Utah Winter and Shed Hunters Stress Cervid Species

By: Taylor Gillette

Winters in Utah bring a hefty snowfall creating a deep snowpack. Currently in Utah the snowpack is reaching record levels. Winter by far is the most stressful season in the life of a cervid. With the deep snowpack and lack of food all cervid species reach their peak stress levels. In most states avid outdoorsman take part in shed hunting. Shed hunting is the act of going into the field and searching for antlers that have been dropped by cervids. Some states like Utah have specified shed hunting seasons. Utah’s season generally runs from February 1^st – April 15^th and to participate in this recreational activity you must complete an antler gathering ethics course. The purpose for these “shed” seasons is too give the animals time away from the human presence that they see at all other times in the year.

Due to excessive snow accumulation and risk of losing more of the cervid population than normal, Greg Sheehan the director of wildlife resources signed an emergency order to close shed hunting throughout the state until April 1^st. The temporary closure on shed hunting will aid in giving the cerivd populations more down time to keep their stress levels from peaking because of that human presence.

Figure 1

Shed hunters do not always search for sheds ethically. There are instances where shed hunters are cited for trespassing, taking sheds out of season, and the list goes on. To find sheds one must look where the cervid species are located. That being said most of the time the cervid species is still in the area when hunters are out searching for the antlers. The species will feel that “pressure” that the shed hunters will put on the animal and exert unnecessary energy to flea from that human presence. Shed hunters have different strategies and techniques depending on the scenario, for example there is spot and stalk shed hunting which is when a hunter follows the animal until they drop their antlers, hunters will just hike around areas that a cervid species are typically found in during the winter months, and there are hunters that use antler traps if they are legal in their state. Antler traps are theoretically designed to entangle the antlers and force the animal to drop them. The listed techniques for shed hunting add an extraordinary amount of stress to these animals that adds on to their stress levels from a hard winter. 

The director of wildlife resources stated, “We support shed antler gathering”.  The purpose of this closure is not to take away activities that the public enjoys but it is in place to ensure the safety of the wildlife and to be able to preserve the sport of shed hunting for further generations. The public has very mixed feelings towards the season closure. A fair amount of individuals believe that they should be able to hunt for sheds no matter the conditions and will argue that shed hunting does not impact the stress levels of the animals anymore than hikers and skiers do. Some individuals will side with the state of Utah agree that the harsh winter increases the stress levels and that shed hunting will impact that stress level even more.

            

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Literature Cited

                     Emergency shed hunting closures in Utah. 2017. Brady Miller. GoHunt https://www.gohunt.com/read/news/emergency-shed-hunting-closures-affect-utah#gs.iQHfi7k Accessed March 1, 2017

                     Statewide shed antler closure. 2017. Utah division of wildlife resources. Utah DNR https://wildlife.utah.gov/wildlife-news/1989-shed-antler-closure-expanded-statewide.html  Accessed March 1, 2017

Photographs

                     Figure 1           Taylor Gillette

                     Figure 2           Taylor Gillette

                     Figure 3           Taylor Gillette