whats the best strategy for finding sheds?

[cull]

I was just wondering if anyone has some good tips to increase the chance of finding shed antlers? Do you just walk deer trails in the snow? Find the thickest cover you can and crawl about?

[piebal]

Cull
I think i can help you increase your chances of finding sheds. I have been shed hunting for 15 years and have found almost 200 sheds and i probley get there this year.On avarage i will find between 10 to 20 a year not including old sheds.not sure if you want to just look for them on your hunting land or anywhere.i do both.
i will explain methods finding them with snow and without. First with snow some deer lose there antlers in december then the shedding process starts and depends on health food and heard. Deer yard up in the winter in different packs ..say theres 50 deer there will be about 3 groups going through the same woods depending on food . When the snow is down i try to locate the batchlor groups and keep tabs on there movements and they for the most part they stay together all winter and probley be a few groups depending on the size of the woods and food sources. when there is snow the deer rip up the leaves for acorns and they do it everywhere theres food. ive seen whole sides of mountains ripped up by deer feeding and go to area to area that is ripped up ...follow the deer to there bedding area check every single bed and 20 yards around them in a circle first thing bucks do when they stand up is shake and that will send a loose antler flying or they will be next to the bed or in it. Dont forget deer will come to the bedding area from all directions and to there feeding areas as well from any direction..follow deer runs they are usally groved preety good they some times go for miles you will find sheds on runs ...Hemlock Trees make sure you look under every single hemlock you see i have found more sheds under those trees than i can remember if you see a lonley hemlock 200 yards away your a fool not to check it.....Antlers under the snow are not any harder to find then an antler on the snow. antlers are very easy to walk by i know ive done it.i will be lookin around to spot an antler look down and ther will be one at my feet thats happens all the time i dont know how many times, always when you can walk with the sun to your back is key the sun has too much glare and you wont see them and the sun will make them shine when you keep the sun to you back. The best days are cloudy and rain sheds glisten in the rain and they are easier to spot...Remember they are camoed to the ground when there is no snow NEVER lose concentration on what your lookin for NEVER, or you will walk bye them. you must burn an image in your mind of what a shed looks like lying on the forest floor. When there is no snow deer do still rip up the woods big time as i said earlier but when there is no snow they will spend alot of time in fields and thats an easy score i found sheds drivin seeing them in fields also you can find sheds by simpley listening, the rodants eat them and the sound of a rodant chewing an antler has a sound that doesnt fit into the woods. Take a sharp nail point and rub it on the antler fast back and forth with pressure then you will get to know what it sounds like and if you here it in the woods go to the sound and get that shed.the bottom line is you need to spend alot of hours ...i dont mean 8 or 10 hours in the woods im talkin 100's of hours a year we can shed hunt on sunday the more time you spend lookin the better you chances of pickin up a shed. i drive the roads and find the most beatin in deer run i can find and start there. there is so much more to tell you statr with that im lookin now for the early drops they are few and far between but buy the end of march they are all down.if you already looked in a peice of woods and didnt find anything go back at a later date they may not have shed yet, There are signs the bucks leave if they have or dont have there head gear. we will save that for another time...feel free to ask me anything to help you be a great shed hunter...i attached a few photos you can see for your self how important concectration is...IT IS KEY!!!!

[Proline]

Head to Ohio where there are deer!

LOL.

Good post Pie.  I will make a point of hitting those hemlocks. I found my first ever shed this fall walking into my NH spot in total darkness. It was right under my tree, and was 1/2 of a very nice 8pt. Climbeg my tree and a skanky looking 8pt showed up 10 minutes later. It was my first time out for the season and like a dope I let him go hoping the other one would show at some point. Never saw another buck in that spot.

[piebal]

Hey pro
yeah there are alot of deer there in Ohio you probley kick the sheds out of the way..it is tuff in the northeast we just dont have the #'s...we just have to work 3 times harder to find them but when you do its worth it. one of the things i didnt mention along with many other tips bucks like to lay next to trees the sun reflects heat off them i find alot of sheds next to big trees not just hemlocks..One thing about shed hunting is there is no specific place to find them you find them where they shed. I am no trying to be a know it all but i do spend countless hours serchin for sheds and am pretty successful at it ...Mind you the 100's of hours spent in the woods is why.

[jbfxstdi]

Piebal,
My dog found this matched pair for me yesterday...one in the bed, the other at the base of a small pine nearby.  The real kicker is that I found these very, very close to a tree I gave up on and didn't hunt this year.

I'm not a shed hunter and was just out snowshoeing with the dog to keep tabs on what the herd in my area was doing.  This is the first pair of sheds I've ever found.  May have found a new hobby for me and my dog.

Oh yeah, I live near Springfield MA

[MG11]

Good tips, I would also suggest reading former D+DH editor Joe Sheads' book "Shed Hunting A Guide To Finding White-Tailed Deer Antlers." It is full of good info. I havent been out yet this year (bow season ended yesterday) but I plan on going soon. Anyone up for a post where we can add our 2011 shed pics for all to see?

[piebal]

jbfxstdi,
great find!! yes you found a new hobby its not hard sometimes it just happens like that sometimes you get frustraited what was the date that you found them? On the snow or under....like i said in my post I find alot of sheds by trees. If there was one in his bed when he stood up he shook and prob shook again by that pine tree if there was snow read the tracks and that will tell you the story how and when he shed them...I live near springfield too