Shed Hunting
Shed Hunting
02-27-2013, 11:19 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 1,035
Forests, fields or brush... if there are deer around, you'll probably find sheds.
02-27-2013, 11:32 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,915
Shed hunting is about time on your feet, there are no hard and fast rules for where you'll find sheds, so you really just need to go look wherever you can.
I have found sheds in open cattle pastures, down in creek bottoms, wooded/brushy areas, wheat fields, river banks, etc etc. Wherever a deer might travel is where it might drop sheds.
There are, of course, specific spots to look. Obviously anywhere you see high degrees of deer sign, but other areas can lend themselves to making deer drop antlers:
Pretty much anywhere that a path requires a jump or a hard step up or down, like jumping a fence, stepping down or jumping up a creekbank, etc etc.
Low hanging branches or tight brush and limb cover around a trail can snag antlers.
Bedding areas where they're getting up and down, maybe laying their head down, etc. This is also a natural spot as they'll spend a lot of time here anyway.
Vast majority of what I find are on the edges of openings that are protected by trees where available. In wide open spaces, I usually find them along fencelines, ravines, creeks, etc, anything that makes them jump or a hard step down.
Depending on the year and your area, you'll usually start finding sheds as early as January, then they'll be dropping through Feb, maybe some still hanging on in March. I picked up 2 fresh sheds the 3rd week of January, and saw 3 groups of bucks (already back in bachelor groups) that still had their racks the same day. Have been finding fresh sheds still pretty much every trip out.
Great opportunity to spend a lot of time training a colt, if you raise horses. Miles and miles just walking around, looking at the ground!!!
I have found sheds in open cattle pastures, down in creek bottoms, wooded/brushy areas, wheat fields, river banks, etc etc. Wherever a deer might travel is where it might drop sheds.
There are, of course, specific spots to look. Obviously anywhere you see high degrees of deer sign, but other areas can lend themselves to making deer drop antlers:
Pretty much anywhere that a path requires a jump or a hard step up or down, like jumping a fence, stepping down or jumping up a creekbank, etc etc.
Low hanging branches or tight brush and limb cover around a trail can snag antlers.
Bedding areas where they're getting up and down, maybe laying their head down, etc. This is also a natural spot as they'll spend a lot of time here anyway.
Vast majority of what I find are on the edges of openings that are protected by trees where available. In wide open spaces, I usually find them along fencelines, ravines, creeks, etc, anything that makes them jump or a hard step down.
Depending on the year and your area, you'll usually start finding sheds as early as January, then they'll be dropping through Feb, maybe some still hanging on in March. I picked up 2 fresh sheds the 3rd week of January, and saw 3 groups of bucks (already back in bachelor groups) that still had their racks the same day. Have been finding fresh sheds still pretty much every trip out.
Great opportunity to spend a lot of time training a colt, if you raise horses. Miles and miles just walking around, looking at the ground!!!
02-27-2013, 11:41 AM
#6
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Vermont
Posts: 486
I live in northern Vermont so when I go shed hunting it's usually in a deer yard or where a logging operation is going on or went on during the winter. I have 3 spots I will be checking out when the snow goes down some. Looks like that won't happen for another month and it's killing me.
02-28-2013, 11:50 AM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 1,035
