Yes, I think a buck like this would get under your skin big time … especially if you went all the way through hunting season not thinking he was alive, then BAM, you know he made it.

That’s exactly what happened to a friend who had been dreaming about this deer almost all last fall. He got the Moultrie game camera photo of the mature buck last September, then never saw the deer again during the hunting season. He might have just assumed the deer had wandered onto another property and was killed by a gun- or bowhunter. That wasn’t the case. The deer showed up again after the 2012-2013 deer hunting season ended.

In an email this morning, he wrote:

“This is the third shed I’ve spotted from the truck this year. I saw tips of the tines from 100 yards away.  I’ve got a bunch of pictures of this deer, should be a real good buck this fall.  I got a picture of him a week ago and he had dropped the other side, but I¹m pretty sure he just dropped this on Saturday night (very fresh base).”

How cool is that? A shed antler so big that you see it laying out in a field 100 yards off the road? That is just incredible!

Want to find more sheds on the property that you hunt?

Shed Hunting: A Guide to Finding White-Tailed Deer Antlers is the first book devoted entirely to shed antler hunting. This 160-page, fully illustrated book is an educational tool that teaches readers how to find shed white-tailed deer antlers. It’s a great book, written by former Deer & Deer Hunting staff member Joe Shead.

I’ve known Joe since he was a college intern for us way back in the 1990s. He is the foremost expert on this stuff, and his insights will help you better understand where, when and how to find more antlers.