March. 2010 - Oregon Shed Hunters

w w w.O r e go n S h e d Hu n t e r s .c o m
V o l um e 5 , I s s ue 1
J a nua r y - M a r c h. 2 0 1 0
O REGON S HED H UNTERS
5 T H A N N UA L
OSH GROUP SHED HUNT
High Country
Taxidermy
The 5th Annual OSH Group Shed was held
March 6th, 2010. It was another successful turnout with about 50 people attending and about 50
sheds found! Troy and I would like to thank all of
you who where
able to attend
and make it
successful.
This was our
first year in a
new location
and we think
most people
really liked the
area. We had
plenty of public
land to spread
out on, which
was not only
good for us shed hunters but also good for the
deer and public resources. We will continue to
locate new areas to hold the group
shed hunts so that one area is not always the focus.
As with past years we had shed
hunters join the gathering from all
parts of the state including Eugene,
Burns, Tillamook, Medford, Lakeview,
Salem area, and most of the Central
Oregon towns. Again, thank you to everyone that traveled
to join us!
Rabbit‟s Foot
The weather was
great for a day of
hiking. The shed hunting was
decent with most folks finding
at least something of interest
(if not a shed) like an old can or
bottle, or a real rabbits foot, or
how about a pair of gloves.
Considering the mild winter
that we had, and consequently
the scattered nature of the sheds, we had pretty
good results.
The hunts yielded several nice four points,
several brownies, lots of year-old sheds, quite a
bit of chalk, and
several “seed”
sheds that weren‟t
worth hauling out.
Most folks put in a
good 5-7 hours of
hiking.
At 5pm we all
met up back at
camp and OSH
barbequed hamburgers and hotdogs for the potluck dinner. As the
sun was starting to
drop rapidly in the sky, OSH gave away prizes in
several categories. Categories included the most
sheds found (for 12 years of age as
well as for adults), biggest shed
found (male, female and kid), smallest shed found, most chalk, farthest
distance driven, most sheds found,
etc. Prizes included several custom
framed photos compliments of
Camerguy's Photography, Danner and
Leupold hats,
OSH hitch
plug, Cabela's
mini tools and
knife, Danner
flashlights, binoculars
and binocular straps, Gerber and Danner decals,
and more. Everybody that
was present after the barbeque received some sort
of prize. OSH would like to
thank all of our sponsors
Continued on page 2
Or e g o n S h e d H u n t er s
ww w . Or e g on S h e d H u n t er s. c o m
Page 2
but especially CameraGuy Photography,
Leupold, Nosler,
Danner, Gerber, Cabela‟s, and State
Farm for donating
prizes that helped
make this event successful.
Jeff (CameraGuy)
and his wife Gayle
devoted assistance!
After the prizes were all
awarded most people sat around
the campfire and told stories.
About thirty people stayed the
were presented with
a Special Thank You
Award ($100 Nosler
gift certificate, OSH
night and some went
Hitch Plug, new OSH
shed hunting on Sunday.
hats, and $50
What a great weekend of fun! OSH met a lot of great
Sportsman”s Warepeople and truly apprecihouse gift card) for
ate everybody's support.
single-handedly
We look forward to next
keeping the OSH
year!
web-page updated
and running
smoothly for us over the past several years. We truly appreciate their help and couldn't keep OSH running without their
U P DA T E
ON THE
STORY
AND
W OLVE S
PHOTOS COURTESY
OF
IN
OREGON
ODFW
In early February of this year, ODFW staff collared three wolves from the Imnaha pack, which will aid wildlife managers better track
and understand the pack‟s movements. On Friday, Feb. 12, a 115-pound wolf believed to be the alpha male was fitted with a GPS
collar, which allows ODFW to collect multiple locations of the wolf each day. A 97-pound male was
fitted with a radio collar during the same operation and a 70-pound female pup was radio-collared
on Saturday, Feb. 13.
“The wolves were in good body condition and the capture went well,” said Russ Morgan, ODFW wolf
coordinator.
These wolves were all collared in the Imnaha Wildlife Management Unit and are part of the pack
featured in a video taken Nov. 12, 2009 east of Joseph, OR. Based on the evidence so far, Morgan
believes this pack consists of 10 wolves, five of those pups.
Back in January 2008, the alpha female of this pack, B-300, was confirmed to be the first wolf to enter Oregon from Idaho since the
early 2000s. She was captured and re-fitted with a working radio collar in July of last year, which helped ODFW find the three newlycollared members of the pack.
While the size of wolf packs can vary, breeding usually occurs only between the dominant or “alpha” male and female of the pack.
In addition to the Imnaha pack, ODFW continues to track a wolf pack in the Wenaha Wildlife Management Unit (also in Wallowa County). None of these wolves have been collared yet, but wildlife
managers have repeatedly found sign (tracks and scat) from these animals and estimate there are
four wolves in this pack.
The Imnaha and Wenaha packs are the only known wolf packs in Oregon, though ODFW continues to
find evidence of individual wolves dispersing through the state.
Wolves in Oregon are protected by the state Endangered Species Act (ESA). West of Highways
395/78/95, wolves are also protected by the federal ESA.
Or e g o n S h e d H u n t er s
ww w . Or e g on S h e d H u n t er s. c o m
Page 3
2010 BIGGEST SHED CONTEST PRIZES!
The prizes for the 2010 Biggest Shed Contest have been
announced and posted on the OSH website. A huge
“thank you” goes out to our sponsors for coming through
with some very outstanding prizes for the 2010 season!
Be sure to check the OSH webpage for any potential
updates on these prizes as we are still working on some
sponsorship items. Remember that the contests are open
to sheds that have been found in any given year, not just
2010. So you can enter a shed that you found several
years ago.
Also, remember that this year has a little different
set-up compared to past years. It will work like
this. The top shed entry for each of the five categories (mule deer, blacktail deer, whitetail deer,
roosevelt elk, and rocky mtn elk) will go into a
drawing for the top five „slam‟ prizes. This will
eliminate the need to rotate the Big Prize (typically
from Leupold, like the $1250 Switch-Power binoculars) from category to category each year. The
top entry from each of the five categories will have
an equal 20% chance of winning the Big Prize.
OSH Top Five „Slam‟ Prizes
Leupold Gold Ring 10-17 x 42 Switch Power Binoculars ($1250)
Elk Shed Floor Lamp from Hamiltonantlerart.com ($800)
$600 at High Country Taxidermy
Deer Shoulder Mount from Out West Taxidermy ($450)
Danner Pronghorn Boots ($200)
Mule Deer
1. Drawing for a „Slam‟ Prize
2. $150 to High Country Taxidermy
3. Cabela‟s Camo Day Pack ($100)
4. $50 Danner Gift Card
5. $50 Sportsman‟s Warehouse
Blacktail Deer
1. Drawing for a „Slam‟ Prize
2. $150 to High Country Taxidermy
3. $50 Danner Gift Card
4. $50 Sportsman‟s Warehouse Gift Card
5. OSH Hat and T-shirt
Whitetail Deer
1. Drawing for a „Slam‟ Prize
2. $50 Sportsmans Warehouse Gift Card
3. $50 Danner Gift Card
4. Deluxe Cabela‟s Camo Scoped Rifle Case ($40)
5. Gerber Multi-Tool and Travel Mug
Roosevelt Elk
1. Drawing for a „Slam‟ Prize
2. $150 to High Country Taxidermy
3. $100 Nosler Gift Card
4. $50 Danner Gift Card
5. $50 Sportsman‟s Warehouse Gift Card
Rocky Mtn. Elk
1. Drawing for a „Slam‟ Prize
2. $150 to High Country Taxidermy
3. $100 Nosler Gift Card
4. $50 Danner Gift Card
5. $50 Sportsman‟s Warehouse Gift Card
High Country
Taxidermy
Or e g o n S h e d H u n t er s
ww w . Or e g on S h e d H u n t er s. c o m
Page 4
N E W OSH S P O N S O R S
OSH is proud to announce the addition of three new
sponsors for the 2010 season! We welcome Hamilton
Antler Art, Jess Messner Branch of State Farm Insurance
and High Country Taxidermy. With the addition of these
three sponsors we are able to function at a higher level
than previous years. We would like to thank these sponsors for their generous support to OSH. If you get a
chance, check out what each of them has to offer you!
lege it is to spend the time that we do, with friends and
family in the desert and high country God created...we
are truly blessed.”
HIGH COUNTRY TAXIDERMY:
Located in Albany, OR, High Country Taxidermy offers
competition quality work at a reasonable price. Owner,
Matt Schilling, will tell you that he takes pride in his work
HAMILTON ANTLER ART:
whether it be re-creating your trophy bird, fish, deer, elk,
Hamilton Antler Art is focused on providing highquality service and customer satisfaction. They are com- antelope, moose or other big game to creating custom
mitted to meeting your expectations. With a variety of
habitats that capture the memorable scenery of the
offerings to choose from, Hamilton Antler Art is sure you hunt.
will be happy with their work.
If you are looking for a European mount or bleached
They carry a wide range of products to suit a variety of
skull,
go no further. High Country Taxidermy has used
budgets and tastes. Elk antler floor
several methods over the years and has pinpointed the
lamps start at $450 (shown here),
procedures necessary to produce the cleanest and whitwhile elk chandeliers and mule deer
floor lamps start at $700 and $95,
est skulls around. Give Matt a call at 541-401-3543 for
respectively. Call or visit their webthe latest prices on all your taxidermy needs.
site, Hamiltonantlerart.com, for more
information on products, current promotions and custom options.
Here are a few words from the
owner David;
“Shed hunting has become a great
passion of mine. It first began as a
way to get out of the house on a
weekend, to get back into nature and
enjoy God's great beauty. It was a
great way to spend my winter, to
keep in shape, waiting for hunting season to come
around again next fall. It gave me an opportunity to scout
out different areas, to study the habits of deer and elk
and to confirm that the 'big guys' are there, whether you
see them or not.
Like with any day spent out hunting, each of my days
spent shed hunting sent me home with a story. Every
horn unique in it's own way, each picture writing it's own
story. It was each of these stories that inspired me to try
to capture the beauty and essence of what we love, and
bring it into my home. Not just as a pile of horns in the
corner of my garage, or a set of sheds mounted on my
wall. It inspired me to try to build a work of art, as unique
as the sheds that create it.
I always think that there's no way anyone could love
this as much as me, but I know that everyone reading
this story is here for the same reason. What a true privi-
Or e g o n S h e d H u n t er s
MOOSE
ENTER
ww w . Or e g on S h e d H u n t er s. c o m
OREGON,
SO ARE
GRIZZLIES
Page 5
NEXT?
In November of 2008, Richard Cockle with the Oregonian Newspaper wrote the following article. We thought it was quite interesting and thought it was worth a rerun if you hadn‟t already seen it.
ENTERPRISE -- Oregon's only moose herd now numbers more than 40, and the presence of moose sometimes means grizzly bears
are soon to follow.
Northeastern Oregon's swelling moose population could prove increasingly tempting to the mighty silver-tipped bears, said Michelle Dennehy, spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The region has adequate habitat for 10 times the
number of moose now living here, she said.
But some biologists argue that grizzlies have no way of knowing that Oregon's moose are here. Chris Servheen, grizzly recovery
coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Missoula, Mont., is among those who don't expect grizzlies to show up any time
soon.
"I think it's unlikely we are going to get any back in Oregon in the near term," he said.
Among the reasons: Central Idaho has no grizzlies, while migration routes from established
habitats in northwestern Montana and Washington's North Cascades are blocked by urban
development, highways and broad swaths of open farmland, he said.
But the wild card is that solitary grizzlies may already be wandering in and out of Northeastern Oregon from time to time.
June Colony of Lostine believes she encountered a grizzly while tending sheep in Hells Canwww.nationalgeographic.com
yon of the Snake River in 1973. After a nighttime attack on her flock that left a sheep and
a lamb dead and another badly injured, a gigantic, tawny-brown bear strolled through her camp in daylight, she said.
When it passed on the opposite side of her walk-in tent, it was so big she could see its back and the distinctive hump over its
shoulders above the canvas, she said.
"There was no doubt in my mind what he was," said Colony, whose flock was on the Oregon side of the Snake River. "I had been
around bears a lot, and I was out in the woods all the time."
ODFW biologist Vic Coggins of Enterprise says reports of grizzly sightings have been coming out of Hells Canyon on the OregonIdaho boundary and the adjoining 560-square-mile Eagle Cap Wilderness for 40 years.
The snag is, not one sighting has ever been verified, he said. ODFW biologists have never even found a footprint of a grizzly.
Coggins recalls a three-year period when ODFW biologists examined 80 bears spanning a color spectrum from cinnamon to blond,
brown and black. All were black bears, and Coggins concluded that finding a grizzly that has wandered into eastern Oregon "is possible but unlikely."
While the presence of grizzlies in Central Idaho may be in dispute, no doubt exists that they are elsewhere in the state. A man living near Tetonia, Idaho, along the western boundary of Grand Teton National Park, survived a mauling in April 2007. The offending
grizzly was protecting a moose carcass.
Five months later, a 400- to 500-pound grizzly was shot in north-central Idaho's Selway Bitterroot Recovery Area, where grizzlies
were believed extinct, by a hunter who mistook it for a black bear.
About the same time, the Moscow, Idaho-based conservation group, Friends of the Clearwater, announced it had reports of grizzlies in Idaho's Bitteroot Mountains dating to the late 1990s.
Servheen said those reports, when checked out, always involved black bears, not grizzlies.
ODFW biologist Pat Matthews of Enterprise said solitary moose now are scattered across Wallowa, Union, Umatilla and Baker
counties, while a "core herd" of roughly 40 is north of Elgin. Biologists aren't sure how many are in Oregon, he said.
Given patience and luck, moose sometimes can be viewed by driving Forest Service roads or floating the Grande Ronde River between Minam and Troy. A bull moose recently was spotted along Hurricane Creek near Enterprise and Joseph, said Matthews.
Moose have generally been welcomed, but grizzlies are likely to get a mixed reception.
"The fear factor definitely comes with the critter," said Wallowa County Commissioner Mike Hayward of Enterprise, who worries
about potential human-grizzly encounters in the Eagle Cap Wilderness and Hells Canyon, or even nearer to the region's small
towns. "You get a grizzly bear in a place like Wallowa Lake State Park, and you've got a problem," he said
Or e g o n S h e d H u n t er s
ww w . Or e g on S h e d H u n t er s. c o m
Page 6
SHED CHIK’S® CORNER
OSH would like to be the first to introduce the Shed Chik® clothing line for
2010. Currently the clothing line features hats, but will soon include t-shirts and
sweatshirts. Shed Chik herself, Teresa, is the owner of the clothing line and is an
avid shed hunter and outdoor enthusiast.
The Shed Chik® clothing line was developed to focus on the woman shed
hunter and outdoor enthusiast and has been designed to be worn on the hunt, or
anytime and anywhere. Visit the OSH webpage (www.oregonshedhunters.com)
and click on the merchandise link to view and order products. Be sure to also
check out the new Forum thread titled "Shed Chik's Corner". Stay tuned as
Teresa has more to come in the near future!
®
W E B PA G E Q U I C K S TA T S
AS OF
4/20/10
151,350—total hits on the webpage since January of 2006
Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, California, Wyoming, Washington—
states with OSH members
38—most users on the chat forum at one time
14,800 number of posts on the forum
9.66—average posts per day on the forum
380—number of registered users on the forum
Top five forum posters (excluding OSH):
1. Tree Killer—880 posts
2. Hornhunter—806 posts
3. OSUlogger— 700 posts
4. Cameraguy—638 posts
5. Horn-hog—618 posts
Or e g o n S h e d H u n t er s
THE
ww w . Or e g on S h e d H u n t er s. c o m
Page 7
I N FA M O U S A R T O F C R E A T I N G A T R O P H Y
- BY ROB TANNER
At one time, elaborate hoaxes weren't all that common in dropped out.
the antler and hunting world. However, in the early 1980‟s
It wasn‟t until 1983, when B&C verified the 333 7/8monster deer and elk stories, photos, and magazine images point "Missouri Monarch," found dead in 1981, as the new
started to hit the streets. Most antlers were bigger than
mark to beat. The Texas deer fell to No. 2 in the B&C
most hunters had ever imagined, much less seen. Ordinary rankings and began to fade from the spotlight.
hunters became famous “hunting stars” over night with such
Flash forward to 1996, when someone felt that the
trophies.
wrong Texas rack had been left in the record book. With
And so the game was on to become one of the few
the permission of the owner of the two racks, an X-ray ma“hunting stars” by way of bagging a monster animal. But to chine was brought in. And in fact, suspicions were correct;
what extent does one go to become a “star”?
the wrong antlers had indeed been taken out of the book.
Flash forward to today and we can see to what extent
That 286 0/8-inch rack was indeed a set of sheds and the
some guys will go. In today‟s hunt284 3/8-incher was on a skull plate.
ing world it is very difficult to accept
Due to these revelations, B&C
the legitimacy of any photos through
lowered the score of Texas' old No. 1
the email system or even a rack
non-typical to 284 3/8, making that
that you have handled. The reason
the deer's official mark. Today, the
you ask? Well, one is that technolonly place you'll find that old Texas
ogy has allowed us to create conbuck's larger set of antlers listed is in
vincing fakes. And two, there are
the record book of the North Amerimany ordinary hunters out there
can Shed Hunters Club, where it
that want to become a star, no matstands at No. 2.
ter what it takes, even by way of
Yes, an X-ray is a great way to
trickery. For these reasons, both
check a rack's authenticity, or lack
hunting and fishing trophies come
thereof. But a more common probunder intense scrutiny, especially
lem with using X-rays is getting the
on abnormally large animals. Are
antlers into the path of the X-ray
those antlers a work of lag bolts and
beam in the first place. The difficulty
epoxy, or a high-tech PhotoShop
generally doesn't lie with the equipjob, or a combination of both?
ment, but with the rack's owner.
When in doubt, a machine found
The first case of this sort occurred
in every doctor or dentist‟s office
in the 1980s, with a rack that, while
can settle the debate. A metal dehuge, was of less than world-record
Outdoor Life, 2009
tector can also be used to tell if
size. The hunter in question, Owen
screws, wire or other such materials have been used to
Walton, said he'd shot the deer in his home state of Ala"build" a rack or attach sheds. But such a device can't rebama on Jan. 28, 1986, that scored 187 6/8. There were
veal the presence of resins or other non-metallic materials
even field photos of Owen with the buck to back up his
and that is why, if there's reason to doubt the authenticity of claim.
a rack, it's best to X-ray it.
However, after the stories started appearing in print,
X-raying has actually been used to check the validity of
there came a stunning claim that the rack was actually a
racks already in the record book. The most noteworthy inset of sheds picked up 100 miles to the east in Georgia.
stance was in 1996, and it involved a former world-record
The story goes that the sheds were “borrowed” in 1983
non-typical from Texas.
and later claimed to be stolen. Now they were sitting on
The buck was purchased by Albert Friedrich back in the
the head of deer that had claimed to have been shot.
1890s, and it had been part of the trophy collection in his
The original owner of the sheds said the rack could be
San Antonio museum ever since. In 1955, the 49-pointer
identified by some scratch marks made by a harrow havwas scored at 286 0/8 net points, easily making it the world ing run over the sheds as they lay in a field. And sure
record. And another buck in the collection with a remarkably enough, the official measurer had noticed those scratches
similar 47-points, scored 284 3/8 net. These two bucks
while scoring the deer. When the hunter was asked to get
were now No. 1 and No. 2 in the World, using Boone and
the rack x-rayed, his story was that he sold the rack to an
Crockett. But eventually, someone realized that the racks
antler collector. The rack has never been seen again and
were just too similar to have come from different deer. One was presumably destroyed. In late 1987, B&C rejected
had to be shed antlers, and so the 286 0/8-inch rack was
Owen's entry.
left in the B&C record book, while the 284 3/8-incher
So ended one of the strangest tales in whitetail history.
Or e g o n S h e d H u n t er s
ww w . Or e g on S h e d H u n t er s. c o m
As for the buck, it seems no one ever got him. Thus, in a
novel way, he became one of the few bucks ever to achieve
fame without giving his life to do so.
In 1998 another similar story played out. This one involved a buck rumored to have been arrowed by Mitch
Rompola in Michigan, on Friday, Nov. 13. The buck was
rumored to beat Milo Hanson‟s 213 5/8 Saskatchewan
buck, the B&C world record and the 204 4/8 buck Mel
Johnson had shot with his bow in 1965.
When the news broke, hunters everywhere wanted to
know more about the buck. But after the initial flurry of
"information," details were even harder to come by. As a
matter of fact, less than a week after the reported harvest
of the buck, Mitch got an
unlisted phone number and
dropped out of sight. The
rack never was entered into
any record book, though in
early 1999 three measurers
scored it at 216 5/8 net
points. At the time of scoring,
the antlers were already attached to a head mount and
the skull plate was not visible.
Some who doubt the
deer's legitimacy focus more
on Mitch rather than on the
animal. Among other things,
they note that he has a criminal record, which they say proves he isn't credible. They
say the fact that he never entered the rack into B&C means
it must be a fake. Well actually he couldn't enter it into P&Y
even if he wanted to, as his bow exceeded the maximum
65 percent let-off allowable by P&Y. They say that even
before Nov. 13, 1998 he had a detailed plan to profit from
killing a No. 1 buck, meaning this likely was all just an
elaborate scam.
There are many reasons why folks have become highly
suspicious which include antler coloration, gap between the
burrs, an abnormally large indention on the skull plate (just
right of center in the photo), drooping ears (indicating that
the original rack was removed and a fake one inserted for
photo purposes), blood on the right ear only adds to that
suspicion, and the symmetry is unprecedented for a deer of
this class. The two sides are virtual mirror images of each
other, which isn't the case with any other known rack of
similar size. When we combine these suspicions with the
fact that the measurers couldn't see the underside of the
skull plate most tend to get suspicious.
Had Mitch simply taken the rack to a local dentist or
doctor's office for X-raying, he could have at least proven
that his buck was legitimate. And, he would have come
away with at least a little bit of compensation for doing so.
Two of his most vocal critics in Michigan each had put up
$10,000, which they said Mitch could collect if he'd just
have the rack X-rayed and enter it into B&C. But not even
that could spur the man into action.
Page 8
These points are enough to make most folks suspicious
that the Rompola buck is a fake. But suspicions are one
thing, hard evidence something else. Lacking proof that
the Rompola buck was bogus, most people finally just
moved on. It seemed there never would be any sort of closure to the story, because Mitch kept refusing to remove
the clouds of doubt.
But in the end, he did make what is believed to be a telling move. Milo Hanson's business associate, John Butler,
grew weary of the unsubstantiated claims about
"Michigan's new world record." Those claims were making
it hard for John to book the Hanson buck display into hunting shows, because many show producers were under the
assumption that the Rompola
buck was real and bigger than
Milo's certified record.
Finally, John gave Mitch's
crew an ultimatum: Prove the
deer is real or tell everyone
operating on your behalf to
quit calling it the "worldrecord typical." Faced with
the threat of legal action,
Mitch quickly signed a settlement in which he agreed not
to enter his deer into B&C as
long as Milo has the world
record. Also, per the agreement, Mitch can not refer to
his rack as a "world record." He can't even publicly display it
or a replica. And it is worth noting that Mitch received no
money in return for signing away his right to enter the rack
into B&C. This proves nothing, but most believe it bolsters
the claim that he didn't have a potential record to begin
with. Just another story for the books.
So...should all antlers, horns and skulls be X-rayed before being accepted into B&C, P&Y or any other record
book, whether they're potentially No. 1 or not? Should
those already in the books be subjected to this level of
scrutiny as well, to make sure they're the real deal? If this
were done, I'm sure we'd keep some sheds/altered antlers
out of the books, but I also guarantee we'd find that some
have made it in already.
There are tens of thousands of racks and sheds on one
or more record lists, from B&C and P&Y on down to Oregon
Shed Hunters. No way could we test, or even find, all of
them. And even if we could, should we question the integrity of every hunter who signs off on his or her trophy as
legitimate? Would polygraph testing be next? Although the
honor system we now use doesn't always weed out the dishonorable, mandating lie-detector tests would seem onerous and potentially devastating to hunting's public image.
We have to be able to trust each other, but with stories like
these it makes it difficult to do so.