Winterkill Ethics????? I have a dilemma

mtnwrunner

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 2, 2012
Messages
3,887
Location
Lowman, Idaho
Winterkill Ethics????? I have a dilemma..UPDATE WITH PHOTOS

So........................it has been a really bad winter here in Idaho and I have never been around a large winterkill before this year.
Like most of you, I always look and keep track of wildlife throughout the year and I know that it is part of nature but man, it has been really disheartening watching the deer and the elk die.
Recently we have been getting rain and warmer weather so a lot of the slopes now are getting bare. This one area where about 30 head of elk had been hanging around, is now bare and today I spotted a brown spot up on the hill which looked like an elk. I got out the old truck binos and sure enough, its a dead bull elk. I got to looking around the hillside and man, it was sick. It is littered with dead elk and they are just lying there dead from starvation.
So, my dilemma is--------do I leave them as is or do I go and harvest some horns and ivories??? Now, most of you don't know anything about me but I live by what is right and wrong and man, this just kind of seems wrong. It is totally legal here in Idaho to possess game parts if it was natural which this obviously is so it boils down to???? I ran this by a couple of buddies whose opinions I respect and they feel the same way but one of them said, "what would you do if you just came across a dead elk while you were out hiking?" And I would take what I could in that scenario but this just seems different to me.
Now, others will also eventually see this and I know that if I don't do it, someone else will but that doesn't really matter to me---how I feel is what matters. I figure I have about a day to decide what I should do.

What would YOU all do?

Randy
 
Last edited:

MtnMuley

WKR
Joined
Jun 11, 2016
Messages
548
Sounds like the motto's I live by as well. If the remaining elk have moved back up, I see nothing wrong with going and collecting. If it meant disturbing the remaining elk, no way. It isn't your fault mother nature took her toll........
 

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,247
Location
Corripe cervisiam
Randy,
I don't know the legality as that might be an issue....but salvaging parts seems honorable to me.

It might be illegal....here is the way it was explained to me by a warden in XX western state; Some unscrupulous folks will shoot an animal out of season or without a tag and stash it and come back to recover it later.
 
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
471
Well, I can see your dilemma, but they are already dead. Make lemonade if you can.
Maybe you can use the horns/ivory in some manner to benefit the herd in the future? Donate any money gained to the cause?
Sucks to see for sure, but that is nature...
 

Ryan Avery

Admin
Staff member
Joined
Jan 5, 2012
Messages
8,639
What a shitty year! If you're not pushing deer or elk out of there. I would go get them. They certainly don't need them anymore.
 
Joined
Oct 12, 2013
Messages
1,148
i would not have a problem doing that, they are sadly dead and it sure wasn't your fault.
Beendare . people really do that?
that is disgusting.I mean really disgusting, The reason I would have joined the DNR.Police
 
OP
mtnwrunner

mtnwrunner

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 2, 2012
Messages
3,887
Location
Lowman, Idaho
What a shitty year! If you're not pushing deer or elk out of there. I would go get them. They certainly don't need them anymore.

No, I certainly would not go after them if there was any alive but there is literally no food left so I think that the survivors wandered off. The one good thing is that as I was glassing, I spotted a really nice elk shed that was up on the ridge. SO.............tomorrow, I am going to go after the shed and whatever else I can salvage from the dead ones------roksliders replies have helped me in my decision to salvage what I can.

As always, thanks.

Randy
 

SLDMTN

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
Messages
1,383
Location
Palmer, AK
If I was faced with a similar situation, I would harvest the horns (if legal of course) then retreat a distance away, burn a few days of leave and wait for paws to show up.
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Messages
503
Location
South Dakota
Post some pictures. Would really enjoy seeing what you collect. Unfortunate to have winter kill like that but it is a natural event. Only thing you can do now is reap the benefits of putting in the time finding them.
 
OP
mtnwrunner

mtnwrunner

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 2, 2012
Messages
3,887
Location
Lowman, Idaho
Post some pictures. Would really enjoy seeing what you collect. Unfortunate to have winter kill like that but it is a natural event. Only thing you can do now is reap the benefits of putting in the time finding them.

I will post some photos. Going to head up there tomorrow and see what I can find. I've got a couple of fields down from my house and there were 4 deer in there the other day dead. They had their heads on their legs and it looked like they just laid down, went to sleep and died.
Like I said, I've never been around this type of winter and now I know......it sucks even though its part of the cycle.
Now if it was people lying out there, I wouldn't feel so bad...............Kind of kidding...... (22 year law enforcement career makes one just a wee bit jaded)

Randy
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2013
Messages
1,111
No, I certainly would not go after them if there was any alive but there is literally no food left so I think that the survivors wandered off. The one good thing is that as I was glassing, I spotted a really nice elk shed that was up on the ridge. SO.............tomorrow, I am going to go after the shed and whatever else I can salvage from the dead ones------roksliders replies have helped me in my decision to salvage what I can.

As always, thanks.

Randy

Interested in seeing what you find Randy!
 

robtattoo

WKR
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
3,294
Location
Tullahoma, TN
If it'd salve your conscience any, you could always collect the antlers & sell them, then donate the money (possibly significant...) to the RMEF or State wildlife division.
Just a thought....
 
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
7,407
Location
S. UTAH
I would probably collect them. The donation idea is a great one.

That said I cannot imagine seeing that kind of die off. I have never been around it and it would break my heart to see. I hate seeing animals "wasted", even though it is part of the cycle and they feed something. It still feels like they died for nothing.
 

elkguide

WKR
Joined
Jan 26, 2016
Messages
4,606
Location
Vermont
As long as you're not disturbing any survivors and as long as IF&G doesn't want your license and money if you grab them..... get them before someone else does and share the pictures with us.
 

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,247
Location
Corripe cervisiam
i would not have a problem doing that, they are sadly dead and it sure wasn't your fault.
Beendare . people really do that?
that is disgusting.I mean really disgusting, The reason I would have joined the DNR.Police

Thats what a GW told me....I can't verify. I did witness a guy shoot a nice 7 point bull in Arizona appx 22 years ago. He proceeded to cut off the rack and cut a 6" hole in the bulls chest....then took the rack and walked away. I cut him off, asked him about the rack which he said was a dead bull he found..[total BS] so I marked the spot on my GPS, drove an hour to town [pre cell phone]and then waited a couple hours for the GW to show and walked him in there....killed my whole day in a primo draw unit.

I checked a year later and the guys lawyer got AZ to drop charges....my only instance of blatant disrespect for game animals...and the whole thing left me even more ticked off. I still remember the guys name [he's probably 75 now] Laverne from Louisiana
 
Top