Ethics question

Zigga · Apr 10, 2006

Please answer each question.

A. If you are on public land and stash an antler under a log so you don't have to pack it out until you head back, is your antler fair game for anyone?

B. If you are the one to find an antler stuffed under a log knowing that an elk obviously didn't drop it under there, should you take it or should you leave it knowing that the person that stuffed it there will be back?

C. If you watch someone with binoculars stuff an antler under a log and walk off, is the antler fair game?

These scenarios would be on public land and totally legal. No trespassing and no closed areas.

heartshot · Apr 10, 2006

How big is the antler?

Seriously that is a tough question that definately comes down to ethics. It is fair game but ethically I personally would feel that it is not fair game.

Of course if I did not like the stasher I would be more tempted to take it.

woodman · Apr 10, 2006

Zigga, This very thing happened to my buddy on sunday 4-9-06 we were over by Ennis. Just wondering if that was you?

Chef · Apr 10, 2006

A-YES
B-YES (who is to say they can find it again?)
C-NO

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"

Zigga · Apr 10, 2006

Went over to the Elkhorns to help pick up a couple stashes my cousin had and nothing was there. Woops! Made the trip for nothing. There were some dandys and he thinks he knows who did it. I just don't think there is anything he can do about it.

woodman · Apr 10, 2006

Zigga, Just wondering if you were going to respond to my earlier post? The horn my buddy stashed under the log was a 7 point.

Bambistew · Apr 10, 2006

While I've never found a 'stash'... it would be gone if I did.

If you want that antler bad enough you should have packed it out...

Zigga · Apr 10, 2006

I went a week ago Saturday toward the Helena area and no luck. Other than that I haven't been outside. I was camping in the Madison Valley a few years ago and had antlers laying outside my tent and some SOB walked off with them. Guess I'll leave them in the tent next time. If I caught someone in the act I'd go postal.

smokepolejohnson · Apr 10, 2006

yes
yes
plead the fifth

Hornseeker · Apr 10, 2006

If I found a fresh pile stashed I wouldn't take it...well, maybe just one or two! :0) BUt if its just a single horn, I'm taking it out.

I'd hide my stash REALLY well if I ever had one to hide, cause there is no doubt it would disappear if someone found it.

NvrEnuf · Apr 10, 2006

He11 people will take them right out of your front yard now days! If I were you I'd just plan on packing the antler in and out next time. Then, when you get home mix up a couple yards of concrete and squish it in the center before the stuff sets up. That way you should be safe.

That is unless the antler thief has a jack hammer!

NvrEnuf

clyde · Apr 10, 2006

I guess that the person who stashes it should of packed it. cause who knows that log could be moved by a pack of buff squirrels to hide that calcium bone.

So yes, yes, and If I saw him do it I would leave him an I owe you. Ha Ha, Just kiddin!

nfh · Apr 10, 2006

i can say this has happend to me a few times, i left a big stash on the ground about 12 white ones, but i took the brown ones out, it was my fault since i left them behind so the next time i tied them in the tree and once again they were gone..

littlefoot · Apr 10, 2006

a 'bible totin' old fellow told me more than 45 years ago...."there's a little larceny in all of us"....nuff said..

Gator · Apr 10, 2006

better not stash, better carry them with ya if you want them.

ismith · Apr 10, 2006

Zigga,
Your not one of those wall creek stashers are ya? The way I look at it, if you want the antlers, pack them out!
ismith

BCBOY · Apr 10, 2006

I have stashed sheds and not been back for a couple of years and they were all still there.

I wouldn't expect that you should think antlers are yours if you don't pack them out at least the same day you found them. You said you were going to help get out some stashes and they were gone. Well, in that case, I'd say, the stasher snoozed and loosed. The moral of the story, don't stash if you are worried about loosing them.

BrianID · Apr 10, 2006

A. Yes
B. Yes
C. I wouldn't take it that day but if I was back in the same area the next year I would take it if it was still there. I might even take it if I was in the same area a few weeks latter.

thecrittergitter · Apr 10, 2006

I'd be strappin them babies to my pack. I figure if I want one bad enough, I will pack it all day long. Zigga, maybe your cousin gave you the wrong coordinates

Or maybe a fellow in Bozeman came and beat you to them

Saw a guy unloading about a dozen damn nice sheds out of his truck the weekend before last. Don't think there was a small one in the bunch.

thecrittergitter · Apr 10, 2006

Woodman, what side of Ennis were you on?....... I have a nice brown 7 point that a squirrel hid under a log that we picked up on 4/9/06..........

just kidding.....The one we got was only a six.

JakeH · Apr 10, 2006

Man, Why couldnt I have found this post a week and a half ago, I found a stash of 5 elk horns right out in the middle of a flat, there had been some people on horses in there earlyer that morning and I figured they were coming back later. It was tough but I left them there, and decided that if they were there when I came back then I would take them. Well on the way back I got 80 yards from the pile and they rode up behind me. I should have taken them at first because if Im willing to pack them on my back they can pack them on there horses.

MM Member since 1999. Jake H

Kirby · Apr 10, 2006

1/2- You leave it, its not yours. If I find a shed worth keeping, I pack it out then, if I ain't packing it, cause I'm ready to take the risk of loosing it.

3- Not that day, but if it was there a week later, its mine.

Kirby

When in doubt, floor it.

Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggy" until you find a big stick.

SneakAttack · Apr 11, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Apr-11-06 AT 07:17AM (MST)[p]Dag gum antlers poachers anyway!

http://www.griztrax.net/wildlife/Elk/PoacherStash.html

'It's all about the gut pile'

Roy · Apr 11, 2006

Yes yes and yes. If you leave it its your own fault. Now on all of these - would I personally do any of them - no - but I don't think you have any reason to come home crying if someone else does. If you do, then you need to take a step back and examine your life. You are probably taking things way too seriously ;-)

ROY

patience · Apr 11, 2006

A. yes

B. yes

C. no

I have found antlers under logs and branches and know for a fact they werent put there by people. I you see a guy do it, leave it alone. Come back in 2 weeks if it's still there he either didnt want it or forgot it, it's yours.

MichaelJ · Apr 11, 2006

Yes I would take the big ones. If they leave them, then it's their problem.

Now a bigger question, if you took antlers out of a stash that wasn't yours, would you tell anybody? Or would you say you found them? lol

Michael~All Gods creatures welcome... right next to the mashed potatoes and gravy.

Roy · Apr 11, 2006

To me that would be like catching the biggest fish in the kid's pond. It is not like it is actually illegal or exactly unethical but if you didn't find it yourself - that kind of takes the fun out of it doesn't it? Makes it seem kind of pointless to me other than to say you got the biggest. To which I would reply - WHOOP-DEE-DOO! YOU ROCK DUDE! That's why I don't really shed hunt too much I guess. I like to get out and hike and see what the deer left behind, what kind of deer are in the area, get scouting ideas etc. I guess though some guys are selling them though. In that case - you have to look at it like a business and take care of your business, which means protecting it, taking care of it and not leaving it for someone else to help themselves to.

ROY

paid2hunt · Apr 13, 2006

Do unto others as you would>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

PAID2HUNT
THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN WATCHING THE SUN SET AFTER A GOOD DAY HUNTING OR FISHING.

Bambistew · Apr 13, 2006

>LAST EDITED ON Apr-11-06
>AT 07:17?AM (MST)
>
>Dag gum antlers poachers anyway!
>
>http://www.griztrax.net/wildlife/Elk/PoacherStash.html
>
>
>'It's all about the gut pile'

>

Where did you find that website? That story is so much BS it's not even funny... Helicopters swooping in to pick up chain sawed off heads. Sure happens all the time, thats why its in the news so offten. What a load of crap.

I will say that there is some antler poaching that goes on in the park however...

eelgrass · Apr 13, 2006

LOL! It's a wonder more people aren't shot this time of year. I've never been shed hunting. Don't think I care to either.

Steve

Zigga · Apr 13, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Apr-13-06 AT 06:59PM (MST)[p]PAID2HUNT,
"Do unto others as you would>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>"

I want others to leave all brown 400" sets conveniently at the trailhead with a "free to a good home" sign posted on them. I don't think I'll do the same though.

I think if you leave public property on public land, it's fair game. I've lost way more than I've gained.