Truckload of Sheds

[TwoLabs]

I was out Sunday in Southwestern Idaho testing out a new spotting scope I got for Christmas and drove past a small 4-wheel drive cream colored truck. As I went by I noticed the back of his truck was loaded with brown sheds. Initially I was stunned to think that many sheds were out there already but half of them were elk. My estimate would be that there was 30 sheds in the back of his truck. Does anybody have an idea of what might be going on?

The guy was parked and glassing the hillsides just like everyone else except for the chukar hunters, who were everywhere. (Talk about the potential to disturb the deer)

In hindsight I wish I had stopped and talked to him because it has bothered me ever since.

 

[CouesFanatic]

Last year just east or Burley I saw a truck with them piled 5 feet above the bed and an enclosed trailer with, who knows, whats in it. They were headed west. I wondered the same thing. Maybe a shed buyer?

 

[toughshed]

Can't be fresh elk sheds...no way...too early...I dunno what to think of that. Now I am mad at you that you didn't stop and ask him what up? Buyer would be my guess and he is jumping the gun glassing already. Maybe he doesn't know what the heck he is doing?

 

[TwoLabs]

Sorry Toughshed. I too am mad at myself. I'm new to the shed hunting fun so I must admit I was intimidated by this guys "find". But even I know that there should not have been any new elk sheds.
Initially I only could see the tips of some deer antlers but as I went by him there was a bunch of brown elk sheds underneath. I don't think there was a single white in the bunch.
It never even dawned on me that he could be a Buyer.

 

[meadow_masher]

I,ve got to agree that there is no way they could be fresh sheds...if he really picked that much bone there would be some whites in with em. Anybody could need some extra cash and have to sell some horn, he could have been selling some of last years horns.

 

[TwoLabs]

A couple last thought on this. As difficult as it is to find sheds the last thing I would do is leave a truckload of them in the back of my pickup while I am climbing the mountains. To me it is leaving something very valuable for all to see (and take).

Seeing all of these out in the field caused me to get the urge to begin looking myself. If they had only been deer antlers I wold have thought this guy had just been scouring the hills and had just cleaned out the area. Talk about a way to add competition to an area and also the timing is such that it just puts more harassment on the animals.

 

[IDHunter222]

Don't get too worked up over that one, that guy has been driving around with that same truckload of sheds for several months now. I saw him parked at Sportsman's Warehouse a few months ago with the same truck and same full bed of elk sheds, and again on a couple other occasions. Don't get me wrong, this guy has some monsters in there and obviously knows what he's doing when it comes to finding bone, but he's not out there finding fresh elk sheds right now. I saw him the same day that you did last week and I was going to stop to talk to him as well, but I by the time I had turned my truck around to go back to where I saw him he was gone like a fart in the wind.

If you ever catch up to him, let us know what he's all about.

 

[timberline_shedfreak24]

Way to early for those but keep us posted!


Timberline

 

[Shedhound]

The guys does find a ton of sheds but he packs them around in the back of his truck for months if not the entire year. One time I ran into him and he had a large stuff sack with probably 50 nice brown and hard white deer horns just rattling around in the back of his truck. He has also found some incredible "winter kills" one year in November when we were all chasing deer with our bows he was out finding dead bucks. That day he found a gross 192 typ and a gross 191 typ and a 170's buck with a 8 inch dropper. Three incredible brown antlers dead bucks in one day??? I heard the Fish and Game investigated him but I never heard what happened from it. Whether or not he is a poacher I'm not sure, because if you talk to him, he's a strong christian who never even swears. He doesn't even hunt on sundays, and if they are camping where they hunt they set up a wall tent just for sunday church. He told me once that god just gives him these horns. Bottom line is he has found 7 dead bucks ranging from 170 to 210 in the past few years, all mainly brown or just barely faded. I wish I was that lucky, but as honest as guy as he seems to be I just can't see him poaching anything, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Does anybody out there know anybody that lucky?? Or from this story do you think he is a poacher?

 

[groundhog]

shedhound,
Hard tellin, not knowin. If he spends a ton of time scoutin that could explain his "luck". If he is out there a lot it doesn't surprise me that he is finding fresh winter kills. You can spot those birds from a long ways off......