I do agree with what you say Social Media outlets have some negative effect on hunting. I think social media has a negative effect on alot of our daily life as well. For example look at that guy he has a big diesel, big trailer, huge house, smoking hot wife, a side by side and all the other highlights but what is not seen is the hard work it took get those things and you won't see it because no one is gonna show you how they fully made it to success. We do lose sight of what's truly important due to social media. Now I like sharing my hunting adventures on instagram, facebook, and youtube I do it for me my friends and others to enjoy I am not huge in social media I do not have a huge following of 10k plus and if I never do that's fine. And you'll never see me videoing people videoing I'm not big on seeing people film the same thing and it going on 3 different channels. I don't hate those people I just find it an odd thing to film. I just like my videos on youtube because they are always there and I don't have to store them on a hard drive and hopefully you can enjoy them. And a cool thing about it is people who are better at editing than me can give me advise through the social media platform. But for some people videos always being there can damage the hunting world because it's easy for anti-hunters to find them. I do think there has been some good education and understanding of hunting to people who never hunted or would from social media. But there is also alot of hate that comes from it. Shed hunting has become super popular and competitive because of it. And I feel bowhunting has become the cool thing because of social media as well. I don't get alot of kill shots on film and that's fine because I won't pass up an opportunity to have it on film on an animal that I'd like to eat and have mounted for my mancave. The dollar value has really made shed hunting tough as well. And I think another thing social media has taught hunters and I've been a victim of this and I do not like to tell much of my hunting locations to anyone but a select few. Is it has destroyed integrity and taught people to lie,backstab, and cheat there way to social media fame. So called hunting buddies get greedy and will sneak behind your back to go into your hunting spots to kill that buck or bull or find the set of sheds you put in all the time scouting because you thought you could trust them when you told them. So basically social media is a huge double edged sword.

Man you guys have problems...

Ignorance is bliss !

Your opinion is completely valid on the insanity that is shed hunting now. However, it's not this site that is ruining it. It's social media like Instagram and the prices alone that are driving this train. I met some dumbass on the mountain this year from Wyoming that said he lost his job and this was his new job! And here I am just out having fun hoping for a collectible or two, and he's out there only to make a buck! F'ing lame.

LAST EDITED ON Aug-02-17 AT 12:01PM (MST)[p]Shed hunting?

I have a great deal to learn and I'm always finding something else I know nothing about.

And please don't attack me; I'm trying to learn here.

Would someone be willing to tell me what is the value in this? Surely the point isn't to say these collected antlers came from something you hunted and killed?

Are they being sold and animals possibly being poached for them like elephants for their tusks or sharks for their fins?

As for social media, here's MY worthless opinion about something I *DO* know:

I wonder if social media might be/could be the anti-Christ?

Think about it... What does revelations say about the beast? Consider the following and then decide for yourself:

From Revelations 13:16-17 (King James Version (KJV))

16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

* The mark (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube Logo)
* The name of the beast (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube)
* Or the number of his name (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube URL, which resolves to an IP address, which is a number such as 31.13.77.36, which is the IP address for Facebook.com)

My handle here is Computerguy, but I was a Luddite before I forced myself to learn about computers. What I have decided over the years is that like any other tool invented by man, technology such as our firearms or technology such as computers and the Internet are simply tools that can be used to do good or to do evil. Even a wood chipper can be used for evil as we have seen in movies like Fargo, TV fiction like CSI Miami, and in real life via the Forensic Files TV show. All tools require responsible use.

I don't do social media for a number of reasons, but I have already run into situations such as being unable to get access to a sales ad or other aspect of an eCommerce site because I don't have a FB login.

Sexual predators have used FB updates to learn when kids or women are home alone, what school they go to, the route they take to walk to school, where they go jogging and at what times, their parents' names, their pets' names, etc.

Burglars have used FB updates to know when families are away from home so that they can do their particular (though lame) evil.

We know that Big Brother is gathering every Tweet, email, text message, FB post, etc., and we're supposed to trust that it's only to catch terrorists and prevent the next 9/11.

So I don't have a Facebook account and I don't post on YouTube.

FB in and of itself may not be evil, but like some virtual gateway to hell, it certainly provides a way for evil people to do evil on others. Can anyone name one good thing that comes from FB? Maybe some charities are able to use it to reach people that they may not otherwise?

I think it's all about vanity as gatheringsheds has stated above, but this is all just one possible interpretation. I have held my own in some math intensive schools, but math has never been my strong suit, and I haven't figured out how an IP address like 31.13.77.36 could become 666, nor 616, for those who believe that is a more accurate translation.

Personally I think radical Islam is the anti-Christ and we're headed toward the battle of Armageddon because of the inability of Muslims around the world to tolerate and to get along with anyone, including other Muslims.

Wow! I do agree with your last paragraph.

LAST EDITED ON Jan-02-18 AT 12:16PM (MST)[p]I'm super human and can run 35MPH for a mile in hiking boots.

This Spring I think I'll start chasing bucks and bulls though the woods (but I'll wear eye protection so I don't run into a stick and lose an eye). Once I'm running along side of them I'll just reach over, grab ahold and yank their antlers right off their heads!

Since I'm so fast on my feet, during the rest of the year when the antlers are growing and won't come off so easy, I think I'll enter myself in gray-hound dog races and make a little money by gambling on myself.

No opinion either way on posting successful pics of the antlers or wild game we hunt.

2f350s: Hunt hard, hunt ethically.

Shed hunting can be like anything else. Why do people climb mountains, swim seas, jump out of planes, base jump or bungee jump, and on and on. I just like to hike and encounter animals in their habitat (preferably elk, deer, or feral horses). I try to hike and observe from a distance where and when possible, But I like to get close where possible. I never gave shed antlers much of a thought, and can hardly remember in 40 years even finding them while afield! But in Feb. of 2007, while hiking along a fenceline in an old burn, I found a set of elk antlers that fascinated me. A 340-ish bull elk had jumped a fence, and hit hard (I could tell from tracks in the mud)and jarred both antlers hard enough that they fell together. This initial find got me hooked! I have a basement full of shed elk and deer antlers that each have special connection to a particular hike or time spent hiking and looking. I don't even always find antlers, but have had other experiences such as seeing a hawk take a mallard duck, a golden eagle taking out a great blue heron, a decent four-point buck so intent on browsing on mahogany that he allowed me to follow him around at less than 20 ft., a coyote so intent on digging out a rabbit lair that he didn't notice me about 6 feet
away watching, a wild horse stud colt that ran up to me when I whinnied at him (got video of him sniffing my belt buckle).I have had many interesting adventures, and the antlers I keep usually have some special connection, and if they don't (old, broken, etc.) I usually throw them out in my yard, or send to an antler buyer. All I can think of, is "to each his own"

Amen, NVPete.

I have been hunting in Az. for 50+ years.
If I see a shed, let it lie. If its nice take
it home to display it.No Season/No BS.
dirtclod Az.