taking a dead buck
 

whats the legality of taking a dead buck you've found while shed hunting. do you need to report it to the dnr?

cant seem to find any info on the iowa dnr website

I'd call your local dnr office and talk to them. Here in IL you need to have a warden tag it (killed by other means) or something like that.

Taking what? A bare skull?

I wouldn't hesistate for one second to take one that I found, without telling or calling anyone. Do you have to call someone if you find an empty tortoise shell?

Any game warden who will cite you for that would probably cite you for some other nonsense infraction, even if you didn't have the skull. He'd cite you for the bubble gum your chewing, as an illegal animal attractant.

even though i agree with stonewall i still think i would call the game warden and ask .

no it was a winter kill

Over the yrs I've found probably 100 I never called anyone. But it being Iowa a known Big Buck state I might call just to be safe.

I find them every year and have never called, our barn wall is covered with them. Then again, I've heard this COULD get me in trouble. I don't worry about it though. I guess I just hope that no one is that picky.

About two years ago I was cutting the rack off of a ten point that was hit on the road and a State Patrol pulled up and asked what I was doing... So I answered the obvious. HE said that it was state property..I asked him what the state was gonna do with it... He didn't know, so I finished cutting it off and told him he can have the state contact me.

Legally I'd need a road kill tag. But he didn't seem like he felt like causing a problem that day, and just pulled away. Hopefully no one is that desperate to write someone up.
That being said, if ya wanna play safe. Call them, certainly wouldn't hurt.
-Jake

I'd think if it was a monster buck I'd make some calls and figure out the legality of it but I think your safe. I know the DNR around the surrounding counties of Chicago really doesn't care too much, I tried to call it in once and they could have cared less. I think if every head was called in that was found while shed hunting every year, the DNR would spend more time trying to get tags out then to concentrate on other more important things.

I wonder where do you draw the line? If I find a 6 inch spike do I have to call it in like I would a 150 inch buck? I can understand if you find a monster buck but if I finds a decomposed 6 point do I call it in? I think it's a judgement call, at least in my opinion.

In Wisconsin you are supposed to get a carcass tag. However, if you find a dead buck out in the middle of the woods, and carry out the skull only, I doubt you'd get in any trouble.

It's pretty obvious if you are dealing with a long dead deer or a fresh kill. The wardens are looking for the poachers, and not shed hunters.

In South Dakota sheds are one thing and a whole critter is quite another. If it is big enough that the Warden deems has a $ value THEY will take it .