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heyoldguy

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So the snow is 24" deep? Then man up and push on through. Here are 37 sheds. With 4 more yesterday it's now 41
2020 antlers 001.JPG
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Getting the snowmobiles and dogs ready to go as we speak, those deer won’t stand a chance against a snowmobile! Who cares if I stress out a ton of deer and maybe kill a few, I’ll be a Big Man by having a stack of sheds ;)
 
You have valid concerns. However the deer have a routine. You follow their routine. It is possible to move through the back country on foot, glass sheds, and not run the deer. Don't own a 4-wheeler, snowmobile, horse, or dog.
 
heyoldguy said:
You have valid concerns. However the deer have a routine. You follow their routine. It is possible to move through the back country on foot, glass sheds, and not run the deer. Don't own a 4-wheeler, snowmobile, horse, or dog.
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But your son has a dog from what I seen in your last post about him out shed hunting lol
 
hornkiller said:
I spend alot of time glassing winter ranges. when 2'+ of snow is on the ground they dont have much of a routine bud! They are struggling to survive and not moving a mile+ to feed or bed.
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I get your point.

So I guess maybe here the wind doesn't blow ridges and areas clear. The sun doesn't shine. The south facing mountain slopes don't heat reducing the snow load. And the snow always falls exactly 2' deep everywhere and never drifts around. So....anytime we have to push through an area 2' deep of snow to get to where we are going, the deer in that area dying because of our passage. Riiiight.

I pretty sure the deer could move through this neck of the woods on foot easier than we do, and the actual distance covered is 3-6 miles a day.
 
This is the kind of mentality that ruins things for sportsman, the screw the conditions I'm going to get me some sheds attitude is what brings in more regulations. Because a few people can't police themselves for "41" pieces of bone so they can brag on the internet about how they are "getting it done". I do like seeing the finished product of your work but for hell sakes give the animals a break.
 
Anyone else think this is just a little fishy.
I have been hunting sheds for 40+ years. The OP claims just don't add up.
Where I live the mule deer have just started to shed. 90 % are still packing and the small bucks always hold on to their antlers the longest. Maybe the OP is from somewhere that the deer shed earlier but even if the old bucks started shedding before Christmas most of the smaller bucks would still be packing. Yet the OP puts up a picture of 37 brown antlers and most of them are small.
41 antlers in 2 feet of snow! Even 4 inches of snow can make finding antlers more difficult. Finding small antlers in 2 feet of snow is very difficult. Antlers fall and disappear in the snow or get buried with the first wind. In two feet of snow you would be lucky to find two antlers a day. Even back in the early 80's when there was more deer and zero competition I never found even close to 41 brown antlers in Jan. and many of those years there wasn't even close to two feet of snow.
Seams like every year some posts up how they are cleaning up the sheds in Jan. with little regard for wildlife. I smell a troll that is posting to get people riled up and supportive of shed seasons so that they can go out in March and clean up without all the competition. Maybe I am wrong and the OP is a shed hunting superman with the eye sight of an eagle and the stamina of an antelope.
 
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The animals are still holding around here and no way we're gonna push them for some sheds. They'll stay on the private and we'll find 'em later.
 
-oldguy is quite the guy.. One of your first posts is about guys bumping elk that you kid was watching and now you post this type of BS. I see it, your just posting for advertisements for some fake skulls. Give the animals a break as you've preached..
 
antlerradar said:
Anyone else think this is just a little fishy.
I have been hunting sheds for 40+ years. The OP claims just don't add up.
Where I live the mule deer have just started to shed. 90 % are still packing and the small bucks always hold on to their antlers the longest. Maybe the OP is from somewhere that the deer shed earlier but even if the old bucks started shedding before Christmas most of the smaller bucks would still be packing. Yet the OP puts up a picture of 37 brown antlers and most of them are small.
41 antlers in 2 feet of snow! Even 4 inches of snow can make finding antlers more difficult. Finding small antlers in 2 feet of snow is very difficult. Antlers fall and disappear in the snow or get buried with the first wind. In two feet of snow you would be lucky to find two antlers a day. Even back in the early 80's when there was more deer and zero competition I never found even close to 41 brown antlers in Jan. and many of those years there wasn't even close to two feet of snow.
Seams like every year some posts up how they are cleaning up the sheds in Jan. with little regard for wildlife. I smell a troll that is posting to get people riled up and supportive of shed seasons so that they can go out in March and clean up without all the competition. Maybe I am wrong and the OP is a shed hunting superman with the eye sight of an eagle and the stamina of an antelope.
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Thank you for your post. It is perhaps the most lucid (some of you may have to check your dictionary) of them all and tinged with a modicum of curiosity. And I'm glad to hear you have hunted antlers in January, even if it may be slow pickings.

In response to your post......the 1st antler was retrieved Dec 13th. Some days zero antlers and on good days 3 or 4. The last 4 sheds on Jan 23rd required pounding through a couple of drifts that were 24" deep.......and of course the entire area is not covered in 2' of snow. Some places are windblown and bare, south facings slopes have the sun clear them and other areas may have a foot or more. Three days ago we got 7" of snow on the valley floor and that will probably change things completely.

There are five or six main areas that are searched for antlers, some as much as 15-20 miles apart. Only one of the 41 antlers (of which there are only three sets) was found tines down because of, as you say, they bury themselves in the powder only a few inches deep, and they cover more completely falling tines down. One antler of a set was found simply because the wind had reduced the snow level in the same spot the matching shed was found four days before.

Antler shed size........One large buck haunting a high area was seen to have shed shortly before Christmas. When he left that spot, the sheds couldn't be found in the snow. Did he move off before shedding? Don't know. Two of the largest bucks seen were still packing Jan 23rd.

We have a theory as to the large quantity of smaller antlers while some of the larger bucks are still wearing. We have observed that while the big bucks seem content to posture to exert dominance at this time, the younger bucks seen are continually sparring with each other. Are they knocking their antlers off during these exercises?

My son loves is Vortec binoculars. "Hey dad there are some tines (or a burr) sticking out of the snow over there!"

"Son that has gotta be 200 yds (or maybe more) away, are you sure?" He is sure.

Yes, my son is a shed hunting superman with the eyesight of and eagle and the endurance of an antelope. He plows the snow drifts, I follow and I spend a lot of time sitting while he retrieves a shed and returns.
 
So.......on to many others posting. What has been your experience in December and January? No experience for those months? Chaos and discord? Death and destruction?

Because I believe that what you expect out of others is what is on the inside of you.

Do you all believe that it is impossible to move through the woods without leaving chaos and destruction in your wake? With what aura do you move through the mountains? I've seen two displayed in particular this Dec/Jan.

While moving through an area and coming upon a herd of deer.....we sat down. All was peaceful. It was obvious they knew we were there because a few of them had riveted their attention on us as we sat down. After awhile all went back to their previous activities. Some were standing, some were bedded and some were feeding by pawing in the snow on the north sides of the slopes to get at the late green grass that had grown there. Other dryer feed was there in open spaces but the snow covered green must have been more desirable.

While sitting there and glassing for antlers in snowy areas the deer had been feeding and bedding in days before, and figuring access to those areas without disturbing the deer........pandemonium.....the herd we had spotted was up and moving around in excitement. Throwing the binoculars in the direction the deer were staring were 5 wolves moving through the country. The deer were now hustling across the mountain side, over the ridge and into another canyon.

What the heck is my point?

Well, if you expect and receive deer fleeing in pandemonium and panic at your presence......recognize the wolf inside yourself.

We expect and receive cautious acceptance and peace with the animals during our antler hunts.

And, bless you, are also thankful you human wolves intend to stay away and save the animals from your disruptive attendance.
 
I do love the fact that fish and game police our shed hunting because we are afraid of pushing deer around but we are reducing preadator hunts and even reintroducing wolves. Imagine ten guys out shed hunting in february and 10 wolves chasing a deer heard. Oxymoron if you ask me. Im fine if 100s of guys are out looking for sheds....make a season, do a draw, i dunno. But a guy can go on a hike around deer and not terrorize them for sure. Me and my son did this am. And Feb 1 all the bucks still got their horns.
 
Everybody knows that a guy walking in circles kills hundreds of deer per mile but planes and helos and net guns chasing them for miles gives them valuable cardio workouts and strengthens them for the upcoming migration. Best use of hunters dollars ever conceived.

It is amazing what one can observe sitting on a knob with glass. Which is a primary reason they don't want you there.
 
A bunch of deer just cruised thru. The bucks are all still packing but it looked like the does have shed. :)
 
Same here (but well south of 35). Only ones that don't have horns here are busted off. Only brown sheds I have found in Dec/Jan were from the previous spring.
 
People are attacking the sportsman's way of life everyday, slowly trying to erode your personal freedoms, please do not fall into the trap of clamoring for more rules and regulations, how long will it take before your public lands are just a nature preserve? . This is a way bigger issue than just being angry that someone is finding brown right now.
 
I do potentially agree with antlerradar in that pulling 41 browns right now seems a bit strange, there is maybe one place in the west I could think of where that may be possible right now.
 
As the human population expands and people get more and more greedy and irresponsible I believe as hunters we need laws to protect our wildlife.
 
Or maybe just some common sense. If you want activism then shame the first person who posts browns in the spring.
 
I am just making the point that if you really wanted to protect big game herds and increase populations cutting tags down would seem to be the logical answer, plus there would be more sheds for me to find in the spring.

As you can see anyone can push their agenda for selfish reasons, I just wonder what your guy's reasons are for supporting more restrictions? BTW i am not advocating cutting tags, just trying to be the devils advocate here.
 
My selfish reasons are to use common sense to help protect a herd that is in trouble throughout much of the west. I'm not asking for restrictions just saying that we should leave the damn things alone this time of year. And I DO support cutting tags because I would like to see healthy deer populations on public ground again someday before I die.
 
dragonshed said:
I am just making the point that if you really wanted to protect big game herds and increase populations cutting tags down would seem to be the logical answer, plus there would be more sheds for me to find in the spring.

As you can see anyone can push their agenda for selfish reasons, I just wonder what your guy's reasons are for supporting more restrictions? BTW i am not advocating cutting tags, just trying to be the devils advocate here.
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I’m not saying we shouldn’t cut tags, I’m saying we should take care of our big game herds. I’m saying it’s idiotic to push big game animals this time of year and if it requires regulation because shed hunters can’t control themselves then so be it. You can kill a hell of a lot more deer by pushing them around on the winter range than I can with my one tag a year that I most likely won’t punch because I’m looking for an older deer in the great state of utard.
 
h
Bluehair said:
My selfish reasons are to use common sense to help protect a herd that is in trouble throughout much of the west. I'm not asking for restrictions just saying that we should leave the damn things alone this time of year. And I DO support cutting tags because I would like to see healthy deer populations on public ground again someday before I die.
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heyoldguy doesn't feel the same way. mtmuley
 
My question. When is a safe time too go out and look for sheds?
When is it ok for desert country winter range ie; Pausagaunt?
When is it ok for higher elevation mountain's winter range ie; Uinta Basin?
Tell me what you internet experts think is proper.

I am not a big shed hunter, on a normal year i will get out for a hike a couple times. I say a hike because that is about all I get out of my looking for sheds but it is nice to shake off the winter blues.
My son is wanting to run down to the Pausagaunt and look for sheds ( first year he is not wrapped up with high school baseball for the month of March and April) and I do know if you are not down there early you will be too late.
 
Yes, I suppose I do have a different perspective on these deer than some of you. We don't seem to be lacking for the little beasties.

I used to have horses left over from a previous marriage. The deer destroyed the hay bales.

In the spring I used to have a garden of tulips. Deer love those.

This summer I bought hay bales for a backstop behind the archery target. Silly me.

What shattered flower beds are left, the deer bed in those themselves.

The crab apple trees are all trimmed to the same lower height.

I confess, I do run the deer off, because if I come home during the day to make lunch, the deer saunter off the back porch and out from under the lilac bushes two feet from the bedroom window. I get the 'you again' look.

I have to sweep the droppings off the front and back porch.

I have a couple of deer trails through my 3/4 acre that are used daily on their way from the foothills behind the house to the fields across the road in front of the house.

Even though it's a 35 mph speed limit, sometimes I must call Fish and Game to remove the bodies of those hit by cars.

And some mornings, like today, I have to wait for the deer to clear the driveway.

Oh, starting about fives days ago, we haven't seen anything but bald headed ones, here or afield.
 
Just be patient,there's plenty of time. Some of my biggest sheds are white's. Alot of people get racing each other and miss more than you'd think.
 
You guys are ridiculous how much do you really think a guy walking through the snow stresses out a deer? Cry me a river build a bridge and get over it. Deer may run a couple hundred yards and stop and continue on with his day. Nothing stressful about it. you guys whining about it are the reason shed laws exhist for no reason what so ever. Its already illegal to harass any game animal anyway so dont give me the bs about people running them down on snow machines cause its always been illegal. A guy on foot is not gonna stress a deer out to death. Maybe a coyote chasing him half the day i could believe
 
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Very insightful,why give the deer any kind of rest? It’s not like they start getting hunted in august or anything
 
Their hunted year round by predators a guy walking through the woods looking for antler that is no longer even atached to the animal is not going to stress it out he might run over hill then he's gonna stop look around and keep feeding. Not gonna tip over dead cause he saw a person
 
It doesn’t take much stress to compromise deer today. Most deer are barely hanging on. Don’t judge yourself about the impact a guy has hiking around them.
 
This is pretty amusing. You really think them seeing a human makes the slightest bit of difference to them? Hell no they got coyotes wolves lions and bears to worry about they could care less about you ha! Especially when a shed hunter is looking for an antler on the ground not chasing them around like a predatory animal would
 
I got news for you their gonna see humans regardless of if the humans are looking for antlers or not whats the big plan to stop that from happening since seeing a human is imminent death?
 
I live in wyoming and ive shed hunted all over this state for years and i can tell you rite now the shotgun start of the "shed season" and hundreds of people driving them back up the mountain regardless of conditions on may 1st is much more stressful then it would be with some people trickling through an area over a lengthy period of time
 
How could i help a pilgrim like yourself? Your the only one thats smart enough to shed hunt without killing any animals by accident because if its after may 1st and they see a person it wont kill them but before that its certain death
 
Funny because 2/3rds of this state has no shed season and ive yet to see a deer run from me and fall over dead then or two weeks after i seen it the first time or a month later
 
Bookhead said:
This is pretty amusing. You really think them seeing a human makes the slightest bit of difference to them? Hell no they got coyotes wolves lions and bears to worry about they could care less about you ha! Especially when a shed hunter is looking for an antler on the ground not chasing them around like a predatory animal would
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First bears SHOULD be hibernating right now so first you are wrong there.

Second for the amount of predators there are on any given ridge isn't enough to compare to the amount of human presence for the fact if there was that many predators we REALLY wouldn't see a single deer.

Third What do you have a degree in? Have you earned a degree in Wildlife Management? Chances are no, so therefore your knowledge is based solely on what you have learned which can or cannot be accurate.

Forth to hornkillers comments he is more correct than yourself, skiffs of snow no big deal, pushing deer through 2 to 3 feet yes that is a lot of work and energy a deer has to burn to get away from you that they would otherwise be storing not being pushed around.

Now to back track, if one guy does it no big deal, but say you go bump deer yes they run a few hundred yards and stop, then heyoldman's son comes and pushes them again. That is a lot of stress on a deer, especially on a pregnant doe.

So pushing deer is not good just like making a fat guy run up stairs.
 
Show me some facts of shed hunters killing deer and ill eat my words till then you key board warriors can talk about what great conservationists you are with your vast knowledge of what you think is true
 
That says nothing about them dying from Shed hunters it says they "may be pushed over the edge" wish is also an opinion and not proven in anyway that them seeing a person walking through the woods is going to kill them. Show some proof or shut up.
 
Do you believe everything a game and fish department tells you? Ha i sure wouldnt if i was you! We have designated feed grounds here where people arent allowed to be at until may 1st. How come the deer arent in there by the hundreds to stay away from deadly hikers?
 
Because they dont give a s**t about seeing people because people take their pictures all winter long and they choose to stand next to roads anyway when they could be in a secluded feed ground all winter. These are all facts where are yours?
 
I believe what I learned in college from researches and from scientific facts. Do you know what college is? It is further education past high school where people learn to earn degrees such as mine in Wildlife Ecology and Management.

Have you seen a nycropsy of a pregnant deer found on a winter range that literally dropped dead while runned from people hiking trying to take pictures of said doe? Because I have and the people who reported the deer were the same people who took the pictures and recieved a harassment of wildlife citation.

But here is you sign bookhead, maybe you should put your username to use.
 
Sounds like a nice story you made up to prove your point. For one im not saying winter isnt hard on animals that is proven. What im saying is winter kill is gonna winter kill weather or not there are humans present a guy walking around isnt going to ever be the cause of death of a deer. Have you ever watched footage of coyotes or wolves kill game in deep snow and winter conditions? It cam literally take hours upon hours of predators hanging off them and running them ragged for miles through belly deep snow and rivers. Dont try to sell me your bs about a guy walking passed them killing them over
 
They implemented a shed season so they have a stepping stone to sell licences and make money off it and sold you a load of bs about it on their way through
 
Your poor grammar is killing me.

A shed antler ethics course is free bucko.
You could maybe learn a thing or two by taking it and asking a Biologist (a person who earned a Bachelors of Science from a college and was hired based on his education to conduct, collect and distribute information.) about how pressuring deer and elk on critical winter range with average or above average snow amounts increases winter kill.

Ignorance is bliss in your case.
 
My step dad was a biologist. You cant learn everything out of a book. There are no studies or facts to support your case just opinions and theories. Come back and talk when you find one
 
There has been leaps and bounds in research since his time I can image. Your step dad is a true biologist who had to learn first hand how things were. Deer and elk populations have changed dramatically since then as well. He would be ashamed I bet if he saw how populations are in this day of age compared to him. Granted I don't know what type of biologist he was he could have been a fish biologist for all I know. But I do know this impacts on deer as simple as running a few hundred yards can have devastating impacts on an individual pregnant or not as well as the group it is with. I have seen it, read about it, read published scientific journals about it.

I have done research on this very topic earning my degree. Hours and hours or reading, googling and following up on citations.

Here is a snippet from an article based on movements of Female Mule Deer in Northwest Colorado.

movements such as expenditure of negative energy (less energy gained from foraging and more energy used) from being pushed through deep snow.

Movements of Female Mule Deer in Northwest Colorado
Robert A. Garrott, Gary C. White, Richard M. Bartmann, Len H. Carpenter and A. William Alldredge
The Journal of Wildlife Management
Vol. 51, No. 3 (Jul., 1987), pp. 634-643

Screen Shot 2020-02-14 at 10.03.28 PM.png
 
Bookhead is right in a way. Picking up a shed does very little damage to the deer. It is the search for the sheds that does the damage.
A family searching for a Christmas tree does just as much damage, maybe more if the kids are hyper active and constantly talking at a low screech.
A recreational snowmobile ride does far more damage.
Calling coyotes does far more damage.
Running a lion with a pack of baying hounds does far more damage

If we are serious about protecting deer on winter range then we need to be talking about a 5 month closer of the winter range not a shed hunting ban.
 
Yes there are several areas that are closed actually and the deer dont use them pretty much all elk. Must be because they'll die if they see people
 
Anybody that thinks people don’t have an impact on stressed out deer maybe should find a new hobby. But hey nothing better that internet experts??
 
shed hunting regulations......more uneducated people in the woods equals a higher likelihood of animals being harassed and bumped out of natural wintering areas. The wildlife management program is a tool to help mitigate the inevitable.....ignorant people trudging through winter grounds when new vegetation hasn’t begun to grow back to support and sustain life.
 

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