I’m getting spring fever. It’s been a mild winter here in NM and we saw a young bull elk a couple days ago next door to us that only had one antler.

Does a mild winter in NM promote early sheds?

Still a bit early IME.

Just about thirty days early still. Earliest I’ve found a shed was February 26 and didn’t find another till about a week after. Usually my first is March 3-4

Good advice!

Don’t be that guy that goes in early and bumps the bulls out.😂

An older find to get us in the mood.

I second that! 😬

I’m gonna live up to my dumdum moniker here and ask:

Is this in the context of “don’t wander around public land and push bulls onto private land before the bulls drop their sheds”, or is it sum’tin else???

Start in March

Not really. Sometimes there will be a several people watching a group of bulls on a certain hillside, valley, park etc and someone will go in early bump them out of the area and they’ll leave the country, then no one gets the brown gold. At least not easy pickings.

Stay the hell off winter range. Leave the elk and deer alone until Spring.

Seems there always has to be that one group.

Still an off year as far as where they are at.

This is north Idaho, but I am still seeing elk with horns on their heads yet.

That makes sense, I’ll wait til about mid-March before looking for sheds.

Agreed. But the majority(not all) of NM doesn’t have typical winter range that northern states have. Mild winters let the wildlife fare better. Especially this year.

I wish they’d come down to “winter range”.

The group we found last weekend can’t get any higher.

My neighbor in Payson. Az had a bull visit yesterday.
Fortunately he was in the next door property. Knocked the bird feeder down, ate all the seeds, and then turn over swing set, picnic table, broke clay pots. Yes his antlers were still on and apparently holding well.
This was near the middle of the town too. Usually 3 bulls like to visit every year. Wonder where his friends were.,

Last year, we hunted earlier, in April (Central Wyoming)......found 1 6X set and many broken-off tines.

The local game warden would prefer the west side laws apply there as well.

It's always great......driving 14 hours.....to find no sheds and see so many bulls, horns intact.

They call them antlers over on ExpertNation.com

Saw this, seems apt to post here:

New article about hunting sheds in New Mexico.

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/n...eeb9438-af7b-11ec-a04e-eb4410199093.html

My buddy found these right adjacent to your stomping grounds last year. He guides and never saw the bull. Given an average inside spread the bull was a little over 400”. Unreal find for northern NM

That’s a bull right there. I’m a touch over a hundred already but nothing like that. One on these days