Emergency closure will help protect deer and elk
You’ll have to wait until April 1 to gather shed deer, elk and moose antlers in 11 counties in Utah this year.
On Jan. 31, Division of Wildlife Resources Director Greg Sheehan signed an emergency amendment to the 2017 Big Game Application Guidebook. The amendment closes shed antler gathering in the following counties:
Carbon
Emery
Extreme, prolonged cold and deep snow are the reasons for the closure. These conditions are expected to continue for the next several weeks, making it difficult for deer, elk and moose to find food. To help the animals survive the winter, it’s essential that activities that take place on winter ranges be kept to a minimum, to reduce stressing the animals.
“These animals and other wildlife in the areas are stressed,” Sheehan says. “They cannot sustain being repeatedly moved around by shed hunters looking for dropped antlers.
“We support shed antler gathering,” Sheehan says, “but we’re asking, through this emergency order, that you wait until April 1 to move through these winter range areas.”
Those caught gathering shed antlers before April 1, in any of the 11 counties, will be cited.
In late winter and early spring, the antlers of deer, elk and moose fall off the animals’ heads. Then, they start growing a new set of antlers. By mid-summer, the new set is in place.