A shed hunter never knows what they will find. Here, an example of the many shapes and sizes (up to 20 pounds apiece) that antlers can come in. A recent increase in interest and market value has some wildlife advocates concerned. Photo by Tony Hough/USFWS
by Madison Dapcevich
Since he was 8 years old, Jared Steele has taken to the Rocky Mountain backcountry in search of antlers shed by their former host: elk, mule deer, moose. Now, nearly 40 years later, Steele has evolved his passion for “shed hunting” into a lucrative business as an experienced collector and broker.
Steele owns Worldwide Antler Buyer and is what he calls a “middle man” in the antler trading business. Though he’s based in Utah, he travels the country purchasing sheds of all varieties from collectors, including those harvested in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. After buying the sheds, Steele then sells them to bigger companies for decorations, jewelry and, primarily, dog chew toys.
The practice of shed hunting is as old as time itself. Since prehistoric days, antlers have been collected to create hunting weapons and other goods. Modern collectors and enthusiasts around the globe trek across mountains searching for elk, deer and caribou antlers and moose paddles dropped in the first few snowy months of the year when the animals move to lower elevations.
Elk can grow antlers at a rate of about 1 inch daily, sometimes reaching a spread of up to 4 feet across, each antler weighing up to 20 pounds.
One such collector is Keegan David, a Gallatin Gateway resident who has been shed hunting since he was 10. Decades later, David treks into the backcountry with his now 5-year-old in search of shed antlers.
Keegan and his son, Riley Hiker David, hunting horns. Photo courtesy Keegan David
“I’ve been taking my son shed hunting with me on my shoulders for as far as I can hike back since he was 3 years old, maybe 2. He’s the next generation,” said David, who works as a timber-framing contractor. “It’s a family affair. If I’m having a rough day at work or whatever else is going on and I get some time off, I’m heading up into the mountains. Even if I don’t find anything, it doesn’t matter to me.”
For David and others like him, shed hunting is a way to connect with the wilderness and the wildlife that call it home. But the money is also there. While buyers in Asia have historically paid top dollar for antlers as a rumored aphrodisiac, shed hunters tend to be a specific group and the practice hasn’t historically taken off.
But in recent years, social media has spotlighted shed hunting, also known by the misnomer “horn hunting,” driving up interest and prices.
“The trend has picked up, largely because of social media,” Steele said. A search for “#shedhunting” on Instagram returns more than a half-million posts and hundreds of videos on TikTok, collectively garnering tens of thousands of views.
Organizers of Jackson, Wyoming's Elkfest, the world's largest annual auction of elk antlers, according to the event website, display sheds sorting them by color, size, and shape.. Photo by Lori Iverson/USWFS
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Shed hunting season is dictated by the animals’ life cycles. Antlered animals make their way back to higher elevations during the warmer summer months.
Triggered by sunlight and subsequent testosterone production, antlers — branching bone structures not to be confused with horns — grow fast. Depending on nutrition and genetics, elk can grow antlers at a rate of about 1 inch daily, sometimes reaching a spread of up to 4 feet across, each antler weighing up to 20 pounds.
Typically, antlers are shed after the fall rut, between November and April, so the animals can focus on surviving the winter, redirecting nutrients to the body and ditching the extra weight of antlers. Each year, elk, deer and moose lose their racks and begin growing new ones in the spring.
Rodents rely on nutrients found in sheds, like calcium, phosphorus and protein, all of which are beneficial to dogs as well. But humans benefit too. Steele says his shed prices are dictated by supply and demand just like other markets.
A shed David found pictured with his hiking poles and bear spray, which he doesn't leave without after being charged by a grizzly bear in 2023. Photo courtesy Keegan David
Antlers are also subject to inflation and are worth more now than in previous years. Steele recalls buying antlers for around $6 a pound in the early 2000s. Today, top-notch elk antlers sell for about $13 a pound, but they sold at an all-time high of $18 per pound during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Steele, lockdown drove more people outside to pursue new hobbies. Dog owners during this time also turned to antler chews to entertain their cooped-up pets.
Three classes determine the value of antlers. “A” grade antlers are the freshest shed antlers and retain their brown coloring with no cracks. “B” or “C” grade antlers show signs of wear and “chalking,” meaning they’ve begun to degrade and show signs of sun bleaching. Steele notes that antlers usually reach “B” grade after six months of being in the elements, and “C” grade after two to three years.
Adriana Zorilla, public affairs specialist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mountain-Prairie Division, agrees that shed hunting activities appear to increase yearly while antler prices “have continued to rise.” However, this increase in interest and value also comes with an increase in risk to landscapes like those in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and the impacts shed hunters have on local wildlife vary by season.
“As antlers have become commodified, and they’re really expensive, people are seeing dollar signs and shed hunting has picked up in popularity.” – Kristin Combs, Executive Director, Wyoming Wildlife Advocates
“It depends on how far into the spring or early summer shed hunting takes place,” Zorilla said. “Shed hunting can add human disturbance to wildlife, which could contribute to the displacement of species from high-quality forage areas, refugia, calving grounds, and could also cause increased energy depletion due to displacement and additional movement.”
While legacy shed hunters like David and Steele have established a lifelong commitment to understanding the ecosystems they’re hunting in, Wyoming Wildlife Advocates Executive Director Kristin Combs says increasing interest from new shed hunters is becoming a "real problem" for endemic species like bear and elk.
"Commodification of any kind of wildlife just turns into exploitation, and that's what's happening with shed hunting," Combs said. “As antlers have become commodified, and they’re really expensive, people are seeing dollar signs and shed hunting has picked up in popularity.”
An elk, partly through the "shed" with one of its antlers still attached. Photo coutesy Keegan David
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Those backcountry enthusiasts hiking around the mountains also run an increased risk of coming into contact with wildlife. In April, a man who was shed hunting in north-central Montana shot and killed an adult female grizzly bear after the animal “charged him at close range,” according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
In Greater Yellowstone, shed hunting season is determined by each respective state and varies from region to region depending on where animals are located. Because elk and other ungulates head to lower elevations in winter to escape snow, these areas are closed to would-be shed hunters during that time. Generally speaking, shed hunting season opens in early to mid-May in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana and lasts until late fall.
David, who himself was charged by a grizzly bear while trekking through the Montana backcountry in May 2023, says that in certain instances, it doesn’t make sense to throw out a one-size-fits-all blanket approach to regulating shed hunting. Considerations like access, herd size and animal activity should also be factored into decision-making processes.
“I’ve been taking my son shed hunting with me on my shoulders for as far as I can hike back since he was 3 years old, maybe 2. He’s the next generation.” – Keegan David, shed hunter and backcountry enthusiast
Steele agrees, adding that specific shed hunting seasons push large numbers of people into the environment in a small window of time, potentially increasing the risk of disturbance to both the ecosystem and its animals.
Regulations, however, vary across the three states. For example, Wyoming residents can hunt for sheds a week before nonresidents. This year, the state implemented additional regulations on shed hunting to minimize ecological impact and potential disturbance to wildlife due to the activity’s increased popularity, including a numbered system allowing people to enter the landscape at the beginning of the shed season.
“Right before the spring green-up is the hardest time of year for wildlife,” Combs said. “They’re at the end of their winter fat stores, literally barely staying alive before the green grass hits. And any little caloric expenditure they have to make in a day, running from a person or a dog, is needed for survival.”
David's hand with a black bear paw print on the Red Lodge side of the Absaroka Beartooths in Montana. Photo courtesy Keegan David
Nonresident shed hunters in Idaho need a valid big game hunting license to gather antlers, making the state one of the strictest in the country when it comes to horn hunting. Earlier this year, Montana proposed but did not pass legislation regulating shed hunting in the Treasure State, requiring a $10 fee for resident shed hunters and a $50 fee for out-of-staters.
While areas like Greater Yellowstone have implemented seasons for shed hunting, Steele says this has increased the number of people on the landscape in a shorter window. “In my opinion, there are two to three times more people shed hunting now than there were before there was a season,” he said. “It’s actually made shed hunting more like a competition.”
Combs warns that the increased interest in shed hunting may serve as a cautionary tale about the commodification of wildlife resources. “This often leads to corruption and injury to the wildlife resource,” she said.
Zorilla adds that to be a good steward of the environment, individuals must follow regulations for the jurisdictions in which shed hunting is allowed.
“A rule of thumb is to avoid critical wintering areas, migration routes, feeding areas and calving grounds,” Zorilla said. “In general, it is also good to avoid shed hunting during the early morning or late evening hours, when some wildlife species are starting to move around on the landscape.”
Mountain Journal is a nonprofit, public-interest journalism organization dedicated to covering the wildlife and wild lands of Greater Yellowstone. We take pride in our work, yet to keep bold, independent journalism free, we need the support of readers like you. Thank you.
About Madison Dapcevich
Madison Dapcevich's reporting focuses on marine and environmental issues, climate change, and the intersection of policy and natural resource conflicts. Her writing has been featured in Time, Snopes, Business Insider, Outside, EcoWatch, Alaska Magazine, and NBC, among others. Raised on an island in southeast Alaska, Madison is now based in Missoula, Montana.
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