How’s the closure going?

E

eVerbrowns

Active Member
Messages
136
Just curious what guys have seen during the shutdown. I saw a gal drop off her boyfriend/ husband in their minivan(in February with 2 1/2 feet of snow), and heard of a bunch of that going on. Heard of people basically getting picked up at night so no one sees their trucks. Watched lion hounds bump a heard of deer bedded down in 3 feet of snow. And I understand, the lion hunters have every right to be there.
I have not stepped foot out of my truck and while watching some bulls on a hillside a mile away I spotted a set of elk sheds, went and checked today, they’re gone. So pretty much how I thought the closure would be. To the guys waiting for the first of May, good luck to you but don’t expect to find much.
 
Sounds like Colorado's "season." A few years ago I knew where a whole batch of bulls was hanging out. At first light 4 of us walked a grid over several square miles. Not a single antler. Driving past some camps on the way out, they had them stacked up. Kinda fishy. I've never gone back.
 
Three guys and horses below plateau mine couple weeks ago, horse riding at 2pm in 6" of mud?!?
Hwy 6 spotting right on the road,
the closure stopped the honest guy
Has anyone heard of anybody being ticketed?
 
Themaddness said:
Three guys and horses below plateau mine couple weeks ago, horse riding at 2pm in 6" of mud?!?
Hwy 6 spotting right on the road,
the closure stopped the honest guy
Has anyone heard of anybody being ticketed?
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I heard a guy got caught up price canyon but I don’t know what the details are. All I know is somebody saw him packing antlers, called DWR and they waited at his truck
 
ktg said:
Sounds like Colorado's "season." A few years ago I knew where a whole batch of bulls was hanging out. At first light 4 of us walked a grid over several square miles. Not a single antler. Driving past some camps on the way out, they had them stacked up. Kinda fishy. I've never gone back.
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Yep just like CO’s, was at my cabin 3 weeks ago, and saw several vehicles parked at trailheads… wouldn’t be weird except for the elkohaulic stickers and the fact that there is still 1.5-3 feet of snow all over, but I’m sure they were just taking their dogs for a walk
 
I'm sure there are some guys (probably many) up to no good and I'm sure others are uninformed. This is just hurting the honest guys.

Reminds me of gun control: It's less about the gun and more about control!!!

I went out exactly as many times as I ever have = Zero ....so I guess it doesn't affect me.

Zeke
 
Shed hunting used to be fun. I guess if your that hard up you gotta sell horns do your thing. I’ve never sold a single antler, just looked for um while waiting for bear season to start
 
SS! said:
Cool story ? ? ?
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1681429069137.gif
 
Guys on snowmobiles are out where the snow is still too deep to even plow county roads in the areas hardest hit by winter here in Wyoming. Too bad if they push the critters past the point of no return, I guess. Gotta be first. Too many likes to be had.

Cool story!!
 
BLooDTRaCKeR said:
Glassed this one up the other day. $100K says this one ain’t around come May 1st.

View attachment 108355
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01453254-CFAB-4802-A352-0AAC0277608B.jpeg

I bet it will get picked up this week. Here’s the set that I scoped that disappeared. The sad thing is you and I technically broke the rule. We located an antler without stepping out of the truck, while the “hikers” were out on the winter range just “hiking”. I think it’s safe to say this closure is a failure. Until they start enforcing it with stiff fines, nobody is going to sit and wait until May 1st except the honest people
 
I was parked on a frontage road glassing it when a dnr officer drove by and waved. They never stopped until they got about 500 yards down the road. Then they parked and “observed.”

I wasn’t attempting to locate a shed….just happened to appear in my scope?

My guess is it was a dnr planter shed.

I don’t care if this shed is around in two weeks…was just nice to take a drive with the old man and see some critters that nature decided to spare.
 
BLooDTRaCKeR said:
I was parked on a frontage road glassing it when a dnr officer drove by and waved. They never stopped until they got about 500 yards down the road. Then they parked and “observed.”

I wasn’t attempting to locate a shed….just happened to appear in my scope?

My guess is it was a dnr planter shed.

I don’t care if this shed is around in two weeks…was just nice to take a drive with the old man and see some critters that nature decided to spare.
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Not saying you were attempting to locate. I hear ya. I found that set by accident also. I bet you’re right about the planter shed too
 
RRCowboyStar said:
as usual, laws only affect honest people.
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Yep, I don’t really go shed hunting anymore in Co, its a waste of time, i’ll go in late March on a buddies ranch if im invited, or I’ll pick them up Turkey hunting in May, but all my old haunts are empty and full of boot tracks come may 1
 
We used to find a bunch in Kansas turkey hunting, now those guys are actually picking them up too.
 
Katoom said:
Shed sale ban is needed or all this timing restriction BS is just pissin’ in the wind.
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Thats the dumbest sh** ever thought up.

What we need is enforcement of the laws.
Nevada and Colorado are always cleaned out before the opener as well unfortunately. Have no idea how a state could actually enforce the law, too much open country to wander.
 
TheOneRidgeRunner said:
Thats the dumbest sh** ever thought up.

What we need is enforcement of the laws.
Nevada and Colorado are always cleaned out before the opener as well unfortunately. Have no idea how a state could actually enforce the law, too much open country to wander.
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Don't forget about wy it's been cleaned out way more than any other state!
 
TheOneRidgeRunner said:
Thats the dumbest sh** ever thought up.

What we need is enforcement of the laws.
Nevada and Colorado are always cleaned out before the opener as well unfortunately. Have no idea how a state could actually enforce the law, too much open country to wander.
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Need more enforcement of the law that you have no idea of how it could be enforced?
 
Cooper said:
Non hunters say the same when hunters are mad about poachers
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little different. honestly some one please tell me what this law is saving? ive heard its about activity on the winter range? im out there all winter hunting coyotes and im out there a lot. does that activity need to be stopped? razor clubs are out there everywhere as soon as the snows half way melted. does that not stress the animals because there not looking for horns? is the simple activity of looking for a horn cause more stress?

the whole thing is a solution looking for a problem. and no, im not a shed hunter, i could care less. i go out maybe once or twice a year for an excuse to go for a hike. so i got no dog in the fight. i just call stupid when i see it
 
JPickett said:
little different. honestly some one please tell me what this law is saving? ive heard its about activity on the winter range? im out there all winter hunting coyotes and im out there a lot. does that activity need to be stopped? razor clubs are out there everywhere as soon as the snows half way melted. does that not stress the animals because there not looking for horns? is the simple activity of looking for a horn cause more stress?

the whole thing is a solution looking for a problem. and no, im not a shed hunter, i could care less. i go out maybe once or twice a year for an excuse to go for a hike. so i got no dog in the fight. i just call stupid when i see it
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Sadly, you can’t teach common sense and if people think they need to be out, there with wintering animals that have been hunted for months, then that’s up to them
 
JPickett said:
Again. Can you tell me what THIS law is doing to have any affect at all?
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If you can call it a law. It’s about as much of a law as the mask mandate was. And it’s doing nothing. They told us not to locate or attempt to locate/ gather shed antlers but on the DWR website is says hike responsibly. So according to them, hiking is fine but picking up an antler is not. I thought the whole purpose of the shed season was to keep people out of the winter range to prevent deer and elk from being stressed. I get the idea, but they can’t single out one group and tell everyone else go ahead and do what you want. How the hell is that ever going to work and how are they going to enforce it?
 
eVerbrowns said:
If you can call it a law. It’s about as much of a law as the mask mandate was. And it’s doing nothing. They told us not to locate or attempt to locate/ gather shed antlers but on the DWR website is says hike responsibly. So according to them, hiking is fine but picking up an antler is not. I thought the whole purpose of the shed season was to keep people out of the winter range to prevent deer and elk from being stressed. I get the idea, but they can’t single out one group and tell everyone else go ahead and do what you want. How the hell is that ever going to work and how are they going to enforce it?
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Exactly. So according to cooper here the photo that bloodtracker posted of a shed on a hill is an example of someone with no common sense stressing out animals on the winter range. But if he hadn’t rolled his window down and taken that picture while still parked in the exact same spot in that open to public road he’d be an upstanding wildlife preservationists.

The “common sense” portion of comments like that is an example of some of some of the sweetest irony I can think of….
 
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Katoom said:
Hikers are not doing intense grid patterns in SPECIFICALLy the wintering areas, over and over and over or following and glassing specific
animals until they drop horn. And why are they not? Because hiking generally is not a for-profit endeavor.
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So you’re talking about regulating a commodity then?

Slippery slope. The whole things a joke anyway. It’s public land, open year round. I say in protest someone should organize a huge group (like s thousand pissed off guys) to go do a grid pattern group hike and not pick up a single thing just to show the idiocy of the whole thing.

Again, I am not a shed hunter. Just a thinking human being. all be it just barely but really guys it doesn’t take a lot of brain power to see through this one. Imagine how little it must take to go along with the concept???
 
Stepping away from the soapboxes...

I know someone who lives in Cache Valley, watches the Millville face each year. He is like the post above. Has seen antlers from his place of work, but they're all gone now... He thought this year he might have gone out on May 1st, but he's rethinking that now...
 
The whole thing is absurd, we are our own worst enemies as far as we want healthy herds to hunt but also want to be “doing it” 24/7/365. The law is dumb, people stressing out already stressed out animals is dumb. Either shut down the wintering areas to all recreational activities period or just let it happen and if people are chasing animals ect record it and bust them. Otherwise all this is doing is punishing law abiders, plus the penalties are just a slap on the wrist most wouldn’t care if they got caught
 
Well I’m glad JP doesn’t make the rules, there would be more people kicking sick tired deer out of their beds and running them through waist deep snow in hopes of finding an antler, it’s a law and believe it or not people break the law, crazy concept but that’s how it is.
 
Katoom said:
Hikers are not doing intense grid patterns in SPECIFICALLy the wintering areas, over and over and over or following and glassing specific
animals until they drop horn. And why are they not? Because hiking generally is not a for-profit endeavor.
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How about getting in close to take pictures and video. Why has taking pictures of of bucks not been banned. If I am shed hunting I try to avoid deer. If I am taking picture I have to get in close for the best pictures.
 
Good point. You guys need to stop liking winter range pictures of bucks. You are encouraging damaging behavior and contributing to the demise of deer on the winter range
 
Cooper said:
Well I’m glad JP doesn’t make the rules, there would be more people kicking sick tired deer out of their beds and running them through waist deep snow in hopes of finding an antler, it’s a law and believe it or not people break the law, crazy concept but that’s how it is.
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Most shed hunting is done on Fedral Land, the DWR has no jurisdiction to outlaw activities on Fedral Land.
And I hope to Hell the DWR does not get the Feds to make activities illegal during different times of the year, for the betterment of the animals.
If that does happen hunting on Fed land will be in serious jeopardy.
 
notdonhunting said:
Most shed hunting is done on Fedral Land, the DWR has no jurisdiction to outlaw activities on Fedral Land.
And I hope to Hell the DWR does not get the Feds to make activities illegal during different times of the year, for the betterment of the animals.
If that does happen hunting on Fed land will be in serious jeopardy.
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so if someone poaches a deer on federal land they have to call in the feds to investigate it?
 
Cooper said:
so if someone poaches a deer on federal land they have to call in the feds to investigate it?
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Do I really need to answer that!
The DWR OWNS THE DEER.
The DWR has made it illegal to pick up shed antlers and attempting to locate shed antlers they have determinedthey own the shed antlers. They did not make it illegal to hike on Fed property. They did make it illegal to hike on some DWR wildlife managment units because the DWR owns the property, BIG DIFFERENCE.
If you think it is a good idea to allow the DWR to stop activities on Fedral property because they determined it would benefit deer. Then you better be ready for every anti hunting group to declare no access to the Federal lands because it will disturb and scare the spotted gray footed squirrel and will make them become extinct.
Hunting on public land is over.
 
Katoom said:
Hikers are not doing intense grid patterns in SPECIFICALLy the wintering areas, over and over and over or following and glassing specific
animals until they drop horn. And why are they not? Because hiking generally is not a for-profit endeavor.
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How many people do you really think make a profit from shed after gas food time everything that goes into it?
I'm going to say maybe 10% get over it dude!
 
hornkiller said:
How many people do you really think make a profit from shed after gas food time everything that goes into it?
I'm going to say maybe 10% get over it dude!
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Boo hoo. I don’t give a rat’s a** if anyone makes a profit. I would hope nobody makes a cent. I would want sales of wild sheds banned. Then go collect all you want for your own home decor. I’ll bet you don’t put in the same effort but you should be thanking me then for preventing your financial losses, or at least those of the other 90%.
 
Katoom said:
Boo hoo. I don’t give a rat’s a** if anyone makes a profit. I would hope nobody makes a cent. I would want sales of wild sheds banned. Then go collect all you want for your own home decor. I’ll bet you don’t put in the same effort but you should be thanking me then for preventing your financial losses, or at least those of the other 90%.
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?? someone got an early start
 
Katoom said:
Boo hoo. I don’t give a rat’s a** if anyone makes a profit. I would hope nobody makes a cent. I would want sales of wild sheds banned. Then go collect all you want for your own home decor. I’ll bet you don’t put in the same effort but you should be thanking me then for preventing your financial losses, or at least those of the other 90%.
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They can’t even enforce the shed closure. How are they going to enforce a ban on the sale wild shed antlers? And who is going to enforce it? I won’t speak for anyone else but I’ve never gone out shed hunting in hopes of making money either. I always end up in the red when it’s all said and done and I hike as hard as my knees allow me to.
 
Again, this is just fantastic! Guys calling for even more regulations, outlawing of selling something you find laying on the ground and closing of public land to everyone for months and months out of the year!!

Just great idea all around folks . I got one, shed check stations where a tax is enforced by the pound for each shed you find. You guys gotta love the idea of getting the IRS involved here wouldn’t you?
 
I think it’s important to take a minute and recognize that folks in this country have the freedom to give away their freedom. Just don’t take mine away with stupid opinions and ideas centered on restricting my rights to public land.

Really getting tired of sloppy seconds because I obey the laws and regulations in place.
 
Perfect example of why anti hunting groups win. Hunters are to busy fighting each other on silly crap..
 
Not saying I support banning shed collecting. Just that wildlife parts should not be commercialized. The knashing of teeth over my opinion proves what I already know, that the dollar value of the horns is what creates most of the problems, now hurting the actual live animals/herd health. Kind of like rhino horns, elephant tusks, wading bird plumes, owl mounts, eagle parts, bear paws and gall bladders, marine turtle and mammal parts, shark fins and tiger penises… when money changes hands on wildlife parts it creates bad incentives. And sales of those are mostly banned. Many many things are banned for sale, Lacey Act, CITES, objects, plants and artifacts from public land, etc. Thats not a new thing. I don’t care who picks up what for themselves on a hike, just don’t think the antler market is doing any good for society/ecology. As earlier posters have said, its mostly a money-loser anyway, so why all the defense of a commercial market???
 
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Katoom said:
Not saying I support banning shed collecting. Just that wildlife parts should not be commercialized. The knashing of teeth over my opinion proves what I already know, that the dollar value of the horns is what creates most of the problems, now hurting the actual live animals/herd health. Kind of like rhino horns, elephant tusks, wading bird plumes, owl mounts, eagle parts, bear paws and gall bladders, marine turtle and mammal parts, shark fins and tiger penises… when money changes hands on wildlife parts it creates bad incentives. And sales of those are mostly banned. Many many things are banned for sale, Lacey Act, CITES, objects, plants and artifacts from public land, etc. Thats not a new thing. I don’t care who picks up what for themselves on a hike, just don’t think the antler market is doing any good for society/ecology. As earlier posters have said, its mostly a money-loser anyway, so why all the defense of a commercial market???
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Tiger penis? Ok Carole
 
Hey Pickett- Did you know that 30,000 lbs of Antler are cut up each month and sold as dog chews within 2 hours from your house.
 
hawkbill said:
Hey Pickett- Did you know that 30,000 lbs of Antler are cut up each month and sold as dog chews within 2 hours from your house.
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Nope. I don’t t have dog. But glad others have an enjoyable treat for theirs

Still looking for the winter range photographer outrage here. You guys gotta get on that train
 
Wait until next week and see how many of these youtubers throw up vids within hours of the opener.

There’s going to be a lot of “amazing” pickups captured on video that could only happen with plenty of calculated pre-time in the hills stashing antlers and setting up the gps routes in the most efficient manner.

Thanks DWR (because I know you’re lurking) for keeping the wildlife safe from me and many other sportsman who obey the rules and respect the animals regardless of seasons and conditions.

I did my part. Stayed off the mountain to allow the herds to recover. Now do your part moving forward and trash the ban on shed hunting. It’s a pointless effort. Create stiffer penalties for wildlife harassment. Let the folks in the field police each other and be the extra eyes your outnumbered team needs.
 
Katoom said:
Not saying I support banning shed collecting. Just that wildlife parts should not be commercialized. The knashing of teeth over my opinion proves what I already know, that the dollar value of the horns is what creates most of the problems, now hurting the actual live animals/herd health. Kind of like rhino horns, elephant tusks, wading bird plumes, owl mounts, eagle parts, bear paws and gall bladders, marine turtle and mammal parts, shark fins and tiger penises… when money changes hands on wildlife parts it creates bad incentives. And sales of those are mostly banned. Many many things are banned for sale, Lacey Act, CITES, objects, plants and artifacts from public land, etc. Thats not a new thing. I don’t care who picks up what for themselves on a hike, just don’t think the antler market is doing any good for society/ecology. As earlier posters have said, its mostly a money-loser anyway, so why all the defense of a commercial market???
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I don’t care about the dollar value of “horns” (antlers). Never sold an antler. Never will. Too attached to what I’ve picked up. A lot of good memories associated with those trips. I don’t find a lot. But the time in the hills this time of year before it gets too hot is priceless to me. And I only get so much time per year to do it and only have so many years to enjoy it before I’m too old.

So be careful how you push your agenda. Don’t need the 1% deciding what the 99% can’t do on public lands.
 
All good bloodtracker, you aren’t the problem and sounds like never were. If I find a legal-to- pick-up shed, it’s coming home with me too. Would never participate in doing it for money though.
 
Bloodtracker hit the nail on the head. Wish we had some common sense thinking like that in the rule making departments of these states.
 
I'm with ya bloodtracker....come may 1st I don't have much time due to work. I've noticed it seems that those who call for shed closures don't shed hunt or do it very little. Every other state that has closures only close half their state. I don't understand why utah feels like they need close everything down. Most the states animals in southern utah did real well and the data supports it. I understand the argument that everyone will rush to southern utah.....but everyone up north comes down here anyways. Closures don't work....it just robs me of my time with my kids picking up antlers and hiking around. I bet alot of people will be on here crying that all they found were boot tracks after next week.
 
I have a few antlers glassed up from my back deck. And i know of one of them that is already gone. Too bad people can't just wait till the first. It's frustrating to follow the law and miss out on stuff you have been watching for months knowing that they might get picked up before i even get a chance at them
 
JPickett said:
Again. Can you tell me what THIS law is doing to have any affect at all?
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It has kept me off of the mountain. I think every little bit helps to potentially save an animal’s life. Deer and elk burn a ton of energy when they have to trek through several feet of snow so I get it.

I don’t like the May 1 mandate. If anything, it should go by region since there wasn’t nearly as much snow down south.
 
801local said:
It has kept me off of the mountain. I think every little bit helps to potentially save an animal’s life. Deer and elk burn a ton of energy when they have to trek through several feet of snow so I get it.

I don’t like the May 1 mandate. If anything, it should go by region since there wasn’t nearly as much snow down south.
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That’s still not the law keeping you “off the mountain “ it’s your choice. You could choose to go on the mountain and do anything else besides pick up a shed.hell you could harass deer to no end with a camera and be considered a conservationist

So I stand by the statements that this law does effectively nothing
 
Sounds like one of the wma’s was a bust for many. A lot of antlers glassed up before the opener. All were gone before the opener according to my sources. My son was ambitious enough to try the midnight thing. There were no antlers picked up by his group as of an hour ago. Said it was a zoo with people everywhere and they were all experiencing similar results.

Just confirms how many dishonest people are amongst us…best time to commit a crime is when all the honest have their heads turned.

Thanks again DWR, for showing all of us how effective you are at controlling the group who knows no laws. Glad the honest could be there to support this initiative to prevent harassment of wildlife.??‍♂️

Also, glad I was smart enough to stay at work and save my vacation for something more value-added.
 
BLooDTRaCKeR said:
Sounds like one of the wma’s was a bust for many. A lot of antlers glassed up before the opener. All were gone before the opener according to my sources. My son was ambitious enough to try the midnight thing. There were no antlers picked up by his group as of an hour ago. Said it was a zoo with people everywhere and they were all experiencing similar results.

Just confirms how many dishonest people are amongst us…best time to commit a crime is when all the honest have their heads turned.

Thanks again DWR, for showing all of us how effective you are at controlling the group who knows no laws. Glad the honest could be there to support this initiative to prevent harassment of wildlife.??‍♂️

Also, glad I was smart enough to stay at work and save my vacation for something more value-added.
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I’d EcHo those sentiments there was obviously some premature “Anne Frank” stashing on a few WMAs, those who “found” some usually had the mother lode haul. More GD dead heads coming to the pavement than a Jerry Garcia 5k fund raiser.
 

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