Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Antler Sales???

OLETOM

OLETOM

New Member
This is just a post to get some general thoughts on the matter of antler sales. In Wisconsin it is illegal to sell venison unless it is raised on a game farm. Now why isn't it illegal to sell antlers from deer not raised on game farms? Why anyone would want to sell them anyway is beyond me?

Just bored at work this morning, wish 10:30 would come a little sooner so I can get in the woods.
 
I think this is one of the biggest mistake's ever in deer hunting.Simply put it is the reason there are so many of us that work our tale's off to find deer and put our time in scouting hanging stand's ect,ect only to never get a chance at him because some son-of-a-@#$## decide's he's worth alot of money,so he goe's out to the alfalfa field spotlight's and take's your buck out of the herd forever all in the name of the almighty $$$$$.
I'm not saying that every buck sold for it's antler's is poached but a vast majority of them are,And money is the bottom line.What a shame that your trophy of a lifetime had to die for the dollar.
My take is everytime we hunter's purchase anything but shed's we are promoting the act of poaching because as long as there's a market for them there will be poacher's willing to take the risk to kill the biggest buck's they can find!
I personaly have never bought or sold any deer antler's and never will because my hunting mean's more to me then that.
Sorry about the long post but I just had to vent my feeling's on this subject and will be intrested to know what everyone else think's about this.
 
Amen, Buckhunter. Usually if money is involved in the equation the end result hurts the sport.
 
I agree that the dollar has a lot to do with poaching but to say that a vast majority of big deer antlers sold are poached isn't right. If that was the case then that's saying the vast majority of the Legendary Whitetails Collection that graced the walls of the classic were poached. We all know that isn't true. I'm a collector and hunter. I mainly buy sheds but have on occasion purchased whole racks. The racks I bought here in Ne. had the metal tag on them so I
knew they were leget. Heck, even the Jordan Buck was sold at a rummage sale for three dollars! I'm not familiar with the Iowa laws but here in Ne. we can't possess any Ne. deer unless it has the tag. Thus proving it was a legally taken animal. That means we can't possess any found dead deer also. Not looking for an argument, just my 2 cents worth. Jay
 
I totally aggree with bowhunter u couldn't say it any better.
 
I agree with Jay. I hunt and collect antlers and I would not knowingly purchase illegally taken deer antlers. But making a statement like you did (Buckhunter) is to say the least a little off base. If people didn't collect how on earth do you think you would be able to enjoy all the animals that were at the Iowa Deer Classic. I for one am glad Larry has put together that collection. I may never shoot a buck of that caliber but at least I can enjoy Larry's collection. I'm sure I'm not alone on that. Just my 2 cents worth.

Chris
 
I for one can say I won't buy antlers. If I don't kill the deer carrying them or find them while I'm hiking throught the woods, they don't mean nearly as much. It'd be nice to have a look at them, get a good feel for their size, but half of the value for me is just knowing that I got these because I worked for them.
And don't be too sure that you won't get one, ISHEDHUNT. This is Iowa after all.
 
I may have gotten a little carried away but how many deer would be spared if there was not a price tag on there antler's,If all they were worth were memories to someone.

[This message has been edited by Buckhunter (edited 03-09-2002).]
 
There is one aspect to all this that nobody has yet considered. What if it were illegal to sell or purchase racks? Would this automatically drive down the price of racks. I hardly doubt it. The $1000.00 racks (and there are very few of them) would now be $4-5,000. The black market will see to this. If you want to curtail poaching, then you have to punish the poacher!! Not every innocent person who happens to have a set of antlers that they don't want. Not everyone is a trophy hunter or collector of big racks. The majority of the really big antlered bucks that get harvested eack year are taken by fair chase methods by a hunter who, odds are, is just meat hunting and the antlers may or may not mean anything to them at all. The black market trade of ivory and drugs and guns and pornography are examples of how our laws don't mean anything to a chosen few individuals. As long as I can purchase a license, I should have the final say as to what I do with the animal or its parts. The same can be said about my vehical. My point is this, it is not the hunters fault that there is poaching, it is the poachers fault, and until we stand up and tell our judges that enough is enough, we will always lose animals to a few greety individuals.
 
dc240nt is right. There are slobs in ever aspect of life. They need to be dealt with and dealt with hard. I have never sold or bought a shed or rack. Doubt I ever will when I can find or hunt them myself. Of course after reading millerbuck's rock garden find, can't say I wouldn't spend 20 bucks for a shed off a buck I have been watching and had an interest in. Still get a chuckle out of that story. I could care less if someone else does and each their own on that. I feel the same about antler traps, not my cup of tea, but could care less as long as they don't harm the bucks.

Tim
 
I'm with ISHEDHUNT.Some people's ideas of collections range from diecast,to prints,baseball cards,antlers and vehicles.You can't tell me that anybody on this site, if they were offered to buy the sheds from the ALBIA BUCK for $1.00,that they wouldn't.I would just for the fact that I seriously doubt if I ever get to shoot at nor ever see an animal of that caliber in the woods.Yes this is Iowa,but there are still alot of people that are not as fortunate as others to have ground that
they have the opportunity to even shoot a 150 class deer.Some people only get the chance to hunt public ground,and if you've never had to just hunt that,you wouldn't understand how important it is even to get a shot off at a deer.Sometimes you show up to your "HOTSPOT" only to find gut piles or bloodtrails where something has already been drug out.
SO, I can see where people would want to buy something that could get a cape for,hang on the wall,and admire.
I buy shed's if the price is reasonable.
I think they are cool.
I wanted to mount an elk and put on my wall.With my job,being responsible to be a husband and a father to four kids, I don't know if I can ever get away out west for the one,two or five years of trying to shoot that bull,which in no doubt would awesome,or come up with that much money every year to get the tag,so I opted for the cheaper route of buying some decent sheds,trying to find a cheap cape,and end up with what I was looking for.Besides I would never leave Iowa to hunt Elk in November,no way.I will never lay claim for harvesting this mount,just thought it would look nicer than some HOME INTERIOR CANDLE on my wall.
 
I just say they open a season on poachers! No bag limit. Continous season all year round.
 
It really doesn't matter if selling is legal or not. When things become desirable there are always those that will do unscrupulous things to obtain them. That runs the gamete from trespassing while hunting with a permit in your pocket, to out and out poaching out of season with spotlights, or buying from someone, or hiring someone to. I guess I tend to agree Dcc24Odt. If it is illegal it just drives the price up in the black market.
 
OLETOM asks: "This is just a post to get some general thoughts on the matter of antler sales. In Wisconsin it is illegal to sell venison unless it is raised on a game farm".....the reason most wildgame is illegal to sell is because it is not USDA inspected, all meat sold to the general public must be inspected for health reasons. Since antlers are not eaten a comparison between the two would be comparing apples to oranges.

OLETOM: "Now why isn't it illegal to sell antlers from deer not raised on game farms? Why anyone would want to sell them anyway is beyond me?" .....Oletom, it's because one man's junk is another man's treasure. Fact is, magazines like NorthAmerican Whitetail and events like the Iowa Deer Classic, have raised "antlers" to a level that becomes irresistable to the average hunter in terms of marketing. We all read the magazines and gaze at the pictures....and stand in awe of the Legendary Collection. For everybody that sees these magnificent deer....a desire to have one has been created that didn't exist before....most want one to impress their friends or relatives as to their hunting abilities...pier pressure then drives some over the top to break the rules. Antler collecting is about as normal as collecting Pez dispensers, beer cans, and baseball cards. There will always be those who will try to break the rules in order to profit from it....

[This message has been edited by Rembrandt (edited 03-10-2002).]
 
anyone wana sell me some sheds, let me know if you will i'll buy!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom