Episode 760: Wild West Public Land Tales with Shed Crazy

What this episode covers

Lifelong Utahan Ben Dettamanti (aka Shed Crazy) joins the show this week. Ben and I met at the Vortex Optics Ambassador Summit in Wisconsin this past summer and had much more in common than I thought. The main major difference is he lives and breathes shed hunting while I don’t quite get the allure. However, as we discuss during this conversation, much of your passion for certain activities and even the outdoor code you adhere to is formed largely based off of where you grew up. While I am out chasing spring long beards,  Ben scours the back country for brown gold (i.e. discarded elk and moose antlers). So what does he do with all that bone once he finds it? Does he hoard it in his shed or sell it to antler buyers? What’s his take on the Western shed hunting craze that has lead various state wildlife departments to open actual shed hunting seasons? After we spend a little time on sheds, we move onto the real reason I wanted to visit with Ben. I recently came across a pretty crazy video on his Shed Crazy Instagram page. One where he shoots a 6×6 public land Utah bull elk at 4 yards! However, Ben wasn’t the first hunter, nor the last to put an arrow in the bull. So once it’s down, who gets to keep i? Was that discussion amicable or was it a pretty intense situation? Shockingly, this wasn’t the first time something similar has happened to Ben on public land. He recounts a couple other tales including one where a different bull was shot by five different rifle hunters, Ben being the first shooter. Then there’s the tale of the booner mule deer buck Ben raced another hunter to get a shot at. Public land is awesome, but it can be crazy! Other highlights in this episode include: * Ben’s obsession with coues deer * How a bird dog cost him a nice public land buck * Would you take the 6.5 Creedmoor elk hunting? * How much is a nice elk shed worth? * Lever guns and his new fascination with the 45-70 * Is this his fulltime job?