I recently took in an elk ( my first one ) that was shot here in Missouri on one of the " pay and shoot it " ranches. I searched the archives and sort of found an answer, but not exactly. Since this elk was farm raised, should the metal ear tag stay in the ear? Is it illegal to remove it? I haven't had a chance to contact the guy who brought it to me to mount if he wants it left in or taken out, but was wondering ahead of time how to deal with it. It's a US tag with what looks like a straight edged screwdriver slot in the top of it.
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did you shoot it or a customer. you can take it out. when you buy the elk hunt, you buy a permit with it. the tag is just for the owners to keep them straight...which bull came from which bull kind of thing.
How are you going to open the ear if you leave it in? Remove it and give it back to the customer? Contact your Game and Fish and see what the regulations are. See if the metal tag has to be on the animal or attached to the head. If only required to be attached to animal, then inform you customers to attach to the leg in future so they don't screw up their trophy mount. Hope this helps.
If it was taken on a licensed game farm that metal tag is called an ag tag...agriculture and markets, or a state game tag. Its how we identify which animals have passed the states inspection for TB and/or CWD testing. You can cut the tag off when processing, once the elk has been delivered. I always save them for the customer.
For what its worth, why didnt you simply call your customer? They usually want to keep all tags, etc, from what Ive seen. Good luck.
Cattle, hogs, deer, elk, etc., are required to have them before being sold. I don't know if it is required for off-the-farm sales, but I know every animal I've seen that's come from a livestock auction has them.
You can always remove the tag, turn the ear, etc., and replace the tag once it's mounted.
=)
The reason I haven't contacted the customer, is that this elk was brought to me by the guy who guided the hunt for the customer. I don't have the customers name, and I believe he is out of state. The deal with the guy that brought the elk is, he owns a hunting/safari adventure outfit that books hunts here in the US and abroad, his customer shot the elk here in Missouri at a hunting ranch. I have a chance at mounting a lot of unusual animals, including some african species through contact with this fella. I can contact him and he'll have to get ahold of the customer. Do these tags just unscrew or are they pop riveted on?
and let them contact the client. Most of the tags I've seen are clipped on. Seems like the numbered ear tags we used to use on the cattle were like a pop-rivet type thing. May have to use some sort of tin snips or side cutter to cut through the tag on the back side of the ear.