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For the past 30 years, Neil Trotta and his family have enjoyed collecting antlers shed by deer and elk on their property near East Canyon.

Sometimes Trotta sells the antlers to a dealer he knows in Colorado. His home is decorated with lamps, candle holders, even a peace pipe made from antlers which deer and elk shed during February and March.

But with a new regulation prohibiting antler collecting in the Division of Wildlife Resources' (DWR) northern region from Feb. 1 through April 30, Trotta and others like him must wait to get started.

"You can't do it May 1," said the Utah landowner. "By May 1, the grass has grown and the sagebrush is growing and filled with ticks. The antlers have turned brown. It's hard to find them."

Trotta said he called the northern region DWR office in Ogden and asked about the penalty, if he were caught. He was told it depended on the judge that handled the case, but it could run as high as $2,500, with a five-year suspension of hunting rights.

The collector got bad information. According to the DWR's office in Salt Lake City, collecting antlers would be a Class C misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $750 but the usual fine for a ticket of that type is $100.

DWR assistant director Alan Clark said the regulation was enacted at the recommendation of a group looking at why deer herds in the Cache unit in northern Utah were struggling to reach population objectives. Fawn survival is a major concern.

Because the antlers have become valuable, Clark said, more people are searching for them. Some use all-terrain vehicles and drive off dirt roads, damaging habitat and, potentially, stressing fawns. There are reports of people chasing elk from vehicles, hoping the bulls shed their antlers.

"The concern is the disturbance of the animals," he said.

There were also legal questions.

All wildlife, whether it is on public or private land, is considered property of the state. But it took an attorney general's opinion to determine a shed antler could be regulated by the wildlife board.

Ernie Perkins, chair of the northern region wildlife advisory council, said while a few antler hunters protested, the group recommended the regulation to the wildlife board to see if it would help struggling deer herds in the Box Elder and Cache units.

"Too many deer are dying over the winter and especially fawns before being recruited into the population following spring and summer," he said. "Folks have a choice. Do you want to destroy habitat and watch herds dwindle down as the population and number of vehicles increase? It's time to sit down and make hard choices."

Utah law says "shed antlers and horns may be possessed at any time and there are no restrictions on their barter, trade or sale. In contrast, antlers or horns that are attached to the skull plate must have been legally harvested or purchased. The owner must keep a transaction record which includes the name and address of the hunter, his permit number and the date of purchase and sale. Antlers and horns of legally harvested animals may only be purchased or sold between Feb. 15 and July 31.'' The DWR said that regulation discourages the unlawful harvest of big game simply for the trophy value of their antlers and horns.

The northern Utah closure began this year. Wildlife officials say there is a chance the antler collection closure could spread to other parts of the state in future years.

Other states are also struggling with the issue.

In the Cody, Wyo., area, for example, wildlife officials reported in a press release that at least two bull and and one deer were poached for their antlers. Wyoming's Game and Fish Department is reconsidering the enforcement of interstate game tag laws that regulated the possession of certain wildlife parts.

Because of the popularity of items made from antlers, some wildlife law enforcement officers worry that animals might be poached for their antlers with meat being wasted.

Boy scouts have collected elk antlers on the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyo., for years and have sold them at a special auction in the town square on the third Saturday in May. But the refuge's Ann Blakely said the U.S. Forest Service has had a winter closure on lands surrounding the refuge until May 1, when access is then opened.

Some cultures believe antlers have medicinal powers, but Clark said most of those collectors believe the antlers must come from animals in the "velvet," when antlers are growing. A number of commercial wildlife ranchers saw off the antlers for these uses.

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* TOM WHARTON can be contacted at wharton@sltrib.com. His phone number is 801-257-8909. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib.com.

Illegal antlers

Antlers still attached to a skull plate, such as those shown at left, may not be picked up and could be evidence of poaching. Wildlife law officials should be contacted when these are found.

The penalty varies but a judge can fine violators up to $750.

Legal antlers

Antlers with the knob on the end and not attached to a skull plate, such as those shown at right, are legal for people to pick up, except during the closed season in Utah's northern region (see the Big Game proclamation for boundaries).

In the northern region, new rules prohibit picking up antlers from Feb. 1 to April 30 - a prime time for shedding but a potentially precarious time for fawns.