September catch and release

[wyohikeit]

My hiking buddy and I have been doing some serious catch and release shedin lately. Antlerboy has inspired me to try using this link rather than retyping the entire post


http://shedantlers.org/talkingsheds/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9055&p=103674#p103674



Time in the hills is always worth more than money

 

[Flatlandr]

Looks like you had a very fun hike, always enjoy your photos, thanks for sharing!
Mark

 

[NeverStopHuntin]

Wow that is pretty cool. I didn't realize what you meant by catch and release until i read it all. I would love to take my youngest brother there. He has had a really hard time finding sheds and a lot of areas around here get picked over pretty fast.

 

[wyohikeit]

It's the best place in the world to learn about where elk shed. There are places where you can find three years sheds from the same bull laying on the same ridge! This year there was a lot of snow so the fresh sheds are lower down the mountain and right on the ridgeline where the wind blew the snow off. We could learn a lot more about the elk in the park if Ranger Rick would stop chopping on and destroying the antlers to " Protect them " from the meatheads that would steal them!





Time in the hills is always worth more than money

 

[sancarloshunter]

That is awsome. Some big bulls. I really like that the fact you stay true to the rules set up. Unlike the last picture you showed. Looks like fun and looks like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing.

 

[gonehuntinWY]

I would not put any more pictures on a website of you holding antlers up - it is illegal to touch them or move them in any way. Back in the early 80's we would pick them up and hang them in trees or in piles of 10-12. Then we were scolded very hard by Yellowstone Park Rangers for disturbing the ecosystem. Its O.K. for the rangers to multilate and stack them up - but not the general taxpaying public. Continue to enjoy hiking but know the rules.

 

[wyohikeit]

It's illegal to transport antlers in any way in Yellowstone. Is picking them up to look at them and to take a picture wrong, not in my book. I always set them down exactly where I find them undisturbed. Hanging them in the trees or leaving them in piles is wrong -- and illegal. Picking them up to look at is no crime. I have talked to the head deputy ranger in the park several times trying to change there policies with the shed antlers. I know the laws and have heard it from the man himself.
Tim Reid is a good man that works hard to preserve the resourses of the park. Think about what he is up against when it comes to dealing with the rabid meatheads wanting to take antlers home to sell or brag about. Ranger Reid has made some changes in their policy directly because of my comments and concerns.



Time in the hills is always worth more than money

 

[gonehuntinWY]

I still have to disagree with you - you cannot pick them up and then put them down because you have disturbed them from a natural setting. The same goes for native american artifacts, gold nuggets, fossils, etc. Remember it not you who wrote the rule book - its the NPS!!!! Your book doesn't count. When we were picking up the antlers and hanging them in nearby trees we had no idea we could get in trouble for that - we were only 17 years old and having a good time not knowing we we doing something illegal - a federal crime no less. Now I just stay in the car and drive around looking at bison and wolves. Take pictures but don't touch!!!!

 

[elkantler75]

and by all means dont take a saw with you and cut the buttons off or pull the ivories out of the wolf kills!!

 

[gonehuntinWY]

The deputy chief ranger of Yellowstone, Tim Reid, said he did not know what to expect if the rule was approved. ?My mental eight ball says, ?It is too soon to tell, try again later,? ? Mr. Reid said.

This was your good friends statement about guns and travel thru the YNP boundaries. Hope you can help him with more brillant ideas on rules for the park.