I always seem to struggle with leaving evidence of sex attached, especially with cows. What do you do for a bull/cow? What do you differently if you are boning it out as opposed to loading it in the truck and bringing it back to the meatpole at camp?

If it's a cow (or doe) coming out whole, the easiest way is to just leave the head attached until it's butchered.

I agree that it can be kind of a pain leaving the genitals attached when quartering one up, as it gets everything hairy, and I've come awfully close to accidently cutting them off before. If totally boning one out, I'll leave the genitals attached to a big chunk of hind quarter meat, just to be safe.

"naturally attached" is the key wording in nearly every state.

for bulls, one testicle attached to the inguinal ring on one side will suffice (think testicle plus 2-3" of the vas deferens)

for cows, a 2x2" patch of udder skin +/- a piece of mammary gland (this would be messy if she were lactating but we all know that no lactating cow has ever been shot in the history of man so this is pretty much a non-issue)

Utah, how would I do that for a cow? Are you saying if I have her whole, just leave the patch from her belly?


Any tips/trick for the nutsack? When I'm gutting, any maybe it's my haste but down low everything gets messy (pooling blood, etc.) and I often end up taking everything out. Should I focus on securing them first, or getting the bulk of the guts out before securing the male sex since most everything will be out of the way?

if you're quartering or set up to remove the elk whole or in halves, it's easiest to do first thing.

centerline skin cut > pealing penis down as you go > evert scrotum (inside out) and free testicle from scrotal ligament > push it to the side.

cows are pretty much the same > midline skin cut > circle around small piece of mammary gland > leaves a 2x2" patch of skin + udder off to the side.



then proceed to either gut or gutless quarter.

Buddy of mine says he carries a used condom as evidence of sex .

You must read the regs for whatever state you are in. Some say to leave the teat skin patch attached to the carcass or one of the skinned quarters. NM has you literally scalp the cow by cutting around the ears in a continuous cut. This shows there were no antlers. DYODD

Off subject a bit but, can anyone explain to me why MT requires evidence of sex on an either sex tag? Seems pointless to me. As far as quartering goes, I just leave the whole nut sack (technical term) attached to the hind quarter and then throw a plastic bag on it and zip tie it on. Luckily, I seldom need to quarter stuff, eastern MT is more friendly to pickup retrieves.

It depends on the state. Here in Idaho, I get rid of the testicles and leave a few inches of penis attached to the meat. I get rid of everything with hair. With cows, you can cut around the vulva and leave it attached to 1 quarter. I always use the gutless method and take off the haunch leaving the long bones in unless I'm backpacking them. I have llamas, though, and they can handle them with the bones in.

+1 on everything but the llama part. LOL.

Frankly I think this prof of sex stuff is bull crap! I hate it, nope don't like it either, but ya gotta do what the man says.

I don't carry bone any more so I just leave a the sex organ attached to one ham (hair and all) and get it off as soon as possible!

Who ever came up with this law is an idiot in my opinion! I only shoot bucks and bulls so having to leave a piece of sex on my ham just disturbs me.

Cheers, Wild Bill

I basically leave the "boy parts" attached to a 6-8 inch circle of hide, then skin that back so I can get a plastic bag around it, then tape that tight. Mostly keeps the hair off and meets the law 'cause it is attached.

I'd have to re-check our (Oregon) laws ... I think for in-state, having the head attached to a front (duh) quarter would meet the requirement as well. For bringing one across the state line either direction, I don't think that's true. May have changed since I looked last though so don't trust me on that .. I don't.

The reason they do it .. at least as explained to me .. is people shooting several critters, then using the same head, thrown in the back of the truck, to bring the critters out one by one.

Tom

But TOM isn't that why we have game officials in the first place...to catch the folks that do illegal stuff. Most of'em like to brag about what they do so it should be fairly easy to catch the idiots.

I for one would never knowingly do something illegal. So why do I have to leave animal junk on the meat I want to eat? I guess that's where a few bad apples spoil it for the rest of us law abiding citizens.

We got checked last Idaho season and had two bulls in camp the first afternoon. What a rodeo, one of our hunters carried out the scrotum unattached, the other had the penis attached (I did that work). But the other guy carried out his horns so we had all the meat, one scrotum and one penis, one set of horns. We were well on our way to getting a ticket when the younger of the two officers asked if we had pictures. We were saved by cell phone pictures. We shot two more bulls the next morning and sure enough the wardens came by again but didn't stop in - we had both of these done right.

I shot a cow elk in South Dakota, they required I carry in the head - go figure, who here has ever eaten cow elk head?

Idaho's regulations do specify that the evidence must be ATTACHED to the corpse. It's not a hard rule to follow.

A former co-worker boned out a deer. He left the entire penis attached to 1 quarter and bagged it with the penis sticking out the top. At a check station, the game warden picked it up by the penis and asked if they had evidence of sex. Most guys leave the scrotum attached and I guess the game warden wasn't familiar with a skinned out penis.

Bad apples ALWAYS spoil it for the folks who just want to quietly go about their business following the rules. Eventually they stir up the do-gooders who think more rules is the answer to people not following the rulesz we'z alreadyz gotz.

However .. you said game officials. Side thought. I'll be 50 some time later this year. In my entire life, I've had my fishing license checked twice and my hunting license checked once. That's not enough game officials to deter anyone at all, it leaves the honest people to be honest 'cause that's how they are anyway, dishonest people to be dishonest 'cause that's how they are anyway, and nobody to change behavior because of threat of being caught. If I was the sort to do it, and found a couple tight-lipped conspirators, I could poach the CRAP out of things without any concern about getting caught. There are no consequences here other than my own conscience.

Tom

At first I left the hairy scrotum but learned a skinned penis is a better plan, no hair in with the meat.

In Colorado just go watch the gutting video on the DOW website. Appears to me they just leave the udders attached to a large piece of meat. Same on the bulls they just leave the sex attached to a large piece of meat. As long as it is naturally attached you should be ok. But watch their video and give the DOW a call to make sure.

The only time I've ever been checked in the field by the DOW in 15 years of hunting in CO, I had a bull (cut up, in coolers) with no evidence of sex attached.

I'd arrowed a bull and he ran off in some thick oak brush and it took a while to find him. By the time we found him, a big bear had gotten there probably just a few minutes before we did. I say "probably just a few minutes before we did" because the bear only had time to eat a small part of the carcass, which was the evidence of sex that I needed to leave attached. Went right for the Rocky Mountain oysters as it were.

So I took a bunch of photos of the purlonied groin, and one of the big pile of bear scat next to the bull's head. Later that day back at the truck with coolers and antlers in the back, the DOW officer pulled up. I was sweating bullets, thinking of what I was going to say, but he didn't ask to see the carcass, just checked my tag.

That would have been an interesting conversation.

Wyoming no longer requires evidence of sex to be attached. So if it is an either sex tag you don't need it but if you have a tag that does require it you just cut off a little through it in a zip lock sandwich bag and you are good to go! Make things a lot easier when you are boning out a critter. A few years ago the Local warden in my town busted some Utah guys that had shot two bulls and a cow but only had one bull tag and two cow tags. They had left the head on the cow cut the head of one of the bulls and sewn the cows utter on the bull with fishing line.

If the regs say "until you start to process the meat" or some such, then bone the elk out, that is processing.

Wouldn't work in Idaho:

On the last bull I shot, we backpacked out quarters bone in and hide on. I left the tip of the penis attached to a quarter which worked fine at the game check station. The only thing the nice FWP lady commented on was my attaching the tag to the rack. According to her, that's okay when they come out whole, but when in pieces, they want the tag attached to the largest piece. She cut my tag off and re-attached it to a hind quarter and told me that is how they want it done.

Our proof in Texas is similar. Most wardens don't even really know what the regs say, as everyone tags the antlers and then cuts the head off...

I had one get his ticket book out already years ago. I had the tag zip tied to a hindquarter in a cooler and the head in our freezer without tag.

I had to get the TPW book out and read it to him, it is a CARCASS tag, not a head tag. Once head is severed it stays with carcass.

Luckily we don't have to leave anything attached, but when I've been in that situation I carry ziplocs as another poster noted... leave whatever in place and cover most with ziploc. I even go a hair further and run a long zip tie over the bagged/attached parts, poked through the hindquarter to make sure the tissue may not separate in the backpack etc

Uh..... Care to show me that in writing?

Haven't got the regs in front of me right now, but he's right, Wyoming law no longer requires evidence of sex be naturally attatched. I quized a warden about it last fall before my moose hunt and he told me to either carry out the antlers or the testicles, no need for them to be attatched. He explained that leaving them attactched is no longer necessary becuase all thier cases involving the sex of the animal use DNA evidence in court.

That's why I want to see it in writing. The latest regs I looked at still say "attached to edible portion."

Guess my google was bringing up old versions. Latest on G/F page says accompany and not attached..

I've never understood much of it. I don't know anyone that shoots a buck/bull by verifying it has a nutsack, yet often horns ain't proof.

Yeah you can keep hauling the same head and rack back and fourth to the bush many times before it rots on you.

If it ended up in court, they'd have a hard time proving that the tag wasn't on the largest piece. How do they measure 'largest'? If its by weight, a hind quarter would win. It it's by length, the antlers would win. Just saying largest doesn't describe it.

Honest warden....A bear ate the sex evidence I had hanging in a tree.

That's exactly what I've done to meet the "evidence of sex attached" requirement.

It's a carcass tag, not an antler tag, at least in CO. To make it easier on yourself and the WCO,attach the tag to the piece of carcass that has the evidence of sex on.

"To make it easier on yourself and the WCO,attach the tag to the piece of carcass that has the evidence of sex on." ----My routine practice, and I have passed through a lot of check stations with no issues in this regard. CP.

Probably has to do with antler point restrictions, so if you have a bull, you need the horns to to show it was a legal bull. At least that's how it is here in CO.



They are in CO, as long as they're attached to a whole carcass.

Good point - hadn't thought of it that way and will do it differently next time.

Canada also has the 6 point trophy hunt for elk in certain provinces. That is 6 points each side. The head must be with the body.

Idaho regs just say that the tag must be attached to largest part of the carcass. They don't say how that part is determined to be the largest. And, yes, antlers are part of a carcass. While the term carcass is often used for an animal slaughtered for food and with the inedible parts removed, it's also commonly used for a whole dead animal. If the state doesn't define 'carcass', they'd have a hard time making stick a citation for a tag on antlers.

In Alberta, if the animal is quartered or otherwise butchered in the field, the tag must be attached to the same hind quarter that has the evidence of sex. You have to dig pretty far into the fine print to find that out, but it's there. And the tag is a sticky piece of tough paper around a metal clamp that's impossible to change from one quarter to the other if you forget and screw up.

Idaho requires that the tag be attached immediately after the kill. That can only be interpreted to mean before you dress it. If the tag can't be switched to a different part, it might be very difficult to determine exactly what part will end up being the biggest. Idaho's tags are made of a plasticized paper that you attach with a thin wire. The paper is very tough stuff.

In CO, the regs say you have to immediately detach your tag from the license, punch the date and sex, and sign it. But you can keep it in your wallet while you're field dressing and packing it back to camp or your vehicle so you don't lose it. Not many know that. Once you get it to camp or vehicle, then the tag has to be attached.

Yep Smokepole. That is the reg. Also, if you leave the animal in the field ( maybe to go get a pack or a pack animal) ,you must tag it, but tag may be removed once you begin to transport it back to camp or pickup or?

Yup.

In Oregon It gets more complicated when transfering a piece of the animal to another person. Say I want to give a hunting partner a hind quarter. It must have proof of sex attached. I also need proof transporting my portion home. He heads out with transfer letter signed by me and hind quarter with balls hanging. I head home with antlers attached to one front shoulder to meet the requirement. Since I do not want to pack a complete head out, I leave a jaw tendon attached to skull cap, the jaw tendon also connects to shoulder down the neck. It gets more complicated when you transfer to 3 people headed out in 3 rigs, in 3 different directions.

I used to do that, but what happen to my buddy stopped me from doing it anymore.

My bud shot an elk, and did just what you said. When he got back to the animal three hunters were skinning the elk. He claimed it was his elk, and had tagged it. They laughed at him, and said they had shot the elk. Of course my buds tag was nowhere to be found. Being three against one. He didn't push the issue.

From then on I started to skin the elk out, tag it, and take the backstraps back to me Jeep. If someone tries to claim my elk. I'll call a warden, and show I have the backstraps. Thieves are busted.

An added bonus is if a bear gets the elk. At least I have the backstraps.

I

I will have to re-read my regs I guess, I have been hunting in Oregon since the 50's and have always used a transfer note. Nothing that I have read requires a note and proof of sex. The shooter should keep the proof of sex and everyone else gets a note. That seems to work in Wyoming as well as Idaho. When my elk hits the ground I take a picture, I also pack the horns/eyes on the first trip out. That way there is no discussion. If you can't take them all the way out get it away from the meat.

I'm an old, contrarian cuss anymore, so I read the ID regs literally. It states that I have to leave the evidence attached to the largest portion of the carcass. It also says I have to recover all the meat but not the skin, bones, etc. Well, I always bone out using the gutless method (and I AM METICULOUS about recovering the meat!!!)

Ergo, I leave the evidence of sex attached to the carcass, and leave the carcass in the field. I'll probably end up arguing it before a judge some day, but so be it. I'll take a F'n picture of the critter and the boned out meat next time to be sure to have a little more evidence.

Of course, the fish cops are not interested in doing the right thing, just writing tickets. So be it...

That's a good way to get your meat confiscated. Leaving it in the field hardly qualifies as the place of final storage. It's your money, though, so you can play the game any way you like.


Deer, elk and pronghorn:
If the head or antlers are removed,
evidence of sex in the form of testicles, penis, scrotum, udder
or vulva must remain naturally attached to the carcass or parts
thereof on all harvested big game animals until they reach the
final place of storage or personal consumption, or a commercial
meat processing facility.

That's a ticket for sure. How do you prove you didn't use the tag for more than one animal?

I take wyoming saw with me and if I don't have time to start skinning etc I'll cut the horns off and take with me. I leave tag attached an ear.

I would stuff the tag in a cartridge case and stick it in the ear or under the hide somewhere if I had to leave the carcass in the field.

I was told that you do it just like you would if you gave someone some meat for helping you pack or fish you might not want..A note with your hunting licence/tag numbers and a brief explanation.

If I had game down and had to leave it or part of it,I would leave the note with my numbers,both hunting and tag and the explanation I am in the process of packing it out and keep the tag with me....

Never had to do it but that's what I would do..Idaho has it written in the regs somewhere on giving game away and what to do...

Jayco

wolves don,t read the reges least as???

You aren't giving them enough info. There's a form on pg 90 of this year's regs. You don't need the form but you do need all the info. I read that not having a properly completed proxy statement (whether using the form or not) is one of the most common violations written in Idaho. The form is quite simple to fill out & it only takes a minute to do.