Winter kill skull racks

[theridge]

As I was trekking out of some hell hole Thursday, with 2 winter kill racks mind you, I had this uncomfortable feeling that when I reached my truck that I would be seen with the two racks and some sheds that I picked up. What if the game warden or some other jealous mofo thinks or precieve that I poached the bucks for their headgear? I never saw anyone, and I have picked up many racks in my years, but for some reason I started wondering if it was worth the potential hassle packing these racks out. By the way the racks were pretty decent but nothing spectacular. They were in 2 different drainages about 100 yards apart. I'am pretty sure one was a cougar kill and the other may have been a buck rut fight kill.

Anyway, its wierd that a person has these feelings when you lnow you've done nothing illegal. Anyone else ever have these concerns?

 

[legacy]

I have had these concerns as well. I don't know what state you're in, but in Utah it is illegal to transport winter killed racks, road killed etc...but who's kidding who? I think a lot of us would do it. I have packed out racks that I have found. It's neat to collect them and knowing I didn't kill them makes me able to live with myself. Is there anyone here that would absolutely not pack out a winter kill, lion kill etc? Just curious.

 

[oneguymontana]

Not sure what the law is here in Montana but I've talked with enough wardens and they don't get too excited about anything UNLESS it's Big Horn Sheep or Mountain Goat. I know that if I didn't pack em out (deer/elk) the next guy would so I grab and go.....

 

[m00sedrool]

I picked up a nice 5x5 winter/lost bow kill while elk hunting in Montana last year. Never gave it a thought. I used to pick up moose sheds in northern Maine, but the regulations specifically say they have to be naturally shed, no skull attached. Not knowing any better, a friend of mine found a winter kill skull with a nice set of antlers while shed hunting and we packed it out. After checking the regs, he promptly placed it back in the woods. Maine wardens don't play....as a matter of fact, they have quite a nasty reputation in the state.

 

[shedaddict]

I definitely don't pack out skulls. When I was 10 years old I found a very nice and very fresh winter kill buck. I brought it home, but some guy found the deer and reported that he thought the deer had been poached. I ran into the game wardens on the mountain the next day and they asked about the deer. To make a long story short they confiscated the rack and warned me never to do that again. Just doing their job I guess, but I was a pretty disappointed kid. I know of a lot of people that do pack out skulls in Utah though.

 

[browtine]

I never pack out skulls... I have found several dead bucks/bulls and always left them..its just not worth the trouble one can get into. Also, if you ever kill somthing big... and the rumor mill starts...you can bet if the f&g came around they would look at the racks in your pile and start asking questions...to me its just not worth it. In some states (wyoming), just call the f&g when you find a dead buck...most will come out and look at it..if there is nothing suspicious, you can keep it...not in utah though..
Later, Brandon

 

[losthuntr]

I have some wyoming experiance on this issue, if you find one, call the game and fish to look it over. It's illegal to sell them unless their tagged though. Every state is headed toward the Utah way. If you find an old white antlered skull, just bust the horns off, it will probably save you some trouble.

 

[BCBOY]

Quite common for me to pick up winter kill/cougar kill racks. Recently I've heard the government wants us to pay auction price for them. Mainly has to do with sheep pickups the way I understand. It would be cold day in hell that I'll pay some high price for a chunk of bone that I've picked up. Looks like a money grab to me. If the government wants it, I'll put it back where I found it and they can bust their tails off to find it just like I orginally did.

 

[YoungBuck]

If I find a skull and it is in good enough shape...you can bet your @## that its comin home with me...it is legal here in Idaho to keep winter/lion kills.
YB

 

[antlerradar]

In Montana it is legal to pick up " naturally killed" heads. The road kills and animals hunters could not find are illegal. Kind of hard to tell if a few years have passed by. I have picked up a few big heads in the last 25 years and am not about to give them back. A few years ago Montana tried the same rules as Utah to try to curb poaching. The law didn't work and made a lot of honest people dishonest. The law was repealed and replaced with the one we have now.

Antlerradar

 

[hornaddiction]

Totally legal here in Colorado! We pack out all that we find!


Horn
www.trophiesonthewall.com

 

[grrio]

Found a lion kill here, and video taped the kill scene while it was all still intact. just in case. it was also during hunting season so if they were suspicious i was just going to use my tag on it since it was the last day of the deer season.

 

[avery]

It's illegal in NM. In the regs, page 10.
Avery

 

[bobcatbess]

SO IT'S ILLEAGAL IN UTAH!!!

HOW MANY OTHER THAN BROWTINE DO YOU THINK OBEY THE RULE???

ROADKILL RACKS DON'T LAST 3 MINUTES IN THIS STATE,EVEN IF ITS A SPIKE OR FORKY,IT'S GOING HOME WITH SOMEBODY!!!

I SEEN A TWO POINT TWO YEARS AGO ON THAT SHARP TURN BY DEER CREEK RESEVOIR,I WENT TO PROVO AND RIGHT BACK UP AND SOMEBODY GRABBED THE RACK,THE BODY WAS STILL LAYING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD ON THAT DANGEROUS CORNER,WHOEVER GRABBED THE RACK PUT THEIR LIFE AT RISK OVER A TWO POINT,PROBABLY A UTARD!!!

JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU'VE SEEN IT ALL,NO YOU HAVEN'T!!!

THE ONLY bobcat WONDERING IF THE JOKER THAT PULLED THIS STUPID STUNT OFF WILL STAND UP & LET US KNOW WHO HE IS???

 

[IDkTm]

I'd say most of my collection consists of winter kills or complete skulls. I'm glad we can pick them up in Idaho. Of all of them I only see suspicion in one little spike I picked up, he was just above a road and I figure someone may have whacked him and it wasn't worth the effort to go up the hill and get him.

 

[muledeernut]

I have those feelings, but I always think someone else will see me and want to hunt that area, so I usually always hide my sheds from people. Muledeernut

 

[Hawkk33]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-23-05 AT 12:28PM (MST)[p]I found a winterkill/lion kill/hunter kill skull in Oct 04 and I didn't think twice about packing it out. It was a nice find and I thought it was a BIG buck until a few weeks later when I shot my first muley buck.

here is a photo of both side by side for comparison

 

[theridge]

Only in KALIFORNICATED! It happened yesterday afternoon. My dad, brother and I went shed and rack hunting yesterday. The day was perfect as we picked up 20 sheds (old) and 2 winter kill racks. One of the racks was a 6x3 with an eyeguard that looked like an elk browtine. Massive and long comming straight out of the base towards the nose of the year old carcass. Anyway, all afternoon we were bantering each other on the radios with comments like: " I've got a big 5 point here but I think I'll leave it for the yotes". "You ought to see this rack, its a 6x3 that looks like a cross between a tule elk and a blacktail". "I'am going to leave this 3 point in the brush". We had a great day with beautiful weather. That is, until we hiked out of the hell hole at dark. You guessed it. The local game warden (who by the way I've helped on several poaching incidents) and another fish cop storm the vehicle demanding to see the 5 point and the 6 point. WTF, these idiots thought we were poaching by listening to our conversations. Ofcourse, they wanted to know about the 3 point in the brush, ( the 3 point had fresh cow dung all over it, so we were going to leave it so the rain could wash it off) We did carry the 3 point shed out and handed it too the warden who did grab it with the smelly chit on it. Ofcourse, they checked our knives and our fanny packs.

This whole incident was brought on supposedly by somebody riding a bicycle who heard shots. Right. He might as well said a green martian informed him. No way in hell was their a biker on this mountain road.

We were totally honest and had nothing to hide but we may have pissed them off by laughing at some of their comments. Barney Fife reincarnated.
Sometimes I wonder if the fish cops read these post. Later, Lance

 

[BigJohnson]

>Sometimes I wonder if the fish
>cops read these post.
>Later, Lance


Yes Lance, we do.

 

[m00sedrool]

Fish cops and their brethen working clandestine vice cases.......Rabbit cops.

 

[Boots2]

You should see the jackalope skull I found last year, It wil score over 75 points B&C. Must have been bred by a coues.

so far no laws have been enacted against finding and keeping those... yet!

BTW I wonder how many poachers have been busted because of this fuzzy law.

 

[RACKMASTER]

I do not know if losthunter was told the truth of what!
2yrs ago I was deer hunting in area 102 and I found a nice and heavy 4x3 bout 27" wide and was goona take it home to CA!
After taken my buck a warden came by to validate my tag he saw the rack I found and ask me to throw it back into the brush that it against Wyoming state law to posscess them even though it was
lion kill to him!
On the way home I stopped it Walmart for gas and same warden was citing some guys with Utah plates that had an bull moose head w/an rack attached it was green with moss and bleach white!
Same year I was lope hunting the same area and went home the southern route and came across a motor home in CO right at the 3 corner area and he had a head w/antlers attached and it was one of the best racks I ever saw he was starting to stuff them into the coach! that was weird!
JACK