Take a white male westerner who likes nature and exercise and makes pretty good money.
There’s a good chance he travels to partake in one of his favorite springtime pursuits. And he’s pretty darn good at it, snagging an average of 45 antlers annually if he’s the type who hits the road. He’s generally not one to sell the treasures he finds — at least not many of them.
Statistically speaking, those are some of the core elements of the prototypical shed antler hunter in western Wyoming.
Shed antler gathering, which has grown evermore popular, is a scantly-regulated activity that’s relatively poorly understood and generally lacking in academic inquiry. University of California-Berkeley PhD candidate Sam Maher, who’s studying the costs and benefits of living with migratory animals, saw an opening. In 2023 she began the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Antler Study, a two-year survey supported by the Buffalo Bill Center of the West and National Geographic.
Preliminary results are now available.
Some of the findings surprised Maher, who studies under UC-Berkeley professor and seasonal Wyoming resident Arthur Middleton.
“The data didn’t really support this narrative about the out-of-state people being these crazy profit-driven folks,” Maher told WyoFile. “Profit-seeking behavior played a smaller role than I anticipated.”
The perception of out-of-state professionals flooding Wyoming every spring partly prompted new policies that put non-residents at a disadvantage. Starting in May, Wyoming residents will have a one-week head start on finding the elk, deer and moose antlers waiting for the taking on public land. Non-residents will also need a $21.50 conservation stamp. The changes emanated from the Wyoming Legislature, and the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission is scheduled to review the revised regulations at its Cheyenne meeting on Tuesday.
Maher’s research suggests that the pending rule change will significantly impact the springtime antler rush, decreasing pressure on public land. Her survey, targeting the regulated Pinedale and Jackson antler-gathering areas and unregulated Cody area, netted 170 complete responses. Of the horn hunters drawn to those areas, their place of residence was roughly split down the middle with 52% identifying as Wyoming residents and 48% as non-residents.
Notably, the survey suggests that Wyoming residents with newly heightened interest may fill the void during the week non-residents are excluded.
“We asked people if they had changed their behavior, to reflect this increase in the popularity of the sport,” Maher said. “A lot of in-state residents, about half of them, said they shed hunted either in different places, or less. And so when you take the out-of-state folks out of the equation, it could be that a lot of those [residents] will come back to places they used to go.”
The GYE Antler Study also paints a socioeconomic profile of the typical shed hunter.
The average age for both residents and non-residents was in the 30s. More than 97% of respondents identified as white. For non-residents, 91% of participants were men. Women were more inclined to partake among Wyoming folks, constituting 23% of the in-state crowd. Wyoming resident shed hunters were generally wealthier and better educated than their out-of-state counterparts.
The survey also explored motivations. Non-residents were slightly more profit-driven, with 23% of respondents agreeing that money was a draw. Some 14% of resident shed hunters made the same statement. When it comes to actually selling antlers, around half of both residents and non-residents reported they’d turned sheds into cash — an average of $2,238 in the biggest year.
No matter the zip code, antler hunters were largely motivated by spending time in nature with family and friends and getting exercise.
Non-residents were both better at antler hunting and better at boasting of their finds on social media. Out-of-state survey respondents found an average of 45 antlers in the past season, more than doubling residents’ average 20-antler haul.
Roughly 80% of both residents and non-residents perceived that shed hunting had grown more popular since the COVID-19 pandemic. The figure was a whopping 95% when judging popularity over the last 10 years.
That boom in the pursuit has led to mistrust and conflict, the survey showed. About 45% of both residents and non-residents reported having been in a conflict or known someone who had a conflict with another shed hunter. And more than 40% of both cohorts perceived that most shed hunters engaged in illegal activities to gain a competitive advantage.
Perhaps the biggest split that Maher detected between in-state and out-of-state shed hunters was their perceptions of the new Wyoming regulations: the one-week resident head start and requirement for non-residents to carry a conservation stamp. More than 81% of Wyoming residents approved, while just 22% of non-residents favored the change.
Review Maher’s full survey results below.
Interesting. My study came up with a very different outcome. I’m further south from where the author’s study took place. Last year on May 1 (opening day of shed antler hunting season), I decided to count the number of nonresident vehicles compared to resident vehicles; much like I had done the previous 4-5 years. I counted 54 vehicles from Utah and Idaho, with a few other states mixed in (mostly Utah by far). I counted 5 vehicles with Wyoming plates, including mine. When you consider most of those nonresident vehicles contained at least 2 or more people, those numbers add up in a hurry. Of course resident shed hunters will be more likely to go shed hunting this spring! We’ve been being pushed out little by little over the past several years by an ever-growing horde of nonresidents that don’t seem to have much consideration. Many have totally given up the shed hunt due to the increasing nonresident numbers. Welcome back to shed hunting, fellow Wyomingites!!
Are the Jackson Boy Scouts still gathering the horns on the Refuge and then having the well attended buyers action from Asia bid on lots. They used to rake in $60,000 back then.
Thank you, that explains what I was wondering about in my previous comment. I’ve been hearing the $60K figure touted by a conservation group as a reason more shed hunting regulation is needed, but it sounded like it was private individuals making that kind of money shed hunting on Forest Service. But $60K from the National Elk Refuge for the annual Boy Scout auction – now that makes more sense.
I guess I’m one of the small contingent that shed hunts for physical activity, the thrill of the hunt and to make a little cash.
I hike and so many of the really successful hunters ride horses. They can go farther, see from a higher perspective, and and will go faster than I ever could. Expensive hobby though (horses).
Interesting study and I personally am glad it has slowed out of state people. Ive watched both locals and others go out long before they are supposed to. They can hunt on private after all. They camp on public land far from prying eyes.
I enjoy it enough that I go every spring!
I recall the antler sale in Jackson, 1992, when the Asian market for “medicinal” uses was booming. High prices, bidding wars among the foreign buyers. Maybe Viagra put antlers out to pasture? Also recall the case of the rogue horn hunter who collected probably 200+ pounds, loaded them and himself onto his inflatable rubber raft, and attempted to shoot the rapids out to Gardiner, North Gate. They found his body and some of his booty.
So, I’m guessing the Boy Scouts are not part of the antler hunt anymore?
It’s interesting that Tables 16 and 17 show the mean total amount earned by a Wyoming resident in their most recent year of shed hunting is only $268.07, and nonresidents, $503.05. I see other figures elsewhere stating that people are making tens of thousands of dollars each year while shed hunting. That’s a huge difference.
Fascinating. Thanks to Mike and all of the researchers for the data!
Super important research that will help guide meaningful policymaking in the future about an activity that has the potential to impact wildlife during a time of year when they are at their most vulnerable (“winter weakens, spring kills”). Hope to see these questionnaires expanded to include more people within and beyond Wyoming in the future.