Seated in the comfort of the confines of the Yellowstone building on the Northwest College Campus, hunters from across the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Cody Region were pretty calm as officials discussed changes to this coming hunting season. That is, until the subject of shed antlers was brought up.

The debate was relatively animated as the state’s top wildlife biologists and game wardens discussed newly adopted changes to shed hunting regulations. Hunting sheds in much of western Wyoming is now regulated by the state with posted seasons.

The new Wyoming Game and Fish Commission regulation prohibits anyone from collecting shed antlers or horns from public lands west of the Continental Divide, excluding the Great Divide Basin and some land west of Laramie, from Jan. 1 through 6 a.m on May 1. Non-residents will be required to buy a conservation stamp to participate on public land. This bill goes into effect on July 1.

Residents will get a one-week head start on the sometimes-crazed hoard seeking elk and deer antlers in regulated areas. However, there are few regulations and no seasons here in the Big Horn Basin. Other than a couple areas closed to human presence until May in the Sunrise and Sunlight districts, shed hunting is a free-for-all.

“The nonresident seven day period, which they passed in this bill, doesn’t come into play in areas where you don’t have a season. When they can’t go anywhere else, guess where they can come; the Big Horn Basin,” said Jordan Winter, Powell-area game warden.

Officials speculate there will likely be more resident and nonresident shed hunters heading this way, if they’re not already here. There have been reports of folks starting their searches in the area as early as late February, when fewer than 1% of bulls have dropped their antlers. This comes at a difficult time for wildlife, having fought for survival through the winter and now preparing to drop calves.

Those in attendance aren’t your garden variety weekend warriors. These enthusiasts and professionals are some of the region’s most experienced hunters, guides and conservationists. They know the land, the habits of regional wildlife and, without question, the score.

Wildlife biologist Tony Mong asked for a show of hands from those who would like the state to regulate shed hunting by implementing season regulations here. One by one, the majority of hands went up. It seemed fairly easy to achieve a consensus in the room on a splendid Monday night considering the heavy debate many Game and Fish changes run up against.

Refreshingly, the debate centered around what is best for wildlife, not who gets the first chance to harvest antlers. Sunlight District landowner and Powell resident Tim Metzler said people “have to do what’s right for wildlife,” stating spring is not the time to be pushing herds around.

John Porter, a longtime area guide and Sunlight District landowner, countered by speculating wolves are more of a problem for herds than shed hunters.

“I watched a pack of wolves yesterday run more pounds off the [elk] herd in a day than all the shed hunters put together in the last three weeks,” he said.

Simply setting a season wouldn’t change much in the area, according to Dan Smith, Cody regional wildlife supervisor.

“One of the things to consider is in the western part of the state where we have antler seasons currently, they also have other land and human presence closures. If we just throw an antler season on out here, nothing stops you from going snowmobiling. Nothing stops you from cross country skiing or hunting coyotes or hunting lions or just whatever else you want. You’re not in violation until you can pick up an antler,” he said.

Even if there were antler seasons and additional closures in the Big Horn Basin, it is almost impossible to enforce without officials on the ground, he said.

Cody Region Game Warden Supervisor Scott Werbelow pointed out the difficulty of adding antler policing to their schedules.

“It would be a huge workload for our wardens to take on another four months [of hard duty after hunting seasons],” Werbelow said, adding, “And the calls we get in this country are remote. If we need to respond to [a call] it might take a day to get there to find out the guy isn’t even doing anything wrong.”

Smith said it’s important to be respectful of wildlife, giving them a chance to rest and consume much needed calories while trying to rear fawns and calves. But shed hunters are a motivated group.

If you’re looking for hints about their motivation, you only have to look at the antler markets. Top grade elk antlers were bringing about $18 a pound this time last year, with extra paid for shed sets over 380-inches or unique sets. Prices were at the highest in the past five years after significantly decreasing during the pandemic. Deer antlers can also bring up to $14 per pound.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a bull elk in his prime could have an antler spread of 4 feet, with each antler weighing 20 pounds. That’s close to $400 per antler.

The deadline to submit comments on Wyoming Game and Fish Department season-setting proposals was March 29. All season-setting presentations and videos for the 2023 hunting season are available online at: wgfd.wyo.gov/Hunting/2023-Season-Proposals/Regional-Season-Proposal-Presentations.

Top state officials host winter weather forum

Gov. Mark Gordon and Wyoming Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik are heading to Pinedale today (Thursday) for a forum on the state’s extreme winter weather. The forum will provide an update on the status of wildlife impacted by the extreme weather and seeking input. 

By sending in their top guns, the state seems to be attempting to get out in front of concerning news from season setting meetings revealing reductions in big game harvests and shortened seasons in many areas of the state.

Much of the state suffered from a combination of deep snow and cold that challenged the lives of big game wildlife species this past winter. The Big Horn Basin suffered through some nasty winter storms, but nothing like habitats just outside the Big Horn Basin.

“We should count our lucky stars our winter was nothing like it was in the rest of the state,” said wildlife biologist Tony Mong at the Powell season setting meeting last week. “When elk die in winter, you know that’s a bad winter. So we’re pretty fortunate here.”

Mong said in some of the hardest hit areas only 20% of fawns will survive the winter. Meanwhile, between about 70% to 80% of fawns are expected to survive in the Cody Region. Wildlife managers warn that the challenges in other parts of the state might mean hunters here may impacted as hunters may be targeting the Big Horn Basin due to losses in other parts of the state.

“There’s more conservative seasons being proposed in a lot of southern Wyoming,” said Cody Region Wildlife Management Coordinator Corey Class. “We’ll see some of them coming our way, which may hurt our drawing odds.”

It’s all speculation at this point, cautioned Dan Smith, Cody regional wildlife supervisor. For those wishing to join the online, the meeting is scheduled from 4-5:30 p.m. and is available through Zoom here: us02web.zoom.us/j/81254960795?pwd=SjhPZW1hTFE0dlpwMm9ibzJ1dmNGUT09#success.