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[Kaljaia]

Not a rock question.
Everyone out here in the sticks has heaps of skulls, antlers, racks, dead coyotes, etc. sitting around in their yards and no one cares, but I found a very, very large antlered skull the other day in a ditch off an old, unused road. I've checked around and no one has claimed it as a lost hunted animal and the property owner is ok with me collecting it, so I would like to keep it but Oregon state game laws don't have a salvage tag option like Idaho does. It's big enough and fresh enough to warrant going all above-board. Do any of you have experience with requesting salvage tag or no-sale/found-dead/whatever tags in the state of Oregon? I'd love to call it in soon. (I know I can just remove the antlers legally, because that destroys any 'trophy' value, but I'd like to try for a European mount if I can get the right paperwork on it.)
Thanks!

[Phishisgroovin]

same here in Wa, cant touch it without proper paperwork.

couple years back we found a beautiful buck that was poached, gamies left it in the woods and it was a trophy deer.
They never even went up to look at it even though we showed them photos of it.

We asked if we could take it using our unused tag from the prior weeks season closure, nope!

[55fossil]

    Many states allow people to collect antlers from the field. Since this animal is dead, ask fish and game if it is legal to collect shed horns or skulls from animals found in the field. Some animals just die, other times hunters just leave the heads and skins. Who is to say...   Do not ask if it is legal to collect a whole animal as you have that answer. So then you just need to make certain where the bones will be at a later date. Even the big game record books allow for collected horns.

good luck

[catmandewe]

In Idaho you can legally collect the head if it was a natural death, it is is a man caused mortality then you are to leave it alone and cannot collect any part of it. Man caused mortality is being shot, hit by a vehicle, etc.

Tony

[Kaljaia]

    Many states allow people to collect antlers from the field. Since this animal is dead, ask fish and game if it is legal to collect shed horns or skulls from animals found in the field. Some animals just die, other times hunters just leave the heads and skins. Who is to say...   Do not ask if it is legal to collect a whole animal as you have that answer. So then you just need to make certain where the bones will be at a later date. Even the big game record books allow for collected horns.

good luck

Yeah it's just the head that I'm interested in, the carcass is long since a pile of goop and fur after six weeks in the rain. The 'letter of the law' (and there's a clause for exceptions with permission) is no antlers that are both still attached to the same skull, specifically to stop the market for poached trophies. If I were to cut the antlers off it would be legal because it wouldn't have trophy value, but I kind of want to keep them on if I can...? I don't want to sell it, I want to make a European mount on my own wall!

In Idaho you can legally collect the head if it was a natural death, it is is a man caused mortality then you are to leave it alone and cannot collect any part of it. Man caused mortality is being shot, hit by a vehicle, etc.

Tony

And I'm jealous of Idaho because of it. Oregon doesn't seem to have a stated similar law (but still, there's that 'without permission' clause that implies one can get permission!)

[55fossil]

    Two options I can think of.   Talk to a game warden. If he can give you permission and is receptive, then and only then take him to the carcass and take pictures. Or cut the antlers off, collect skull and antlers separately.  Dry them out and get the super glue. If it says found antlers and does not say shed antlers then who says you cannot cut them off.

    I am all for obeying game laws. I am also against wasting a natural resource such as this. Personally, I would have found someone with an unused deer tag and done the other thing. Once it is on the wall who cares and who will know. No one ever asks for a deer tag once the mount is on the wall unless you are trying to have a trophy in competition. I am not saying you should break the law. Just be like  many others and find one of those gray areas that is not illegal.