Shed Hunting Rules by State: Where, When, and How to Hunt for Antlers Legally

Every spring, big game animals drop their antlers in preparation of regrowing them for the coming year. It truly is amazing to see a giant bull elk drop his massive antlers, and know that those antlers will grow completely back over the coming months. This also presents a time for antler enthusiasts to take to the mountains to gather up these antlers. However, for several reasons, game management departments have put regulations on when and where these antlers can be gathered. In this article, we’ll review the regulations in several of the major western states so that you can pick these beautiful trophies up legally and show them off to your friends.

Utah

In my home state of Utah, shed hunting is a big deal. Hunters come from all over to gather some true trophy antlers from the state. Luckily, the shed hunting regulations for the state are pretty straight forward. To pick up sheds between January 1 and May 31st, hunters must possess an antler-gathering certificate. To obtain this certificate, hunters are required to complete an ethics course to help in reducing wildlife encroachment. After May 31st, hunters can gather antlers anytime they please, and no certificate is required.

There are a few things to note with Utah. If a skull with antlers attached, also known as a “deadhead” is found, do not touch the skull. Call the Utah DWR and give them the coordinates of where the skull is located. Once the biologists are able to assess the skull, there is a chance that you’ll be allowed to keep it, but you must follow the proper procedure. Also, antlers can be sold and purchased if found in Utah, as long as it is not for commercial use.

Colorado

Colorado is another state that is quite straight forward with shed antler gathering. It is prohibited to gather shed antlers west of I-25 from January 1st to April 30th. Starting May 1st, anyone can gather antlers legally throughout the state. Hunters can also gather antlers any time of year on public land east of I-25; however, the problem is there isn’t much public land on the eastern side of Colorado.

Wyoming

Wyoming’s shed gathering season is significantly more complex than the two states listed previously. Wyoming has gone through several changes over the past decade as it relates to shed hunting, but it has also had the largest impact of winter kill to its big game population.

Wyoming breaks down its regulations by collection areas, and each of these areas has different closure dates. I will add a link here for you to go to see the detail of each area. To demonstrate an example of these closures, we will look at collection area number 1. For Wyoming residents, collection area 1 is closed to shed hunting from January 1 until 6 a.m. on May 1. For nonresidents, it is closed from January 1 to 6 a.m. on May 8. This give residents of the state a week to shed hunt before nonresidents are allowed to do so. Each collection area has unique rules and regulations, so if you’re going to Wyoming, you must know these regulations.

Arizona and New Mexico

Arizona and New Mexico are two of the most ideal states to hunt shed antlers due to no regulations associated with the actual gathering of the antlers. Of course, trespassing and road rules must be followed.

Montana

There are some amazing areas to hunt sheds in Montana. It provides some amazing opportunities. Similar to other states, on most public land, there are no date restrictions that will limit your shed hunting enjoyment. However, you cannot collect antlers on state park lands. Also, wildlife management areas (WMAs) prohibit shed hunting prior to May 15th.

Idaho

Residents of Idaho can gather shed antlers without any permit or license. However, nonresidents do have a requirement to purchase a big game hunting license to be able to gather them. This license is also required to purchase any big game permits in the state, so most hunters that go to Idaho will purchase this license anyways.

An important item to note for Idaho is that they can do have regular closures for certain areas. Shed hunters need to be sure that they know if any closure is in place for the area they are going to prior to hunting.

Shed hunting can present a new challenge for hunters and give them an excuse to be in the mountains more. If you’re looking for tips and tricks to be a better shed hunter, check out the podcast that we did with one of the best in the business. Ben Dettamanti, also known as Shed Crazy.

Are there any states that we didn’t list above that you’d like to see added to the article? Please send us a message on our website and let us know.