Handle Material? :)

R

ricky_arthur

Well-Known Member
I look forward to shed season all year, On Wednesday I went shed hunting and found 5 sheds including the first brown shed for the season. It was a big 7 point bull.
I ran back out today to see if I could find the other side. My previous record for elk sheds was 7 in one day. Not that impressive maybe, but like I said, I usually go out all day on foot looking for the ones in deep country.
This is very rough, ledgey country, I leave all the easy areas for the road hunters. I started picking up white sheds right off the bat.

613ED1AA-D7B6-44CC-9055-99599A8B477E-360-00000029B0304358_zps4ffc18d8.jpg


High on a ridge I hit some elk tracks going up, I had a feeling that I should follow them so Off I went, up and up it went, it started getting ledgy and still up. I climbed out on a rock to glass below me for the 7 point I was hoping to find. When I put the bino's down, I saw this at my feet,
5A98DEEE-DEDB-4F55-BB0D-554300C5A0EF-360-0000002CD21ACB24_zpsfd4e380b.jpg



Not my 7 point but a nice 6 point. I left everything there and followed the tracks up and just at the point where it turned sheer cliff, there was the other side. This elk had deliberately went into the ledges to drop it's antlers.



796C5125-4BA8-4B32-85CC-CF7380E25FB5-360-0000002CC89CB0F8_zps12c9e674.jpg


I took that load back to the truck
(I need to buy a shed pack) I slipped and jammed a horn into the top of my knee.
F282110D-ACA3-438D-B9DD-5A8A8B811D15-360-00000029936F0DAA_zps5bcfa8eb.jpg


I decided to push it and hit the other side of the road, and had good luck again. About a mile in, This set was laying as pictured.

696DE054-CFAB-43C5-8295-7A9911566AA6-360-00000029A02D35FD_zps8de59d26.jpg


on the way back out I found another brown horn, a 5 point, but couldn't locate the other side.


Here was the haul from my "quick trip" today a record 9 horns. :) I'm thinking I will have some of the last years horns died and stabilized for Handle material.

151CAACA-2142-471A-9F4A-55B52A25458E-360-00000029817E8CBA_zpsbc42d5d6.jpg


Anyone here that does dying and stabilizing want to trade some antler for stabilizing and dying some?
Can it be made to look similar to stag?
 
You got a real fine looking cache of sheds there Ricky!

Shed hunting is fun. I've never hunted elk sheds, but I have worn out boots looking for whitetail sheds.

The elk are pretty sparse around here where I live. The neighbor down the road has one in his back yard but there's something fishy about it. It never moves and from time to time I see him shooting arrows at it. But its really the only one I have seen around here.
 
Most of the shed hunters around here focus on the Mule deer. But they are smaller and harder to spot and I despise seeing other people when I'm out hunting, I head for the far away canyons. Plus Mule brown deer horns go for about 10$lb and elk 9$ so an elk shed is much more valuable. A elk shed will go 8-15 lbs. On top of that, I know I will probably never draw a tag to hunt elk so My goal is to find a set over 380 and have it mounted. I have found single sides that would have been over 400 bulls but never a set and certainly not a brown set. The 7 point I was looking for would have been a good one, maybe a 360 bull.

My goal this year is to find enough sheds to have a slab poured to build a shed on so I have a place to make knives. I'm about 1/2 there. :)
 
Ricky, You must be energetic to find that many sheds and in one day?! I haven't found that many in my life.
 
ricky_arthur said:
Most of the shed hunters around here focus on the Mule deer. But they are smaller and harder to spot and I despise seeing other people when I'm out hunting, I head for the far away canyons. Plus Mule brown deer horns go for about 10$lb and elk 9$ so an elk shed is much more valuable. A elk shed will go 8-15 lbs. On top of that, I know I will probably never draw a tag to hunt elk so My goal is to find a set over 380 and have it mounted. I have found single sides that would have been over 400 bulls but never a set and certainly not a brown set. The 7 point I was looking for would have been a good one, maybe a 360 bull.

My goal this year is to find enough sheds to have a slab poured to build a shed on so I have a place to make knives. I'm about 1/2 there. :)
Click to expand...

What do they use the antlers for that makes them so valuable?
 
Most of them are sold as dog chew toys. Some become chandeliers and furniture. Just the white and chalk horns from three trips netted me 383$. I kept the brown ones for now. Decent sized brown ones sell for 60-100 per side. If you find a real big one the. It becomes desirable for taxedermy work and can sell for 1-2000$. While I was at the horn buyers a guy came in and sold 5300$ worth of horn. That's why shed hunting is so cut throat
 
WOW!
If you've seen the movie Napoleon Dynamite he would be saying "LUCKY!"
Seriously buddy that is freaking AWESOME! I had to buy some sheds to use for handles just the past week.
We have a LOT of deer down here but we also have a LOT of hunters who get out into the woods far more than I can right now.
Maybe I need to make a trip to Utah! I could just see the folks at the airport....."SIR, your going to have to check those!" ME: "awww really? I can't carry these on?"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top