{"id":1303089,"date":"2019-01-31T12:05:51","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T19:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaildaily.com\/?p=445366"},"modified":"2019-01-31T12:05:51","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T19:05:51","slug":"in-eagle-county-and-western-colorado-its-illegal-to-collect-antler-sheds-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/in-eagle-county-and-western-colorado-its-illegal-to-collect-antler-sheds-right-now\/","title":{"rendered":"In Eagle County and Western Colorado, it\u2019s illegal to collect antler sheds right now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since Jan. 1, restrictions on collecting shed antlers have been in effect on all public lands west of Interstate 25, through April 30. Additional restrictions apply in the Gunnison Basin.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials say anyone caught in possession of or collecting sheds illegally during this time \u2014 including shed horns and antlers and horns naturally attached to a skull plate \u2014 will face fines if they ignore the law. The restrictions do not apply to private lands; however, trespassing laws are always in effect.
The CPW Commission approved the annual restrictions in 2018, implemented to protect wintering wildlife from severe and constant stress from human activity, primarily shed collectors.
\u201cShed collecting has become extremely popular over the past decade because there is a significant potential for high profit,\u201d said Area Wildlife Manager Bill de Vergie of Meeker. \u201cThat has led to a major increase in the number of collectors spreading out in areas where elk and deer are trying to find a little respite from winter. The last thing wildlife needs at this time of year are people speeding by on ATVs or snowmobiles, dogs running around off-leash and so on. It\u2019s a very serious problem.\u201d
Each winter, as the snow begins to fall, elk and deer move down to their traditional winter range to search for what forage they can find. Toward the end of the season, forage becomes very scarce and the animals survive primarily on the fat stores they developed during summer and fall.
As deer, elk and moose begin dropping their antlers in late winter, hundreds of collectors begin an intense, daily search for the freshest sheds \u2014 considered the most valuable \u2014 while the animals are still on their winter range and essentially starving. In a few egregious cases, witnesses have observed some shed collectors chasing a herd of elk or deer with an off-road vehicle in an attempt to secure a fresh shed dropped by a startled animal.
\u201cIf wildlife is pressed once a day or every other day, we would not have as much concern,\u201d said de Vergie. \u201cBut these animals are constantly pressured now, often running from perceived threats dozens of times per day. People may not see it happen right away but severely stressed animals and their offspring will starve to death when their fat stores are depleted.\u201d
Despite an initial focus on education last year, wildlife officers wrote several citations and seized numerous sheds from blatant violators, including trespass charges against people attempting to skirt the law by collecting sheds on private property without permission.
CPW officers say they are ramping up enforcement in 2019.
\u201cWe\u2019ve done what we can to educate folks about the restrictions and why they are in place, including many face-to-face conversations,\u201d said de Vergie. \u201cWe hope that folks follow the rules and help us protect wildlife. If they don\u2019t, we will enforce our laws to the fullest extent.\u201d
For each illegal shed, violators can expect a $50 fine plus an $18 surcharge. In addition, they will be assessed five points per shed against their hunting and fishing privileges. After 20 points, violators can lose their hunting and fishing privileges for up to five years. In addition, CPW officers will confiscate all illegally collected sheds.
\u201cWe are not trying to keep people from collecting sheds,\u201d said de Vergie. \u201cWe are just asking collectors to wait a bit, cut wildlife a break, wait until the restricted periods end then go out and get your sheds.\u201d
To report illegal wildlife activity and remain anonymous, contact Operation Game Thief<\/a> at 877-265-6648. Rewards are available if the information leads to an arrest or citation.<\/p>\n

via:: Vail Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since Jan. 1, restrictions on collecting shed antlers have been in effect on all public lands west of Interstate 25, through April 30. Additional restrictions apply in the Gunnison Basin.Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials say anyone caught in possession of or collecting sheds illegally during this time \u2014 including shed horns and antlers and horns […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1303089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 03:56:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1303089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1303089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1303089\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1303089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1303089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1303089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}