2023 Shed Opener pushed back to May 15th

[Ticks N Tines]

I'm being told by F&G contact a news release should be coming out shortly. The Wyoming opener is being pushed back to the 15th. I believe this is the correct decision based on conditions of the range and also the deer at this time.

 

[Ticks N Tines]

Wyoming Game and Fish Department - Shed antler and horn collecting postponed on designated lands until 6 a.m May 15

wgfd.wyo.gov

 

[elks96]

Yep. It is a shame they would not include more of the Lander area and areas like Green Mountain, Ferris etc. It is insane how many dead critters we have out here and still nothing from the Lander area to protect the critters.

But they sure in heck we’re trying to shame and haze people for feeding animals…

 

[BrowningRage]

May 1st at Jackson should be more fun than ever... ??

 

[nfh]

Thank God all the animals that won't die from stress.

 

[jm77]

Thank God all the animals that won't die from stress.

They actually drop dead at the sight of a shed hunter. Quite the phenomenon.

 

[Bookhead]

They actually drop dead at the sight of a shed hunter. Quite the phenomenon.

Not on may 15th though after that they're tough enough but not the 1st.

 

[nfh]

They actually drop dead at the sight of a shed hunter. Quite the phenomenon.

Ya thats what i hear but yet they survive hunting stress, late season hunts, hell i have even seen game and fish chase the living hell out of them in late April with a helicopter trying to get elk off a ranch


These pro ding dong want more shed restrictions can have it. just keep it out of my county. I been enjoying picking up big ol brown elk sheds since mid march


Last year at a meeting there is a guy who is in deep with the previous game warden. He wants horn hunting come June. I proposed they should do the same to snowmobiles since he loves that. I brought up all the stress that causes such as the poor moose on the bighorns, mnt goats that live near Cooke city and all other wildlife

 

[nontypical]

All you guys that think the deer don't need some more protection from the worst winter we've ever had are way off base, IMO. Why do you want to push them even more in an already weakened state? No snow near Cody. I'd be shed hunting too! We can barely even get around in this country! Still too much snow. Have you guys seen any pics or video from this winter? We got dead stuff literally everywhere you look. You think the deer are okay to push around at this time? Gimme a freakin' break.

You can argue all you want. Come have a look around in this country!

Wyoming Range deer numbers are cut in half. Why push it???

 

[nfh]

All you guys that think the deer don't need some more protection from the worst winter we've ever had are way off base, IMO. Why do you want to push them even more in an already weakened state? No snow near Cody. I'd be shed hunting too! We can barely even get around in this country! Still too much snow. Have you guys seen any pics or video from this winter? We got dead stuff literally everywhere you look. You think the deer are okay to push around at this time? Gimme a freakin' break.

You can argue all you want. Come have a look around in this country!

Wyoming Range deer numbers are cut in half. Why push it???

My concern is our local area. we are being attacked to have a shed season. its uncalled for. The elk literally go and live in the deep snow to avoid predators. A shed season here will not slow people down. To many people like to go and ride horses this time of year before the bugs start coming and you cant enjoy a ride. The discussion of animals being pushed is a poor statement in this area. The claim is animals get pushed to the next county but yet when you go back in the next day antlers are in the wide open where the elk was the day before. They have their escape routes plotted and executed very well. Mule deer in these parts are not a concern to this so called stress. most the deer migrate to ranch lands to thrive off the feed. And what deer do go to public land the land is so large you go days before you see mule deer.

your right i know nothing about your area. I am fighting the locals here when they are tied in so tight with local wardens and help persuade to get silly decisions made and its much larger than a shed season. Its a constant battle with a few locals that major change to benefit themselves and screw the average joe.

 

[jm77]

They actually drop dead at the sight of a shed hunter. Quite the phenomenon.

@nontypical I think you missed my sarcasm Cliff. The problem I have with all this, is it's half-a$$ed like most everything the G&F does. They should have had that winter range by you shut-off to everything that moves or breaths this year. Not only that, it takes them until now to come up with their emergency closure?
Beyond that, on normal years, I hope they keep it like it is; west of the divide.

 

[elks96]

True conservationist realize that every human activity in the woods has an impact. There is not way around it and shed hunting definitely has a significant impact. There is no denying it, the animals right now are weaker and as much as risk as they are all year. Especially the females who managed to make this far without aborting. The effects of shed hunting accumulate.

While I fully agree we should be looking at other pressures as well, including ATVs, horseback riding, mountain bikers, rock climbers, dog walkers, and more.... The first step is simply getting people to admit that human presence on the range and in the wild has n impact.

I am not sure how any of us can call ourselves conservationist if we cant handle waiting a few weeks to pick up antlers which are not going anywhere. Give the animals enough time to shift out of those vital winter areas and start moving with the green.

If hunters cant agree that there is an impact, and if we cant limit ourselves, how are we ever going to convince the other groups and other users?

I know it is not popular, but we need to start admitting that human presence on the landscape has a negative impact. Where do we draw the lines? How do we manage/mitigate that impact? How can wildlife sustain the constant pressure of man? The issues are only getting worse as we increase reliance on technology, as our tourist departments are constantly dropping local hidden gems onto the net, and as people continue the Urban exodus.

If we cant start as hunters and the supposed top conservation group in the world, how can we expect anyone else?

 

[Bookhead]

True conservationist realize that every human activity in the woods has an impact. There is not way around it and shed hunting definitely has a significant impact. There is no denying it, the animals right now are weaker and as much as risk as they are all year. Especially the females who managed to make this far without aborting. The effects of shed hunting accumulate.

While I fully agree we should be looking at other pressures as well, including ATVs, horseback riding, mountain bikers, rock climbers, dog walkers, and more.... The first step is simply getting people to admit that human presence on the range and in the wild has n impact.

I am not sure how any of us can call ourselves conservationist if we cant handle waiting a few weeks to pick up antlers which are not going anywhere. Give the animals enough time to shift out of those vital winter areas and start moving with the green.

If hunters cant agree that there is an impact, and if we cant limit ourselves, how are we ever going to convince the other groups and other users?

I know it is not popular, but we need to start admitting that human presence on the landscape has a negative impact. Where do we draw the lines? How do we manage/mitigate that impact? How can wildlife sustain the constant pressure of man? The issues are only getting worse as we increase reliance on technology, as our tourist departments are constantly dropping local hidden gems onto the net, and as people continue the Urban exodus.

If we cant start as hunters and the supposed top conservation group in the world, how can we expect anyone else?

Better get them January cow hunts shut down then and predator hunting all year long that take place mainly only where big game winter

 

[Bookhead]

Bottom line way more deer are killed in October then ever will be by shed hunting in March and the "shed season" hasnt done anything but wad up all that activity and put it all on 1-3 days out of the spring I've watched it myself elk be pushed from the snow line way up into the mtns into deep snow on the opener because they can't get around the massive wave of ppl if there wasn't a shed season and ppl trickled through these areas they can simply move around them. Not so with the "shed season" how much stress do you think it puts on a deer to walk over a hill when it sees a person from a distance looking for an antler and not even paying attention to them little to none would be my guess. What about a pack of coyotes or wolves running down a whole pack throughout an entire night tryjng to hamstring them. Probably allot would be my guess

 

[Bookhead]

Pushing the shed season back 2 weeks isn't going to accomplish anything the deer still wont be in the high country by may 15th if theres still so much snow on the winter range if I had to venture a wild guess

 

[DoubleDropMuley]

I hope they catch a bunch of dumb Fu€¥’s pushing it , I had vacation scheduled the whole week but was gonna change but now I may take it to glass up the sh!tHeads

 

[Bookhead]

I hope they catch a bunch of dumb Fu€¥’s pushing it , I had vacation scheduled the whole week but was gonna change but now I may take it to glass up the sh!tHeads

I hope they do too been pretty bad the last couple years

 

[DoubleDropMuley]

From reading some statements above maybe we need to shut down all late season hunts, if we as hunters aren’t efficient enough to kill them during Oct when there’s no bugling or out of summer habits yet with all the technology out there I’m thinking we don’t deserve to harvest them, plus that early into winter there still pretty fat and healthy, !! ?, And Game and Fish shouldn’t even have to consider when to do it, I’m sure everyone on here as been around long enough to know when a winter is to tough on animals, if there’s still feet of snow do you really need to jump on your tracked equipment to get out there ? Pretty selfish and dumb FFS,

 

[nfh]

From reading some statements above maybe we need to shut down all late season hunts, if we as hunters aren’t efficient enough to kill them during Oct when there’s no bugling or out of summer habits yet with all the technology out there I’m thinking we don’t deserve to harvest them, plus that early into winter there still pretty fat and healthy, !! ?

worry about your county or else i will have to send some wolves and grizzlies down to ya

 

[DoubleDropMuley]

Bring’m wolves already been here and can be killed on site so not worried about that and grizzlies not a problem already been down that road, and a wise judge once said in his camp it’s SSS, but I won’t shovel just a little gut wack would suffice ?

 

[nfh]

Bring’m wolves already been here and can be killed on site so not worried about that and grizzlies not a problem already been down that road, and a wise judge once said in his camp it’s SSS, but I won’t shovel just a little gut wack would suffice ?

ok ok ok ok, just one request. keep the utards there

 

[jm77]

Is it ok to turkey hunt in April? I took the grandsons the other day.

 

[Hunt_the_West]

Dang @jm77 those kids sure have grown a lot since you posted their turkey hunt a year or two ago! Time sure flys.

 

[nontypical]

We're still trying to get county roads plowed in this country.

 

[nontypical]

Bottom line way more deer are killed in October then ever will be by shed hunting in March and the "shed season" hasnt done anything but wad up all that activity and put it all on 1-3 days out of the spring I've watched it myself elk be pushed from the snow line way up into the mtns into deep snow on the opener because they can't get around the massive wave of ppl if there wasn't a shed season and ppl trickled through these areas they can simply move around them. Not so with the "shed season" how much stress do you think it puts on a deer to walk over a hill when it sees a person from a distance looking for an antler and not even paying attention to them little to none would be my guess. What about a pack of coyotes or wolves running down a whole pack throughout an entire night tryjng to hamstring them. Probably allot would be my guess

Therein lies the problem. You unleash a bunch of shed hunters all at once. I believe that would have a negative impact on the remaining survivors. Those survivors are still not out of the woods. It's a pretty critical time for those critters. You're probably right-2 weeks may not make a difference, but with the current forecast, it looks good for melting most of what remains. We'll see. Maybe G&F will make another extension?

I get what you're saying about no shed season causing less impact on the deer. That may be true where you hunt, but IMO, the area I hunt is the reason for the shed season in the first place. With the popularity of shed hunting since the May 1 season was instituted, and the number of NR shed hunters we get over here, not having a season would turn the area into a 3-ring circus with people constantly chasing them around.

A perfect example would be the buck they call "King". He has a never-ending following from the moment he hits the winter range until Jan 1, when most of the roads are shut down. You may have seen the video posted of some guys out there chasing him around trying to get pics.