Elk sheds
Contributors to this thread:Elk
From: Ziek
21-Mar-19
It's finally started! Haven't seen a bull without antlers yet (plenty with), but found this shed today, on my first time out. Covered the area pretty well, but couldn't find the mate.
From: yooper89
21-Mar-19
Now if only you could lay hands on it......
From: SlipShot
21-Mar-19
Private land?
From: Ziek
21-Mar-19
Private land - mine. Just relocated it to my deck. ;-) Also found a couple small ones I missed last year.
From: SlipShot
21-Mar-19
Cool!!!!
From: Destroyer350
21-Mar-19
I cant wait til May 1st! Any blood on the base or do you think it dropped a little while ago?
From: Jaquomo
21-Mar-19
When I was a Park Ranger up your way at Golden Gate Canyon, some of the bigger bulls were still carrying at the end of April.
From: HUNT MAN
21-Mar-19
Global warming . I bet that’s why he dropped already!
From: Ziek
21-Mar-19
Lou, I find just the opposite. Every year I start finding fresh drops right around March 20th. Always the bigger ones first. By the middle of April it's about 50/50. Most have new growth by the end of April.
From: Jaquomo
21-Mar-19
What you are seeing makes sense from a biological standpoint. It was curious to me why some bulls held onto them so late up there, not all, but some. My last season at the park I watched a bachelor group of mature bulls all spring and the last two dropped theirs right around the last week of April.
From: Ziek
21-Mar-19
The March/April Bugle magazine had an article about when/why bulls shed from a ten year study in Yellowstone. We don't have wolves here, so there is no natural selection for late shedding. The sooner they shed, the more time they have to grow new, bigger ones.
From: SBH
21-Mar-19
There’s a few on the ground in MT too but snow is making them inaccessible. Hopefully guys will let it come out a bit more before we go out in full force.
From: bowbender77
21-Mar-19
The biggest Arizona elk shed I ever saw was found in a co workers yard that hit the ground on Feb. 22nd.
From: Brun
21-Mar-19
Great to see a shed. Even greater to see a patch of ground without snow on it. Been a while.
From: jdee
22-Mar-19
I saw a BIG bull still packing his antlers a few days ago NM . Plenty of snow still in some places high .
From: Ziek
22-Mar-19
I have a stand alone "overlook" deck near the house. I was just out there and saw 6 - 8 bulls bedded just below it in the trees, like 20 - 50 yards from it. The ones I could see clearly still had antlers. No photos though. Don't want to risk spooking them. The closer they stay and the longer they stay, the better chance for finding their sheds. ;-)
From: Mt. man
22-Mar-19
several times over the years while Turkey hunting I have seen bulls packing here in Idaho. Turkey opens April 15th. Same thing as others said above in the sheds I've found here in ID. Bigger bulls first then rags and spikes in late April.
From: Twinetickler
22-Mar-19
2 days ago checking on a group of bulls all still packing both sides all mature bulls. Probably dropped as I was hiking out haha.....maybe check again tomorrow. Nice find!
From: Zeke121
23-Mar-19
Is it not legal to pick up sheds on public grounds? I'm from Pa so don't know the rules out west as far as sheds go.
From: Ziek
23-Mar-19
Colorado now has a closed season for picking up sheds on public ground. Too many a-holes harassing elk to get their antlers at a time of year when they can't afford to be stressed. We already had laws against harassing wildlife, but apparently they couldn't be bothered to enforce them, so they made another law.
These guys were in my lower meadow this afternoon. A couple of decent bulls - one already dropped and one broken up. There were another 6 or more just down the mountain a bit that I couldn't get a good look at through the trees. I backed out to not spook them. The closer they stay, the easier my hunting will be. ;-)
From: Bigdan
24-Mar-19
Mid April is when they start dropping them around here in Mt
From: Surfbow
24-Mar-19
In the past week we've had two people trespassing in our neighborhood, looked like they were doing a grid search through the brush, I don't think they could have been looking for anything other than antlers...