Wyoming opener

No note horns kinda disappointed about it. Four truck loads of horns got confiscated at midnight. Pisses me off. But I did well considering it snowed like crazy. I ended up with 11 elk 15 deer and one moose.
 
Thats an awesome day. I bet Corby wishes he'd joined you. haha

Yelum

Theres logic, and theres women. They don't go together.
 
Nice job! Sound like you did well. So the confiscated horns, what's up with that? Did they have them stashed?
 
I heard the F and G had staked out a couple stashes they and located just off the refuge.

Yelum

Theres logic, and theres women. They don't go together.
 
My buddy and I did the midnight thing.In a draw where over 30 bucks wintered we found 1 antler.Those things shine good when you throw a light on them.That place had been cleaned out;big time.I guess we need bigger fines...

Really makes a guy wonder what kind of schemes the poachers are using to get this horn off the ground before the opener.

We still picked up some horn(after daybreak).Won't be doing the all-night gig again.Lol.

Pretty frustrating when the law-breakers get all the horn.
 
Ya Corby was havin a hard time when I was texting him pictures of sheds and he wasn't finding much. And the horns that were stashed got staked out.
 
So?

The Illegal Bitches Strike again Huh?

Anybody know who they were?




The Dew I had for Breakfast wasn't Bad so I had one more for Dessert!:D
 
I was told that they gave out 30+ tickets at Jackson and some arrests. Is that true as well? For going in before midnight.
I found three elk, 1 6 point single and a 290 set
 
I hope they nailed a bunch of these pricks.$500 fine is not enough when you consider how much brown horn sells for.Loss of hunting privileges only hurts guys that hunt.Many horn hunters don't hunt anyway,so they don't care if hunting privileges get revoked.

The law only punishes law-abiding folks,while the horn poachers reap all the benefits of the law.Now the horn is all theirs without competition.
 
There were a few week old boot tracks in my opening day spot north of kemerer. Not a horn to be found where hundreds of deer spent the winter. Pisses me off.
 
Question from the gallery: How is this law enforced? I mean the real nuts and bolts of it on the ground. The ground is not closed to walking and it is only illegal to bend over and pick up an antler?? I do not see how it can be enforced or effective if you have to be seen picking up or carrying out an antler.

Once you are in the truck you are "good to go" as you just enjoy carrying around antlers on the seat with you?? Seems a bit poorly conceived and impossible to enforce without pitting one antler guy against the other, which as I can see here is exactly the plan... works every time it is tried.

Details would be appreciated as we will probably have the same crap soon.
 
In a lot of the areas around Jackson and South East Idaho certain parts (winter range) of the National Forest have human entry closures. In most places in Idaho it is lifted on April 15th, in Wyoming it matches the shed antler restrictions and is lifted on May 1st. Hence some of the tickets mentioned in Jackson are not necessarily for picking up antlers but for violating the entry closure prior to the opening at midnight on May 1st.
 
I think you'll still get what you put into a shed hunt in Wyoming. A lot of the guys I hear complaining about all the sheds being picked up are the same guys who find excuses in everything.

The guys going in early can't find them all. And I think its a small percentage of guys doing it. From the guys I've talked to that live and breathe for shed hunting there is mixed opinions but yet every year guys are finding huge sheds that are white, big matched sets of brown horns laying near roads etc.

One of my buddies found a 220 set that was two years old in a spot that gets POUNDED by shed hunters and not to mention the ranchers atv'ers etc. As many of you know sometimes you walk the lucky "line" when it comes to shed hunting and sometimes you don't. Just keep at it and just enjoy being outdoors.
 
LAST EDITED ON May-05-13 AT 07:59PM (MST)[p]To an extent you are right,magpie.On the other hand,without any competition I'm sure my buddy and I could have picked up 10 times the sheds we did if there were any left by the poachers.We did pick up some of the crumbs.We will now spend our time hunting in areas that are non traditional winter ranges.We put in our time and hiked our a$$es off for those crumbs,too.Call it what you want(excuse?).I call it a reason;not an excuse.I said it before:The only people the shed season helps are the law breaking horn poachers(and the deer??).We absolutely enjoy our time out there,too!Do I like the law?NO!I think it sucks bad.But it is the law.The guys going in early are picking up most of that horn-guaranteed.Before the law went into effect,we found many horns just glassing from the truck!And yes;we do find old horn as well(when we walk that "lucky" line!).Found a couple today,in fact.

Squirrel;The law isn't as vague as you may think.It specifically states that you cannot stockpile or attempt to locate shed antlers.To me,that could even mean looking at bucks before they shed their antlers.That may be hard to prove in court,but in certain situations,it could be circumstantial evidence against a horn poacher.At any rate,trying to glass up some horn before May 1 could get you in trouble.Again,a guy could claim he was looking at a bird or coyote,but if G&F was trying to make a case against someone,it could be used as more circumstantial evidence.They pretty much covered all the possible situations they might encounter when they crafted the law.Going for a cruise on the winter range in Wyoming with your pet antlers before May 1 wouldn't be a good idea,LOL.

You sound familiar,magpie...
 
LAST EDITED ON May-05-13 AT 10:13PM (MST)[p]Of course without competition you would pick up more horns. Thats a given. Heck if there was no competition it wouldn't even be fun. Shooting 200" deer would get boring if you're the only one out there doing it. (ok maybe not?)

I will disagree that the people going in early are getting the majority of the antler. Of course they are getting some of them but it isludicrous to think they are picking up all of it. If you really believe that you probably believe poachers kill all the big bucks and bulls. Same thinking right? Why hunt then? Poachers kill all the bucks/bulls. I think the game and fish have done an excellent job enforcing this law. It's probably one of the tougher ones to enforce. I wish they would put this much effort into other things within their control.

From what I've seen and from others we believe there are less shed hunters now then before the law. A lot of "hobby hunters" have found something else to go do now. Having to wait until May now makes a lot of people choose between antlers and other recreational activities.

Of course mis information is still information. So maybe you're just getting on here to tell people how terrible it is while you're slaying it more then ever. If so then I'm sorry I ruined it. But the fact of the matter is the shed hunting law didn't ruin shed hunting in western wyoming.

I'd be more concerned with the growing trend of upgrading from 4 wheelers to the popular side by side party. A recent pic from SW wyoming:

7822sidebysides.jpg
 
>LAST EDITED ON May-05-13
>AT 10:13?PM (MST)

>
>Of course without competition you would
>pick up more horns.
>Thats a given. Heck
>if there was no competition
>it wouldn't even be fun.
> Shooting 200" deer would
>get boring if you're the
>only one out there doing
>it. (ok maybe not?)
>
>I will disagree that the people
>going in early are getting
>the majority of the antler.
> Of course they are
>getting some of them but
>it isludicrous to think they
>are picking up all of
>it. If you really
>believe that you probably believe
>poachers kill all the big
>bucks and bulls. Same
>thinking right? Why hunt
>then? Poachers kill all
>the bucks/bulls. I think
>the game and fish have
>done an excellent job enforcing
>this law. It's probably
>one of the tougher ones
>to enforce. I wish
>they would put this much
>effort into other things within
>their control.
>
>From what I've seen and from
>others we believe there are
>less shed hunters now then
>before the law. A
>lot of "hobby hunters" have
>found something else to go
>do now. Having to
>wait until May now makes
>a lot of people choose
>between antlers and other recreational
>activities.
>
>Of course mis information is still
>information. So maybe you're
>just getting on here to
>tell people how terrible it
>is while you're slaying it
>more then ever. If
>so then I'm sorry I
>ruined it. But the
>fact of the matter is
>the shed hunting law didn't
>ruin shed hunting in western
>wyoming.
>
>I'd be more concerned with the
>growing trend of upgrading from
>4 wheelers to the popular
>side by side party. A
>recent pic from SW wyoming:
>
>
>
7822sidebysides.jpg


You Think the Fish & Game are doing a Good Job at Enforcing them Laws?

I'll Disagree with you on that one!

They can't even Scratch the Problem!

If You can't see that you must really be a magpie in alaska!

Just like where I used to Hike my Kids Ass back in & pick up a few PISSCUTTER/RAGHORN Sheds!

Closed to Wheelers,Flat Ass Closed!

Completely Stomped out with Wheeler Tracks when We went in a couple weeks ago!

Here's the Deal!

Even if they were caught & Citations Wrote it ain't Stiff enough to keep them from doing it again!

One more Law they can't even Scratch when it comes to Enforcing it!

I'd Laugh my Ass off if them Horn Stashin/Thieving SOB's got their Rigs TUNED UP!









The Dew I had for Breakfast wasn't Bad so I had one more for Dessert!:D
 
Magpie, I dissagree whith pretty much everything you just said.
I also believe you are way out of touch with what actually is happening throughout western Wy.
 
Thats your opinion and gave you mine. The guys who were picking up the majority of the bone before the shed law are still picking it up today. They are not just giving up because the one time they went out someone beat them to their spot (legally or illegally).

In fact I'll agree with you guys, the shed hunting sucks in WYO!!! Everyone should should just stay home! Or take up fishing...yeah fishing!
 
Me and my buddy found about fifty. Of these there were only a handful of browns. On day 2 there were already four wheeler tracks all over every hillside we hit! We watched three four wheelers burn across the flats as well.
 
Well, if they were burning across the flats, they weren't finding many sheds. I know of two groups of friends that picked up about 270 sheds in 3 1/2 days of hiking, between the 10 of them. A lot of whites, but also a lot of nice big browns. Only reported seeing a motorcyle track in one spot, and no atvs tracks. Were some old boot tracks though.


Yelum

Theres logic, and theres women. They don't go together.
 
LAST EDITED ON May-06-13 AT 10:09PM (MST)[p]4-wheelers or side by sides?Does it really matter?Guys doing that are a$$holes no matter what they are driving.They need the Bessy tune-up!

Magpie-please tell me why 2 of us couldn't find but one antler in a draw that held over 30 bucks?We walked the entire draw up one side and down the other.I may be old,but I'm not blind yet!And my buddy ain't old!That horn wasn't there!Plain and simple,someone scarfed it up before season!

Your comparison of buck poachers to horn poachers is just plain out of line.It's comparing apples to oranges.

No doubt there was horn picked up in lesser known areas.I usually do better in those type areas as well.We went where we had seen good bucks during winter;and actually got lucky enough to find a set off one of them.I heard the same lament from the other hunters we talked to up there-they were wondering where all the horn was as well.

Yelum-270 sheds between 10 guys in 3&1/2 days averages out to about 8 or so per day per hunter.Not bad!We found 14 on the opener and 5 more on Sunday.Pretty picked over by the time Sunday rolled around.

I don't know if there are less people hunting horn now or not...sure seems about the same to me.I'm still going shed hunting regardless!

Magpie,I would agree that enforcing the law has got to be really tough.I would gladly volunteer to place some "chipped" antler in strategic locations just to see what would happen.I would think G&F would have some of those lying around somewhere...
 
>I think you'll still get what
>you put into a shed
>hunt in Wyoming.

>The guys going in early can't
>find them all.

I agree 100% with you magpie, infact my new motto I picked up this year is "They Can't find them all!". I don't care who you are, you can't pick up ALL the shed in an area. Sometimes you just have to realize that there will ALWAYS be people that disobey the law and go in early. Some people just can't take the pressure and are too gutless to wait it out like everybody else.

Having said that, we still picked up over 100 sheds this year in a few days in areas that most likley had early traffic. Many of the areas we hit the second day and they had boot tracks in them from the first day. Guess what??? We found sheds within feet of boot tracks. Year after year we hit the same spots in several different states and there are always sheds we missed from previous years. It is physically impossible to pick up ALL the antlers in an area. Suck it up and get out and put some miles in the dirt, and do you part to turn in any early birds. It does get frustrating, but........

"They can't find them all!"
 
I saw alot of wheeler tracks where we were just curious what is the law I have never read a wyoming proclamation we just go and walk around for the opener and use our bikes to and from spots hills looked just like that where we were they must have found something good.
 
LAST EDITED ON May-07-13 AT 07:44PM (MST)[p]I like how most of the guys on here blame other people because you cant find any horns. Maybe you are walking by them and maybe you dont know what you are doing. Always blaming horn poachers or whoever. Maybe you should spend more time out there. All you guys on this web site cry when you dont find anything. Might as.well go back to pre school if you are going to act like a little kid. Its only a horn..
 
antleraddiction81,

Thanks for your well thought out contribution. Would you be willing to take a novice such as myself out and show me what I'm doing wrong? I would greatly appreciate any helpful guidance someone such as yourself could provide. Big time thanks in advance.
 
Well I've walked past my fair share but when we go to a canyon that always produced brown horns for a decade and find a couple whites and wheeler tracks that tells me they did good especially when every draw has been bajad through they were looking for something and found it and some I know it wasn't Crop circles on the hill but I'll never stop hunting Wyoming it's still fun I found a big set and some singles wished I could have been there on the first though. We did have a great time though.
 
I spent 12 weekends scouting for sheds.
Think about it. 12 is not a big number until you think about how many months that translates into.

It put me scouting for sheds from November to February. I know other guys who were out there doing the same thing.

I was able to establish several premium areas. Areas where groups of bucks were wintering.

What happened? We found that one area out of all of them had been COMPLETELY cleaned out. Not one white, not one brown, Boot tracks that were made in very soft mud. The ground was totally dry and dusty anywhere near the opener.

This area had 4 shed bucks in it in February. It had 4 big bucks still packing the last time I went in there. It had a few smaller bucks in it as well.

This area was the most secluded and "out of the way" of all the areas I scouted.

This is also the area where Yelum indicated we found the motorbike tracks going all over the place. Up every draw, across the flats in a zig zag pattern. The entire valley looked to have been poached.

That being said, we did find ONE side of ONE of the bucks we scouted. But it was not in the valley. It was out side the valley , in an area where a poacher would have been visible from a main road.

Do I think that someone poached this area? Absolutely.
From Yelum's post, you can observe that we are not NOVICE shed hunters. And we find a lot of antler.

I cant say for sure some one poached that one spot. I did not see anyone do it. It is possible that the bucks all moved out of there at the same time and no sheds were dropped.
Do I personally believe it was poached? Yeah.

Did that effect the result of our shed hunt? Only in a minor way.
We still racked up a lot of sheds. We picked up several of the sheds we were after. You know, the bigger bucks that we saw.
Picked up a lot of nice brown and some nice white as well.

Except for in that one area.

What was the difference? The location. Most of the areas are areas that a guy is taking a big risk if he goes in there.
Visibility puts a guy in an area where he can or cant safely poach.

Sure, we lost some awesome bucks and I wasted the first 7 1/2 hours of the opener in an area where I picked up NO SHEDS.

Yeah, I hit it for 7 1/2 hours and didn't pick up a single shed, white or brown.

We made up for it the last half of the day. And kept making up for it the rest of the trip.

Poaching happens.
Hard work and a ton of scouting can help you have success even if you get screwed by illegal activity.

Still sucks though.

You cant do anything by worrying about it. If it happened, its already too late. You gotta hope you have enough stuff scouted that you can make up for a bad area.

Hopefully the good stuff you pick up, makes up for the opportunities that you lost. And hopefully the guys who are breaking the laws end up feeling the full force of prosecution.

Do closures work? I think so. I like that guys cant go running out there and pick up sheds as they fall off the deer.

There are some of us that can spend A LOT of time out there scouting. Having to wait means that a lot of guys get an even chance at sheds that I might have watched dropped.
I would have already picked them up if there was no shed closure.

Local guys can hit stuff on a daily basis, out of town guys cant.
Cheaters are always going to be cheaters. Most of them are going to get away with it.
For the sheds that don't get poached, a season, or a closure means you have an equal shot at them.

I just wish the Wyoming opener was not so late. Do it two weeks earlier when there is less ticks out there! I hate them dirty buggers as much as I hate the poachers.
 
Nontypical,
Its not worth it to try to explain it to you. What excuses did you use before the shed season? Maybe you should resort back to those excuses.

Shedygaga,
Great post, and congrats on your finds! Good luck next year. I doubt you'll need it because you "get it".
 
SHEDGAGA-Great post.

Magpie-You're right-it's not worth trying to explain it to me,so just quit.I just don't "get it".Now leave me alone!I'm trying to think up some more excuses for my failed life.
 
I hunted two different areas the first being the best that's because the local warden patrols it very well the second gets hammered illegally by oilmen and locals ive heard it first hand the first year they put these regs into place in a local gas station is so and so going out this morning for the opener no he has all the horn he needs for the year already. But I still enjoy Wyoming its one of my favorite trips of the year, lots of fun with good friends and easy walking compared to Utah. Next year I will be there for the opener though that seems to be the best in my opinion we did snag a really good single in the first area 20 yds off the main road and a few sets our buddies from Wyoming who were there for the first found 9 in the first few hours 1 single and a great set on that day. Another group of guys in camp had horses and had been there since the first made out really well finding a gigantic thick single and lots of horns they did get to spend a lot of time our camp got close to 80 on the weekend between 10 of us the average isn't that good in 4 days but still a great time camping and shed hunting.
 

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