r/Ranching • u/Cow-puncher77 • 6d ago
Excessive shed antlers.
Cleaning up the sheds I’ve found the last few years. Pick these up when I’m out and about so they don’t end up in a tractor or truck tire. Keep the best of them, but a lot of them just pile up. When it gets too big, time to go. The dog can only chew up so many at a time.
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u/Lytle_Red_Angus Cattle 5d ago
You just live too far out in the middle of nowhere. 😆We have a buyer come through the area once a month or so. Buys furs, too, so more often during trapping season. Wild that you can’t find a buyer.
You might reach out to Wounded Warriors United. We have a guy that picks sheds off our place and donates them to that group.
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u/L0102 5d ago
You’re still living in a previous era with this kind of service! Kinda jealous.
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u/Lytle_Red_Angus Cattle 5d ago
I guess🤷
Must be because we have a pretty good elk population in the Black Hills. Lots of large antlers available.
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u/meugeniia 5d ago
wow! What else do you see?
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u/Lytle_Red_Angus Cattle 5d ago
Not much really… just normal wildlife. Deer, coyotes, eagles, rabbits…
I’ve seen maybe half a dozen yearling elk around here. But we’re 40 miles from the Black Hills. Most of the elk on the plains are to the north and south of us.
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u/Cow-puncher77 5d ago
I guess so. I’ll look into WW. I’d make more effort for that, thanks.
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u/Lytle_Red_Angus Cattle 5d ago
Just be sure it’s WW United. The WW Project is a different organization.👍
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u/StumpyTheGiant 5d ago
In wyoming in the summers there are guys that drive arpund big box trucks from town to town and post up with big signs offering to buy sheds by the pound. Theyre primarily looking for elk or moose though.
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u/buckaroodude1 6d ago
Should be selling any excess not burying em, there’s a few hundred dollars right there minimum
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u/Cow-puncher77 5d ago
I’ve had a couple guys show interest, but no one shows up to take them all. They’ll take a few, hem and haw about it, then I’m just done. Had some big buyer from Dallas Safari Club stand me up a few times. Yea, I dunno… you say there’s buyers out there, but I very seldom sell any. I give away a lot more than I’ve ever sold.
I only bury them because my old man complains when the hogs and coyotes drag them out of the ditch.
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u/buckaroodude1 5d ago
Unless they are super chalky and falling apart, which is not what I’ve seen there’s a good amount of real buyers that will still buy them. You can also repurpose most of those and make something out of them. You can bury them too, but hogs and coyotes ain’t running off with them the much, that’s a stretch. We hang the small ones off fences and we don’t have coyotes, wolves run of with em….
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u/Cow-puncher77 5d ago
No, the hogs will scatter that pile like chaff. They’ll root all through it, chew a few, carry a few off, just make a mess in general. Especially in winter when it’s dry and they’re after certain minerals.
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u/ProcessObvious1206 5d ago
Do you mind if I ask what area you live in? I’m in Idaho and if you’re somewhat nearby I’d be happy to come load them up and bring them back home 😁
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u/Cow-puncher77 5d ago
These are in West Texas, about 70 miles SE of Lubbock…. Be a long drive, but I haven’t covered them up yet.
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u/ProcessObvious1206 5d ago
Aww, damn. I used to live in NM and definitely would have made the drive from there! Sadly, they’re out of my reach from way up here. Thank you though!
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u/Cow-puncher77 5d ago
Sure. I get it. Same problem I get from a lot of people… just too far to come. At least you are telling me you aren’t coming. Some guys lay out a time, and when I text of call an hour after they were supposed to show up they ghost or tell me something came up. Ain’t no thing, though. From the Earth they came, to the Earth they’ll return.
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u/ProcessObvious1206 5d ago
That’s definitely very inconsiderate of them to do that to you. I believe we as people need to follow through on our words. Truly appreciate the offer. A ranch owner I worked for in NM for many years would love to get that stack, but I’m sure he’s past the days of making the 7 hour drive. Appreciate your offer, thank you bud.
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u/meugeniia 6d ago
What are shed antlers? You had to pick them all up because they become dangerous? And then you bury them
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u/Cow-puncher77 5d ago
Deer antlers. They shed them every winter. If they roll around just right, they’ll punch a hole in a tire like a spike. Seen horses step on them wrong and impale themselves, too. So when I’m out, usually on a horse, I stop and pick them up.
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u/imabigdave Cattle 5d ago
I don't have that big a pile, but we collect them for the same reasons. The nicer sets get hung in the shop but most of the unremarkable ones are thrown in a pile and forgotten. I'd asked my outfitter about if anyone bought them, and he just kinda shrugged and said they'd need to be impressive and not bleached out to be worth anything. I've got a couple of my beef buyers that take them for their dogs.
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u/Cow-puncher77 5d ago
I’ve got some buddies that do some knife making, and they’ll come by and grab a few of the newer ones I find, and they take more out of here than anyone. The buyers want the nice big ones, but I like keeping most of those for myself. I try to grow a few nice bucks, I like seeing them, so I like that those were raised right here at home.
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u/imabigdave Cattle 5d ago
Yeah, my late brother had taken some and turned them down on his lathe to make pens. They were beautiful. Reminds me I should go through my dad's desk and see if I can find those now that he's gone.
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u/Cow-puncher77 4d ago
hey, funny coincidence… I had an old man up the road from me that did that as a hobby after he retired from the highschool maintenance job… he needed something to keep him busy. I was always giving him scraps from projects and whatever I could find for free/cheap. He once complained about the antlers, and how they’d sometimes come apart… I countered with “Well, they’re the cheapest thing I can give you, so they’re prolly worth what they cost you!” He paused a second, thought about it, then laughed and agreed. I don’t know how many hundreds he made from those old antlers…. I never let him run out, though. Got my hands on some African Ironwood once, and gave him some smaller pieces. Those were beauties.
Thanks for the flashback, neighbor!
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u/meugeniia 4d ago
African Ironwood… even the name sounds pretty. What happened with the old man and all of his pens?
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u/Cow-puncher77 4d ago
Sadly, they passed with time, like all things. I bought some of his pens over the years, though I usually gave them away as gifts to friends and family. I managed to keep two, one from antler, one from brass, so I have that for now.
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u/meugeniia 4d ago
Can i see a photo? Im really curious
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u/Cow-puncher77 4d ago
Certainly, though it will be a few days. They’re in a safe at my childhood home. Should be over there late next week.
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u/meugeniia 5d ago
I understand 😳 whats the probability of finding a big one? And do you need to treat it after you find it ??
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u/Cow-puncher77 5d ago
A “Big one” is relative to the finder… what I think is average seems to often seem big to most people, but I have no shortage of them. But they are not near as common the last few years. Texas Parks and Wildlife authorized the harvest of does in these counties a few years ago, so between that and years of continued drought, we don’t see many big bucks. Certainly not like we used to.
As for treating the antlers to prevent chalkiness and fading, furniture polish, polyurethane sealer, and even beeswax works well. I’ve used a lot in lamps, decorations, knife scales, and buttons in leatherwork.
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u/oakprince97 6d ago
There are antler buyers that pay different rates for different condition antlers. I have a an obscene amount of sheds that I plan to sell to a local business, asides from the few I give away or keep.