Shed hunters shot at.

[Rainier10]

I agree with A.Cole 100%. Enforce the no trespassing laws, enforce the no motorized vehicle laws, enforce the shooting at people laws, problems solved.

[OutHouse]

How is licensing even an issue with this? They would have been justified in returning fire and killing this *censored*.

[bearhunter99]

Don't need to implement a license, just ban the sale of antlers. The guys going for a walk and collecting a few for their pile aren't the problem

Middle ground here - have a license requirement for the sales but the guy collecting a few for his own use is good to go.

They are technically running a business and I personally think it should be treated as such.  The amount of lawlessness (trespassing, wildlife harassment, assault and intimidation) that goes on with some areas that I used to shed hunt has gotten exponentially worse since it essentially became big business. 

These guys that are out there intentionally "jumping" the deer herds and stressing out the animals just to get them to drop their sheds.  I about got into a very serious situation once when a guy kept pushing this 170's 4 point.  The buck had its tongue hanging out and laboring and the damn guy wouldn't leave it alone.

Just wondering how a $100 license is going to lessen the pressure on the animals or insanity of the commercial guys...

I don't know maybe it would expose them to the Dept of Revenue?  They are technically a business operating without a business license? Make it $1,000 commercial license if they are selling them.  Everything else is more expensive as a business.  I can pull an L&I electrical permit as a homeowner for $X amount.  If a licensed electrical contractor pulls the same permit for the same work it is 3-4 times $X (it has been a while since I have pulled one so no idea the cost these days)

[highcountry_hunter]

I’d be against a license 100%. But I would be 100% for a shed hunting opening date. Give the *censored* animals a break


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[elkslayer069]

Don't need to implement a license, just ban the sale of antlers. The guys going for a walk and collecting a few for their pile aren't the problem

100% agree. You can’t sell the meat so you shouldn’t be able to sell the capes or antlers shed or attached on the skull plate.

[raydog]

I’d be against a license 100%. But I would be 100% for a shed hunting opening date. Give the *censored* animals a break


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[Twispriver]

I'm wondering why the author never mentioned reporting the incident to law enforcement or a law enforcement response. If I was taking cover and considering my options, finding another place to shed hunt wouldn't be at the top of my list. Perhaps a little embellishment to make a better story? 

[dilleytech]

A license to shed hunt is a terrible idea. And a shed season is a terrible idea. So
If I’m walking around in February not shed hunting and come across a shed I’m expected to leave it because it’s not in season? Enforcing animal harassment makes more sense when feasible. Outlawing the selling of antlers makes sense. Sure would be a lot more sheds in the woods if guys were only taking the big ones.

 I have bumped a lot of animals shed hunting but never felt One was being pressured . They simple move over the ridge and are safe, usually they sneak
Away and I never see them because it’s not like I’m being quiet. If pushing animals during winter should be illegal then I guess we should outlaw wolves coyotes and cougars.

[pianoman9701]

Banning the sale of antlers and hides/capes does nothing to stop idiots from being idiots. When collected responsibly, both are a resource. If you ban hides and cape sales, then that will just be wasted and thrown away by most. Antlers are renewable. I agree with setting dates and strictly enforcing existing laws. I don't agree with additional fees or bans. 

[buckfvr]

Propagating this stuff we are seeing now continually from all facets of government and law enforcement is just what they can do until they can end it all.

[dilleytech]

Banning the sale of antlers and hides/capes does nothing to stop idiots from being idiots. When collected responsibly, both are a resource. If you ban hides and cape sales, then that will just be wasted and thrown away by most. Antlers are renewable. I agree with setting dates and strictly enforcing existing laws. I don't agree with additional fees or bans. 

Banning the sale of antlers would decrease people’s interest in getting as many sheds out of the field as possible. Most of us would still shed hunt but it would certainly decrease effort and competition. It would cut out a lot of those guys who take 2 months off every spring to just shed hunt for profit.

[Feathernfurr]

This is a tough one. I’m not sure how it is here in Washington, but I can speak for Idaho and Wyoming and tell you that the ban of antler sales would definitely make an impact. We have a lot of winter range that’s closed to human entry, and regularly see people chasing huge herds of elk and muleys with snowmachines. All of our openers have roads lined with trucks buying horn, and you watch guys deposit everything they pick up the second they come off the hill. It’s nothing but a money grab for them.

Granted these people are outlaws, that I think to some degree do it for the thrill. You see them go to great extents to not get caught. The ones that get caught are repeat offenders, sometimes accruing thousands in fines that don’t seem to deter them. So the ban of sales would, in my head, just drive the market underground so to speak. It would take a federal effort that would be incredibly difficult to coordinate and enforce.

I’ll tell you though, states are starting to put laws into place to protect their resources, often times at the downfall of their neighboring states. Wyoming has shut down their first week of season to non residents. Meanwhile Wyoming residents are raping Idaho closures, with too little law enforcement manpower across areas of multi agency land to enforce the laws. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve watched a timber sled, snow machine, or tracked side by side drive in on an opener, and leave 15 minutes later with 50 plus horns in a bundle.


Regardless of how any of us feel about it, and how the government attempts to manage it, I think we’re all in for a rude awakening in the next decade as to the state of shed hunting. I don’t see a future where our children will get to enjoy it the way we do, unless they’re willing to break the law, or can afford the luxury equipment to make it happen. The shoe lace express can’t keep up with the horses and machines that the money shed hunters will use to over consume.

[CarbonHunter]

Sounds to me like a safety issue and our game commission only has one answer for safety. Make the person holding the gun wear orange or pink.

Problem solved.

[chukardogs]

If they're chasing animals in the late winter/early spring with a snowmobile, give em a 10,000 dollar fine, take their snowmobile and vehicle and toss their butt in jail for a month or until the animals have headed for their summer range. 

[bigtex]

An Idaho resident just got sentenced to a $6,000 fine, a felony conviction, and a public lands ban for the removal of, and attempted sale of $18,000 worth of sheds removed from a National Wildlife Refuge and National Forest in Wyoming.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/idaho-antler-poacher-sentenced/