Sheds?

[whubbard]

Begining to think the so called antlerless bucks I saw earlier this year were big does instead.  I've been in those woods six times now walking down trails, and searching the heavy brush thoroughly and haven't found a single shed.  haven't seen those deer again either though.  hope i wasn't hallucinating.

[rweyman]

I saw 5 deer this morning. All in the same group
2- small basket rack 4-6 pointers
1- nice 15" 8 pointer
1- half rack nice 8 pointer(well if his other side matched)
1- no rack, would believe it was a buck with no rack

[Everyday Hunter]

I'm going out to take a quick look at one spot today, but there's still too much snow here.

Steve

[whubbard]

Me again.  Talked to one of the farmers that lets me hunt some local land and he says two days ago he saw the big 12 pointer i hunted for this fall.  I Saw it once during bow season hundreds of yards away.  Anyway, the deer still had it's horns.  So here it is mid Feb. in southern Missouri and the deer haven't last their horns yet.  At least not the big boy.  The farmer did show me where the deer has been walking through, so hopefully i'll find the sheds soon.  I'll post the pics.  Wish me luck.

[Everyday Hunter]

Good luck, Hub.

My short trip yesterday lasted about an hour. I was looking in a cornfield that has been standing all winter. I noticed on Friday that the farmer was beginning to cut, so I better get out there. The areas that were cut will be very difficult to hunt, but I found that the deer have been using the same trails due to heavy snow. There is still about 6-8" of snow, but when it melts down I'll go back. Before it goes back I need to run the tracks out and see if they're bedding consistently in the same place. If so, I will hunt the sheds there, too.

Didn't find anything but plenty of tracks -- both turkeys and deer.

Steve
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[coach]

went out Saturday, nothing found.  With the warm weather and the 2 days of pouring rain we had
last week, made a hell of a difference.  Fields had barely any snow left. Bush had maybe 4-5 inches of hard crust which deer would not crunch through.  It was nice to walk on. Was like walking on pavement.
 
We usually don't go out until April. Too much snow....but the rain was good for us....and the deer.

[REF]

well that post didn't work so well

[wack]

I just got my March April RMEF Bugle magazine and it had an interesting little aticle about shed hunting. Yes it's about elk shed hunting but it brought up 1 main point that I've never thought of that would also apply to deer shed hunting.
 In short the article says in Colorado and Montana the shed hunting was getting earlier and earlier in the year. With harsh winters combined with the added human pressures was having a dramatic impact on the elk and deer.
 In other words, you have starving deer and elk who found food for the winter, they get driven off there food sources by shed hunters, waist much needed energy and die.
 Just something you might want to keep in mind when going out this early to find antler sheds considering last winter and the severity of this winter so far.  

[JPH]

Not a shed but I found this 8 pt. NT, and the arrow still laying with the carcass, on the camp where my daughter rides horses.

Some hunter had a bad day...

[coach]

Oh my !!
 
That is really too bad to know a hunter was actually lucky but unlucky at the same time.
Interesting rack.