SALT LAKE CITY — Collecting antlers that fall off the heads of deer, elk and moose each winter is a popular pastime in Utah. Before you head outdoors to collect shed antlers, though, you are required to complete the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources’ Antler Gathering Ethics course.
After dropping their antlers, male deer, elk and moose will grow a new set starting this spring. Looking for the shed antlers is a fun activity that your whole family can enjoy. However, late winter and early spring is a tough time of year for deer, elk and moose, which is why the educational ethics course is required if you want to go “shed hunting” between Feb. 1 and April 15.
“During winter, big game animals, especially deer, often have a difficult time finding food,” DWR Law Enforcement Chief Justin Shirley said. “If you spook an animal and cause it to run, the animal has to use up fat reserves and energy it needs to make it through the winter.”
From late winter through early spring, the habitat that big game animals rely on is usually wet, which means it’s more at risk for damage. Fortunately, you can gather shed antlers without stressing the animals or damaging their habitat, and the free antler gathering ethics course will teach you how.
You can find the course on the DWR website. After you finish the course, you must print your certificate of completion and then carry it with you while you’re gathering antlers. If you have young children and you’ve completed the course, your children don’t need to take it if you accompany them to look for antlers — your certificate will cover them, too.
Completing the course is mandatory if you want to gather shed antlers from Feb. 1 through April 15. If you wait until after April 15 to gather antlers, you don’t need to complete the course.
After you’ve completed the course, you can gather antlers almost anywhere across Utah, except for the following areas:
Wildlife management areas: Many of the state’s wildlife management areas are closed in the winter and spring to protect animals and their habitat. Make sure to double check for any closures before entering a WMA to gather shed antlers.
Private property: You must have written permission from the landowner before gathering antlers on private land.
If you find a skull with the antlers or horns still attached, it’s possible the animal was poached. Do not pick up or move the skull or disturb footprints or other evidence at the scene. Instead, please do the following:
Take photos of the skull from a couple of angles
Pinpoint the location of the skull (preferably using GPS coordinates)
Report your find to the nearest DWR office
Provide specific details in your report
The DWR will send a conservation officer to investigate. If it’s clear the animal died of natural causes, you might be allowed to keep your find.
For more information about gathering shed antlers in Utah, call the nearest DWR office.
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Rare black deer in Moab area died of chronic wasting disease
MOAB — Recent test results have confirmed that a unique black deer that became well-known and loved by Moab residents died of chronic wasting disease, a relatively rare, but fatal transmissible disease that affects the nervous systems of deer, elk and moose.
The black deer, known by many locals as Coal, was found dead on Dec. 17 in the yard of a Moab resident. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources officials responded and removed the deer from the scene and did a necropsy to determine the cause of death.
The buck was about 3½ years old, and had a rare melanistic condition, which is created by an overproduction of the pigment melanin and causes the animal to be a dark color. Due to the rarity, it’s hard to quantify the number of deer that have this condition, but it’s estimated to be around 1 in several million — making it even rarer than an albino or piebald mule deer.
“This unique deer touched a lot of people’s lives in this area,” DWR conservation officer Adam Wallerstein said. “Coal is responsible for putting smiles on a lot of faces during his life. The community will feel his absence.”
After the deer died, several residents of Moab rallied together to pay to have him mounted so he could be memorialized. A Colorado taxidermist offered to help cover some of the costs for a pedestal mount. The location for where the mount will be housed is still being determined, but it will likely be displayed in a public building in Moab.
Chronic wasting disease in Utah
The DWR received test results on Jan. 23 confirming the deer died of chronic wasting disease. CWD was first detected in Utah in 2002. The DWR takes CWD very seriously and conducts extensive monitoring each year to stay on top of the disease and its prevalence in the state. The recently updated and approved Mule Deer Management Plan includes a section that addresses ways to slow the spread of the disease in Utah.
CWD is caused by a protein particle, called a prion, that attaches to the brain and spine. It has been compared to bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cows, which is often called “Mad Cow Disease.” Infected animals develop brain lesions, become emaciated, appear listless and have droopy ears, may salivate excessively and eventually die. Infected animals can shed prions in urine, feces and saliva, and transmission may occur directly through contact with an infected animal or indirectly through environmental contamination (for example, a dead carcass can spread it to the soil).
Moab is part of the La Sal Unit, which is one of six hunting units that have deer which have tested positive for CWD. The disease is not widespread throughout Utah, and is primarily found in a few counties in central and eastern Utah.
Since July 1, 2019, the DWR has confirmed 15 positive CWD deer statewide. Five of those, including Coal, were in the La Sal Unit. There have been 1,500 deer sampled since July 1, 2019, and 60 test results are still pending.
