shed license
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: Sean D.
02-Feb-18
Just read on another site that CO is gonna make shed hunters get a license if on public ground. Thoughts?
From: sir misalots
02-Feb-18
if there is money to be made.......
From: trophyhill
02-Feb-18
Wow!
From: Coyote 65
02-Feb-18
Know a guy here in AZ that made several thousand picking up elk sheds and selling them. Would assume CO is the same, but with more antlers. State has to get their due.
Terry
From: Bou'bound
02-Feb-18
OTC or draw
From: trkyslr
02-Feb-18
Shed hunting HA!
From: elk yinzer
02-Feb-18
Shouldn't be able to sell any wild animal parts in any manner. Would fix a whole plethora of issues.
From: Salagi
02-Feb-18
"Shouldn't be able to sell any wild animal parts in any manner. Would fix a whole plethora of issues."
That include furs?
From: elk yinzer
02-Feb-18
Myopic on my end Salagi. I guess not. Thinking more along the lines of stemming issues that arise from supply/demand issues certain species or hunting experiences, especially mature specimens. Furbearers are a little different scenario almost like a commodity.
From: BOX CALL
03-Feb-18
Boy scouts collect sheds and sell them.most buyers are over seas.there's nothing like a good elk burr buckle.
From: rellikreed
03-Feb-18
I know a guy well that deals in sheds up in northern Maine. buys/sells and hunts for them and averages about 25k per year. lots get cut up as chew toys for dogs and many sold for art work. Moose antlers weigh up fast
From: Tonybear61
03-Feb-18
So no more selling them at Fleet Farm and other stores to train your dog, lets make a bunch of wasteful rubber/plastic ones instead?? I know quite a few artists than turn antlers into lamps, furniture, candle holders, picture frames, jewelry, bow art and implements.
From: PECO
03-Feb-18
It has to do with commercial shed hunting, and people pressuring elk during calving season, when they are already stressed after winter. Long discussion on this on the Colorado site. There will be a season, or a closed season on picking up sheds.
From: Woods Walker
03-Feb-18
Will they practice QSM?
From: Kodiak
03-Feb-18
My reaction too Pat.
I was initially going to say it's idiotic, but after reading a few of these posts it makes more sense to me.
From: Missouribreaks
03-Feb-18
Commercial shed hunting needs regulation. In areas such as parts of Montana and Wyoming shed hunters come in force with lots of trespassing. Fish and Game plants transmitters inside sheds so they can follow them through the system and make arrests for trespassing, illegal collection, and non reported income. Was good article in Billings Gazette about this in 2016, I believe.
From: Inshart
03-Feb-18
Pat & Kodiak, same thoughts.
From: YZF-88
03-Feb-18
It was a very relaxing endeavor back in the mid-west (WI). Used it as a scouting excuse for whitetails as well.
Don't even have the desire to shed hunt anymore now that I live out west. Trucks lined up everywhere, spotters sitting on bulls and bucks until the minute they drop etc. It's just stupid.
From: TrapperKayak
03-Feb-18
Elk yinzer, no harm in collecting and selling sheds. Nothing dies, they are a renewable resource. Ive sold $1ks worth, I benefitted and nothing was harmed. It can be proven they were not from poached animals and cut off and the burr is left intact.
From: TrapperKayak
03-Feb-18
That was in the 80s and 90s though. I imagine its different now. Glad I got to do it 'then' out west. Now it sounds downright lousy, competing like that. Nahhh. Keep it.
From: LBshooter
03-Feb-18
Public land and the public has to pay to find antlers that have been discarded. Another way for the government to take more money out of the hands of tax payers, whose dollars already support the public land. Got it lol
From: JTreeman
03-Feb-18
I think that eastern hunters are naive (as I was) as to the level of shed hunting that happens throughout the west. There is extreme pressure exerted by many shed hunters put on winter weakened animals on the wintering grounds. Especially in some of the easier to access/view areas. And there is significant income potential in those shed antlers. Unfortunately those combinations are leading to additional regulations being necessary. I’m certainly no fan of increased government regulation and fees, but I honestly think that it would be hard to argue these new kinds of rules if we were all more aware of the effects that shed hunting can have on the these animals.
—Jim
From: Surfbow
05-Feb-18
The permit did not pass, but shed hunting seasonal closures west of I-25 did. If commercial shed hunters had exhibited any sort of common sense or self control, i.e. not harassing the elk and deer and following atv regulations, it wouldn't have been on the table. Just another case of a few idiots ruining things for the rest of us...
From: Destroyer350
05-Feb-18
It has nothing to do with Commercial shed hunters. Their business is not going to skip a beat. They just created a gigantic problem by allowing shed hunting to happen only on private land until May. There is now going to be people paying access to Ranchers. Also, during the meeting they made it very clear that everyone's time is coming - mountain bikers, hikers, paddle boarders etc.
From: Missouribreaks
05-Feb-18
They already trespass and some pay access to ranchers, that is nothing new here in Montana.
From: yooper89
05-Feb-18
Unless they're pressuring wintering animals on private property, who cares if ranches charge for access?
From: cnelk
05-Feb-18
Close shed hunting on private land should be included. If it’s truely about pressuring wintering animals...
From: 1boonr
06-Feb-18
Shed hunters are my biggest trespassing problem on my farms in Illinois, Kansas and Colorado. I hated when atv’s started appearing everywhere, now we got electric bikes to contend with and drones are next.
From: Surfbow
06-Feb-18
"It has nothing to do with Commercial shed hunters."
Actually it does, I know a guy on the CPW commission and the commercial, large-volume shed hunters harassing wildlife on winter range was the origination of the closures. The shed hunting license was just a natural progression of their discussion.
From: DeerSpotter
06-Feb-18
You'd only expect that out of politicians, that serve two terms, and get full pay And medical benefits for the rest of their life ! No concept of the common person financially. Everything seems to belong to the government if they put their eyes on it.
DS
From: Destroyer350
06-Feb-18
"Actually it does, I know a guy on the CPW commission and the commercial, large-volume shed hunters harassing wildlife on winter range was the origination of the closures. The shed hunting license was just a natural progression of their discussion."
Right, but they are still going to be able to buy and sell sheds. And the commercial, large volume shed hunters are only a small percentage of people out there. It just doesn't make sense to me that while out mt. lion, coyote or turkey hunting I can't pick up a hard white or chalk shed. I totally understand it in a place that gets 200+ inches of snow but that's not the case everywhere. It's 50, 60 and some days close to 70 degrees here! Like I said in my post above they are coming for everything on Public Lands not just shed hunting. I wouldn't be surprised if they outlawed fishing during the spawn because it "stresses" the fish out. They just want more and more control so they can make money off ticketing people.
From: stealthycat
06-Feb-18
issuing a $100 license won't stop them from harassing cows or herds etc
it'll just make some money for the G&F
From: elvspec
06-Feb-18
if someone has to pay for a license to hunt and trap which is extracting natural resources from public land. Pay for access in order to drill for oil, pay grazing fee's, etc. . Why is it not reasonable for folks to pay for a license to shed hunt? They are extracting a natural resource and in many cases profiting from it. I bet many of those folks don't even hunt, hence, have never even contributed to the pot that helps to sustain the resource they are taking advantage of. As I understand things, the calcium that sheds contribute to the living environment is vital. So in my mind I actually wonder if the excessive nature that the whole shed hunting thing has taken on is hurting the wildlife. Just a thought.
From: TD
07-Feb-18
Long as it's about stress on wintering animals.... How about licensed shed hunters get unlimited wolf permits as well?
From: bud
07-Feb-18
Some high demand shed hunt areas would need to be draw permits of course. If you don't draw you can get a preference point for a small fee.......should solve the problems.
From: Surfbow
07-Feb-18
"I wouldn't be surprised if they outlawed fishing during the spawn because it "stresses" the fish out."
I think closing fishing in March on a number of the more popular rivers in Colorado is a great idea. There are a whole bunch of idiots out there who can only catch a big fish if it's sitting on a redd in shallow water and they can foul hook it. Those fish get absolutely hammered, they need a chance to spawn so the resource can grow.
From: Missouribreaks
07-Feb-18
Saw a classified ad today in Montana's Lewistown Argus looking to buy shed elk and deer antlers. Quite a business in the west.
From: Ucsdryder
07-Feb-18
It seems so easy. Put a fee on commercial shed hunting with BIG fines for those that circumvent the system. The random guy going for a hike and picking up a shed shouldn’t have to pay the same as someone making thousands of dollars off our resources.
From: Bullhound
07-Feb-18
There are too many clowns out here that will harass wintering animals continuously in an effort to get the sheds, even chasing with snowmobiles. I'd love to see our Fish & Game Dept. restrict the removal of any shed from December thru April.
Have seen too many cases of guys not giving a rip about trashing a herd that is already struggling.
From: smarba
07-Feb-18
I like your way of thinking TD!!!!
From: midwest
07-Feb-18
Who's buying the sheds and why? Is this another Asian aphrodisiac thing?
From: SJJ
07-Feb-18
Being able to sell the sheds is bad for the animals and us
From: cnelk
08-Feb-18
Brown antlers are going for $14/lb
A 20lb rack = $280
From: Destroyer350
09-Feb-18
They will usually only give you more if you have a set over 360/370 - depending on the buyer. This is a set I found a few weeks ago. It would probably be graded as hard white. The main beam is right at 50 inches and the set together weighs 22lbs.
From: Destroyer350
09-Feb-18
Here in Colorado on the front range. This set is only 6lbs total and its brown. I have found some that arent as dense. Not sure why.
