Fine imposed for illegal antler possession

PRICE — On March 27, a Hyrum, Utah man pled guilty to the unlawful possession of antlers and was fined $217. The set of antlers with skull attached came from a trophy mule deer buck, which measured 199 Boone and Crocket points. The antler set was forfeited as a result of the court action.

Under Utah law, a person may only possess shed antlers, except those antlers obtained from lawfully harvested animals. Shed antlers are those that have dropped naturally from a big game animal as part of its annual life cycle. These antlers have a rounded base commonly known as an antler button or burr.

In this case, the antlers were picked up in Colorado. "It's a good idea to know not only Utah law but that of surrounding states as well," stated Lt. Carl Gramlich, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. "People just can't pick up anything they see."

This case was successfully prosecuted because of a tip from a concerned citizen. If you see something that appears to be illegal, please call the Help Stop Poaching hotline at: 1-800-662-DEER. Wildlife is our heritage to protect and enjoy. Let's all do our part to protect it from those who fail to abide by the law.

Cattle and Airplanes Team Up to Help Wildlife at Hardware Ranch

Hyrum -- Wildlife biologists are using an old-fashioned but innovative approach to restore habitat for mule deer and other wildlife at the Hardware Ranch Wildlife Management Area.

They’re teaming cattle with airplanes.

Dropping Seed

Two seasons of intensive grazing by cattle has removed much of the cheatgrass on the south facing slopes of Blacksmith Fork Canyon.
Conditions are now ideal to reseed the area with plants that will be perfect for the wildlife that use it in the winter.

The reseeding effort is part of a long-range Division of Wildlife Resources’ plan to restore critical big game winter habitats at the Hardware Ranch WMA, which is 15 miles east of Hyrum.

April 6 marked an important phase in the habitat restoration project.
Airplanes buzzed portions of Blacksmith Fork Canyon that day, dropping nearly $30,000 worth of seed on the ground.

The seed mixture the planes dropped is a special blend of forbs and shrubs. The plants are designed to give wildlife the nutrition and energy they need to survive harsh winters. These plants are also designed to help wildlife transition from their winter diet to spring and summer diets.

Challenging Terrain

As biologists contemplated the best way to restore habitat on the steep, rocky hillsides of Blacksmith Fork Canyon, they could see they were in for a challenge. Using tractors and other mechanical means was out of the question, so they came up with a creative approach: put livestock in the area to graze it, and then follow the grazing by reseeding the mountainside by airplane.

“One of the first things we wanted to accomplish with this project was to minimize the fire danger to the existing winter habitat,” says Ron Greer, regional habitat biologist for the DWR.

“Removing the cheatgrass, which is the main fuel [for fires], will protect the sagebrush, bitterbrush and other species [we’ll be planting here].”

The DWR contracted with Diamond J Resources of Rich County to carry out the work. Personnel with Diamond J Ranches have a solid background in range science and in conditioning cattle to graze steep slopes.

Preparing the Seed Bed

In addition to removing the threat of fire, the cattle that are grazing in the area during this third year of the program have created ideal “safe spots” for seed to germinate and take root.

“These safe spots have soil temperatures that give the seed better chances of growing,” Greer says.

“Ultimately, we want to be able to winter thousands of mule deer, like we used to on this slope.”

For more information, call the Hardware Ranch WMA at (435) 753-6206 or the DWR's Northern Region office at (801) 476-2740.