A couple of huge elk sheds - Pics

RG · May 27, 2003

I just did a little trading with a antler crafter that makes chandeliers, lamps, furniture and other stuff. I gave him a bunch of good craft antlers for these two huge sheds. He said he thinks the eight point came from Montana about eighteen years ago, he's not sure about the seven point. Both were laying in a pile out in a shed for years. These pictures don't do justice to the size of these sheds.

This one scores 195, add a 45" spread and he would score 435!

This one scores 185, add a 45" spread and he would score 415!

This is how I currently have them displayed.

shedaholic · May 27, 2003

Those things are way past huge, they are completely and totally awesome. I think you made a heck of a trade! How long are all the points and main beams? Thanks for the pics, I will dream of finding monster sheds tonight.

browtine · May 27, 2003

Unreal!. wow, those are pretty amazing RG. I would seriously like to hear what the measurements are also. Thats a good trade. Looks like a pretty good muley shed next to them also. Thanks for showing us the pictures.

DeerKing · May 28, 2003

Yeah I think they qualify as huge! Looks like you made out real well.

berto · May 28, 2003

VERY nice.

I have only seen one other 8-pt elk shed in my whole life before seeing your photos. The last 4 points on it looked like a saw blade.

Excellent trades, RG.

Where are you from? You can email me if you'd rather not post that info here.

berto

RG · May 28, 2003

OK, here's the measurements:

8 Point

Mainbeam - 57
H1 - 9 4/8
H2 - 7
H3 - 7
H4 - 6 6/8
G1 - 17 6/8
G2 - 19
G3 - 24
G4 - 19 6/8
G5 - 13
G6 - 8
G7 - 7 2/8
Weighs 16 pounds

7 Point

Mainbeam - 56
H1 - 7 5/8
H2 - 6 4/8
H3 - 7 3/8
H4 - 6 4/8
G1 - 18 3/8
G2 - 25 2/8
G3 - 18 7/8
G4 - 21 6/8
G5 - 10 4/8
G6 - 6
Weighs 14 1/2 pounds

Berto, I'm from Kalispell. It's the first eight point typical I've ever seen.

The biggest elk shed I've ever found, scores 154, now looks like a dink next to those.

NvrEnuf · May 28, 2003

Unbelievable! That is the biggest elk shed I have ever seen by far. Thanks for sharing the photos RG.

NvrEnuf

Buckhorn · May 28, 2003

Incredible sheds. I know where you took the pics. I was there too.Nice post??.
Cheers

RG · May 28, 2003

Buckhorn, actually the pics were taken in my front yard, I don't remember you being there

Buckhorn · May 28, 2003

My mistake, Looks like the parking lot in Jackson,WY- Where there were quite a few nice sheds a couple of weeks ago.

Gator · May 28, 2003

Really nice sheds RG looks like you had a little weather coming in behind ya. That 8 point is just huge,Be nice to find a pair like that one.

bigmoosie · May 28, 2003

THose are very nice really great thirds on both, whats the muley shed score it looks very nice also. Is that a shiras moose its laying on?

cohntr6 · May 28, 2003

Dang sweet trade. I'd hold on to those! A few others noticed the brown muley antler next to them, it's pretty big too!

RG · May 28, 2003

That muley shed is big, bigger than it looks in the photo, it scores 88 3/8. I have a bunch of nice whitetail sheds but very few good muleys, that one is my best. The moose shed is a shiras, it scores in the high fifties, I cant remember for sure, but it's pretty nice for a shiras.

mooseman · Jun 2, 2003

nice sheds for sure i dream of finding sheds like those, by the way nice front yard, nicer than mine. kalispel is beautiful country, i went to school in missoula for 3 years before returning back home to utah, still miss it up there but most of my family is down here.

RG · Jun 7, 2003

mooseman, That yard takes 2 1/2 hours to mow with a riding lawn mower in high gear, it's nice for getting long shots with my bow though. We just adopted a wild mustang from Utah, she came from around Bonanza, should make a good elk packer when she grows up. Utah is beautiful, I would have no problem living there.

Here's a pic of the antlers I traded for the big ones. Most are good size sheds, 300 - 340 B&C, that I found over the last couple of years, plus a few small ones.

berto · Jun 9, 2003

good pile!

that country sure is thick up Kalispell way...i can't imagine finding sheds in all that thick underbrush, but you've figured out how from the looks of that pile of bone. way to go!

berto

mooseman · Jun 10, 2003

RG, yea i don't mind living here but i grew up in northern utah, It sure is beautiful up your way. It sounds like you have way to much yard if it takes 2.5 hours to mow with a riding lawn mower. sounds like you need to let that horse have some of it pasture on. by the way that is a sweet pile of bones. I would love to be able to find some like that. over the last quite a few years i can count on both hands the elk sheds i've found. my best to date found this year a dead 6 point roughly 280, i also found a 6 shed that if doubled and add the spread would have been 330 ish. I find quite a few deer and some moose palms but don't get into areas were the elk are. I was hoping this year but the yard work hit and i haven't been out for almost 2 months now i guess. well thanks for the post.

mooseman.

p.s. i am hoping to post some pics i now i keep saying that, it is a bit of a pain, seeings i have to use my mom's scanner at her house to get the pics into imagestation. i don't have the capability at my house.

JakeH · Jul 3, 2003

RG, what do you think the posabilitys are that those antlers came from the same bull, just diffrent years, they kind of look the same. Those things are monsters, I've always dreamed of finding some huge elk sheds but no luck yet. My brother found a set this year and with a 37 inch spread he would score 343 gross and net 337, with only 6 3/4" of deduction. The bad part is I was going to walk where he did but when we got out of the truck he headed that way so I took the other side of the road and didn't find skwat. That'll piss ya off.

P.S. I drive past where your horse was cought every time I go shed hunting.

Seeya, Jake H

RG · Jul 7, 2003

Hey Berto, I didn't find all of them up here around Kalispell, some are from Central and Southwest Montana. The biggest antlers i've found are from around Kalispell though.

JakeH, they are very similar and could be from the same bull. Most likely they are at least closely related. That sounds like a nice set your brother found. I know what it's like to be on the wrong side of the road, although recently I've been the one with all the luck. This year my buddy said all I would have to do is close my eyes and walk around in the woods until I tripped then open my eyes and pick up the big elk antler.

Do you ever see any mustangs when you are shed hunting or are they in different areas? Do they compete with the mule deer and elk for food?

JakeH · Jul 12, 2003

RG, There has been one place where we have seen some horse's but it dosent look like they are afecting the elk that winter there, we found 10 branch antlerd horns in this one area, and there was horse crap and elk tracks everywhere. But I think where your horse come from they have rounded them all up and shiped them away, or killed them. I know they had been haveing troble with deseises(sp).

Where do you find most of your elk horns, in the tree's or in the grassy flats.

Seeya, Jake H

Muley_Magician · Jul 13, 2003

My friend you have some really nice ( HUGE ) looking antlers. Very Very nice finds.

later, MM

RG · Jul 16, 2003

Jake H, Thanks for the info on the Mustangs, we just got another one from Wyoming, they are really cool horses.

It's about 50/50 where I find the sheds, if there is an early green up on the open south and west facing slopes I'll find more in those open grassy areas, if April is still cold and snowy I'll find more in the woods. I almost always find the biggest sheds in the north facing timber, no matter what kind of year. I don't think I've ever found an elk antler in the flats, it's either steep or a small bench on a steep ridge where I find them. I have never found an elk antler closer than two miles from an open road. My buddy has found them right on the road, it's just disgusting!

JakeH · Jul 18, 2003

Rg, obviously you and I shed hunt in totally different areas everywhere I hunt is sage and ceaders. There really isn't alot of timber a little bit up high but its mostly thick oak brush, but it is very steep.

Seeya, Jake H

Sperca · Aug 25, 2003

RG:

I am moving to Whitefish, MT, just north of Kalispell a few miles. Can you fill me in on the Elk hunting in NW Montana and the Mule Deer hunting too? I have seen lots of Whitetail in the area, and I know there are Elk. But what about Mule Deer? Where are they found, how are they hunted?

Thanks and incredible sheds!

***Sperca

RG · Aug 30, 2003

Sperca, Whitefish is a really nice town. Elk hunting in Northwest Montana is hit and miss, there's a lot more elk down south. But if you find a herd during the rut up here the herd bull will most likely be big. The whitetail hunting is very good, the Muley hunting is also good but rough, they are right on top. There are very few roads that go high so you have to do a lot of hiking, to get into good muley hunting by daylight you generally figure about two hours of steep hiking in the dark, or you need to set up a spike camp. The Whitefish range, Striker Ridge, the North Fork, and South Fork of the Flathead drainages all can produce large bucks. I like to hunt the high west and south facing slopes during the rut. I think there are lots of bucks that die of old age around here because very few people have the gumption to go after them.

Sperca · Aug 30, 2003

RG:

That is great feedback. Thank you. But as I am still a "green horn" to Montana, and Whitefish specifically, I am looking to build our home next to the "high country", ideally where I can ride my horses right from our house.

I have gumption enough to get on top, and I rather prefer living next to a place that makes access difficult. But finding that place on which to build is the first challenge.

You mentioned a few ranges as candidates: the Whitefish Range, Striker Ridge, as well as the North and South Fork of the Flathead drainages. But which of these is closest to Whitefish? And which offers the best bucks?

Also...

What does "right on top" mean specifically? I don't mean to be dense, but I talked to a DWR officer in Whitefish who said the same thing (he used the same words too), as if he were referring to something more specific than just the highest elevations, almost like a specific mountain or something.

Lastly...

What can one expect to find in terms of size, "on top", where these Mule Deer die of old age?

Thanks for sharing your opinion and local expertise.

***Sperca

RG · Sep 2, 2003

Sperca,

You will need a trail to ride your horses, because the brush and timber is so dense down low. Once you get up higher on some south and west slopes it will open up nicely. The deer seem to be on every high ridge. The really large bucks generally bed on the north slopes and come out to the does at night. The bucks around here don't generally get as big of antlers as states like Colorado or Utah, but every year a couple huge bucks are shot. Last year a buck was shot in the south fork that is rumored to gross score around 225 B&C and might net as the new state record typical.

When I do major hikes for mule deer I rarely see any other hunters.

The Whitefish range is the closest to Whitefish, actually right above it. The south fork is basically all public land, the north fork does have some private land down low but if you work in Whitefish it would be a long drive to work. Your best bet for land would be just north of Whitefish lake, or right up against the mountains between Whitefish and Columbia Falls. Either way you would be right below the Whitefish range. There is also some very nice private land right below Striker Ridge near Olney.

I hope this helps.