(Image: Wyoming Game and Fish Department via YouTube)
In many cases there’s nothing worse than the confluence of commercial enterprise and hunting and angling. In the case of the wildly popular pastime of shed hunting, there’s money involved and it’s getting ugly.
Given the popularity of shed hunting, some of the best areas in the country can be picked clean within a day or two of the open season. Unless of course, you can beat the crowds.
Illegally stashing or ratholing shed antlers in order to make a quick buck is a strategy used by many violators, particularly in the west. Those looking to gain an edge on the competition will head out into the prime elk country and area’s like Wyoming’s National Elk Refuge a day or two ahead of the opener and stash as many antlers as they can find.
Bozeman’s Joshua Anders Rae is no stranger to line jumping or the art of ratholing. In an attempt to boost sales at his now defunct dog chew business, he was busted back in 2019 and again in 2021.
Rae was on probation for his earlier offense when he was most recently caught hiding antlers in May of 2021 when he was caught by officials from the US Forest Service ahead of the legal season in Bridger-Teton National Forest.
According to the US Forest Service, the accused pleaded guilty in US District Court last month. For his first offense, Rae was slammed with an order to pay $15,000 in restitution to the Wyoming Fish and Game Department. He was also slapped with a 5-year worldwide ban on hunting and is banned from entering the National Elk Refuge, Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park for five years.
He was charged under President McKinley’s Lacey Act – an impressive piece of legislation signed into law in 1900 – that now strictly prohibits the transport and sale of illegally taken wildlife.
The news comes just before this year’s season is about to kick off. Wyoming’s season has been pushed back until May 15th in an attempt to not distress herds after a late influx of winter weather earlier this year.
