My point is, I can be fined for picking up a shed. That is it, end of point!
It was a news story I read and found to be incredibly stupid.
We are dealing with stupid on the east coast too. They are shutting whole beaches down to fishing, because a plover or an oyster catcher has a nest in a sand dune.
It is a whole rant. They complain about a shed hunter ruining a wintering spot, but they will level 1000's of acres for new homes and then complain when a coyote eats fluffy. We can't put a scratch on a tree or cut a single branch while climbing, because it "might" kill a tree, but they cut down 1000's of acres to make wood for house that are taking away habitat.
What I’m saying is that there are people in the mountains here that can disturb animals. The act of picking up the antler does really change anything. Unless a person is tracking the animals, anyone can disturb the elk. Not just shed hunter cause stress. We just saw this with the orange debate. Hunters where orange but not hikers, bikers or anyone else. If the woods are closed, close them for everyone.
Hikers, bikers, and hippies stay on trails in winter. They don't go cross country in winter in specific areas they KNOW animals are in to find sheds.
The rule isn't intended to stop the poor OP who decided to go to Colorado for vacation, and on a walk on a nice winter day in an area where elk don't winter, and he randomly finds a three year old shed. He gets to the trailhead with it and he's tazed and his truck taken, and hunting privileges revoked for life...
The rule is intended to significantly reduce the amount of cross country human traffic in areas that elk and deer winter (and in some cases raise young), WHILE THEY'RE THERE, due to SHED HUNTERS.
No one is being persecuted or singled out here. Would eliminating ALL traffic in these areas during this time be more effective in reducing stress on the animals? Of course. So would nuking the entire human population. I don't think we're doing that, although the odds go up by the day recently...
Winters are hard on deer and elk, and they're harder when people walk cross country all over wintering ground. You know who does a whole lot of that? Shed hunters. People specifically targeting areas that deer and elk winter to find sheds. This isn't a casual hobby. There's tens of thousands of people who treat it like a job when they're out there. This is an effective measure at reducing traffic.
We can argue how effective it is. But saying that CPW isn't doing this based on evidence puts the onus on YOU. Show me how much impact hikers, bikers, and hippies staying on single track during winter, because they're too wimpy to plow through waist deep powder, impact deer and elk numbers. Show me how banning shed hunting during the winter/early spring months DOESN'T positively correlate with herd health.
If you can't do that, you're just whining that the CPW only cares about money. The CPW is made up of a whole bunch of people who care significantly more for the environment than most hunters. How do I know this? They make peanuts to do their job. It's a government institution. They can't profit from it. It's a bizarre premise to begin with. And the evidence to support it is even more head scratching.
I'll make a deal - if you decide to go to colorado for vacation, and stumble across a shed on a trail you're walking on, randomly, as in not purposely out there going cross country shed hunting, and are somehow stopped by LEO, and that individual issues you a citation and takes the shed, I'll pay your fine. In return, I ask that the complaints about something most of us here know little about, stop.
