Shed hunting

[lumberrick]

Hope this works. 1st two pictures are the year I found the sheds, 3rd picture, the sheds,(duh) 4th picture before He was shot a year later. 5th was picture of the deer shot opening day 2006 season.  On the 1st picture if you notice the fur on top of his shoulders looks a little odd. Thats where my son grazed him.  It was at noon, the 7th day of the season when He shot.

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[Goose]

Thats awesome! I can see 200+ in him. Those shed are trophies in themselves, your lucky to have found them both!
Looks like he put on some mass and beam length!
Thanks for sharing!

[Patriot]

ORIGINAL: DeerCamp

I dont do it to often.. I use to do it all the time with not much luck.. To tell ya the truth, the 1st time I went out I found 3 and then after that I never found another one. I kinda gave up.. But I should start to do it again.. Anyone have any tips?

Here are some tips from a recent article by Joe Shead:
1.  South sides of hills since deer like sun exposure in Winter (like Goose said).
2.  Pine trees:  minimal snow compared to other areas.  Good bedding area.
3.  Obviously known bedding areas
4.  Sometimes instead of finding an antler, you may notice drops of blood in snow.  It could be from the open wound from a recent shed.  Track it and see what happens.
5.  Cruise fields with your 4 wheeler.
 
ohh....and fence lines that separate bedding areas and feeding areas like crop fields.  Oftentimes the antler will jar loose as the buck jumps the fence.  That's where I found this nice shed last year....7 inch brow tines.

Note:  don't worry about spooking deer this time of year.  They will come back next year.

[Goose]

Thats what I love about it! Its like finally being let into the candy store!

[buckhunter21]

Yea, I've never been really all that 'good' at shed hunting either.  I guess maybe I'm not looking in the right spots.  Sadly I've only been out a handful of times...Growing up I never had anyone show me the ropes when it came to this and not much talking about it so it was basically foreign to me.  We have a big patch of pines next to one of our properties that I'll be hitting once the snow melts here.  When does everyone go as far as time of year?

[Goose]

Ill try to get out once a week or so until the end of February then I'll hitter again when the snow melts.

[lumberrick]

I find sheds every spring. Sometimes two or three, sometimes as many as 8.  I was always looking in really thick areas, figuring that the brush would knock them off there heads.  I don't think a buck bumps into branchs unless he wants too.  One day I saw a buck standing in a small foodplot near my house. He was shaking his head like deer flys were bothering him.  But it was 10 below zero in February.  I said to my wife, he is trying to get rid of his antlers.  An hour later I put on my headlamp and trailed him. It was;nt a 100 yards an I found one of his antlers.  I found the other a week later.  Most of the antlers are found in the open hardwoods.  I think bucks loose a lot of them by just shaking there head.  I have never found a single one that was lying at the base of a tree.  Curious if anyone else has observed this.  I have found over 70 sheds since I started looking about 10 years ago. Strangley enough, the 1st 21 sheds I found, were all from the left side.  I figuring someone was shed hunting also, and practicing catch and release.  I have only found 3 matching sets, and oddly enough, they are the three biggest sheds I ever found.

[Goose]

I'd say the most common areas for me to find them is along ridges and creeks.

[DoeEyed]

http://www.shedantlers.org/    You have to register to get into the forums. lots of pics and where they r dropping

[DoeEyed]

Book and dvd by joe shead formerly from D&DH http://www.goshedhunting.com/thebook.php