Shed Hunting

[ucfireman]

So for those of you that routinely go shed hunting. Actually looking not just wandering and happen to find them.

What percentage would you say you find kind of at your feet (maybe 2-5 feet). Oh cool there one is. About 90-95% for me

Compared to seeing them a few feet away to maybe 20-30 feet away. Maybe 5%

Do you find many in tree branches? around waist high? I never have.

Sunny days vs cloudy days? Honestly I cannot say, I have not really kept track of that.
All I know is bright days make seeing any colors in oak leaves is hard.

 

[stonecreek]

Depends on brush, ground. I don’t normally go out with the single purpose of finding sheds. If I’m squirrel hunting or checking traps I will look. On my farm I kind of know the travel routes from bedding areas that will produce sheds and will look.

 

[antharper]

Probably 95% of the ones I’ve found I’ve about stepped on them while Turkey hunting. One of the biggest ones I’ve found I was sitting in the car rider line at my daughters school and noticed it laying out in a open area that had a lot of clover growing

 

[Echo]

Well, shed hunting is an activity that I look forward to every year so it's definitely a priority when I'm in the woods between now and turkey season.

I've had some interesting finds too, including one I didn't find until I was standing on it and it was literally rocking under my boot. I had a good idea of what it was before I looked down.

On another occasion I jumped an old buck from his bed in mid-February and saw that he was still carrying both sides. I backed out and returned two weeks later to find one side right next to the still active bedding site. A good one too!

On average I'd say I spot most sheds within 5 yards of where I'm standing at the time but it can vary a good bit due to the type of habitat and the stage of spring green up. Obviously in typical wooded terrain they're much harder to spot once all of the ground cover fills out.

My favorite conditions for shed hunting would be a sunny morning after a light rain the night before. The antlers tend to shine and stand out a bit better for me then.

 

[Ray357]

So for those of you that routinely go shed hunting. Actually looking not just wandering and happen to find them.

What percentage would you say you find kind of at your feet (maybe 2-5 feet). Oh cool there one is. About 90-95% for me

Compared to seeing them a few feet away to maybe 20-30 feet away. Maybe 5%

Do you find many in tree branches? around waist high? I never have.

Sunny days vs cloudy days? Honestly I cannot say, I have not really kept track of that.
All I know is bright days make seeing any colors in oak leaves is hard.

If you really want to find sheds, build an antler trap. Take a piece of goat panel and and attach it between two trees. Angle the top slightly toward the ground. Dump corn at the base of it. You will find a pile of sheds.

 

[Away]

Go after a good burn. Can see white bone on a charred backdrop from a mile

 

[whithunter]

If you really want to find sheds, build an antler trap. Take a piece of goat panel and and attach it between two trees. Angle the top slightly toward the ground. Dump corn at the base of it. You will find a pile of sheds.

I would not recommend any kind of “antler trap”. The animals are better off shedding them naturally.

There are plenty of articles online showing why antler traps can be dangerous for wildlife. Bone Collector has a good one on their site.

 

[Ray357]

I would not recommend any kind of “antler trap”. The animals are better off shedding them naturally.

There are plenty of articles online showing why antler traps can be dangerous for wildlife. Bone Collector has a good one on their site.

If you build it right, it's not dangerous. It simply simulates antlers knocking on trees.

 

[ucfireman]

If you really want to find sheds, build an antler trap. Take a piece of goat panel and and attach it between two trees. Angle the top slightly toward the ground. Dump corn at the base of it. You will find a pile of sheds.

I have read good and bad about
an "antler trap".
Sounds like a good idea but I would hate for them to get tangled up and get hurt or killed. Probably wont do one.

Go after a good burn. Can see white bone on a charred backdrop from a mile

I don't have access to any area that burns regularly except WMAs. I did a fair bit of walking last year on BF Grant and WestPoint but didn't find any.
But you really can see a good ways in freshly burned areas.

I find most of mine in my pasture in the clover. But found 1 last year on a creek bank (1st) and then another in "edge" cover.
I enjoy it, Exercise and fresh air.
Only found 4 and a small skull last year and 7 the year before but a did find a set.

Those that use dogs, do you find the dogs really do find more or would you have seen them anyway?

 

[bfriendly]

Checked cams this am and no good pics, but these bucks have definitely dropped by the 15th. Time to start looking for sure. I got some yotes I need to try and get too. This time of the year has been so busy I haven’t been hunting at all for three weeks. Or maybe I neglected everything during deer season and am trying to catch up.......Yeah I think that’s what happened.

No doubt a dog would find 10 fold what we could just looking.

 

[Ray357]

I have read good and bad about
an "antler trap".
Sounds like a good idea but I would hate for them to get tangled up and get hurt or killed. Probably wont do one.



I don't have access to any area that burns regularly except WMAs. I did a fair bit of walking last year on BF Grant and WestPoint but didn't find any.
But you really can see a good ways in freshly burned areas.

I find most of mine in my pasture in the clover. But found 1 last year on a creek bank (1st) and then another in "edge" cover.
I enjoy it, Exercise and fresh air.
Only found 4 and a small skull last year and 7 the year before but a did find a set.

Those that use dogs, do you find the dogs really do find more or would you have seen them anyway?

Properly built shed trap presents no more danger to a deer than a hog wire fence, which are all over my property anyway. Never seen a deer caught in one. Have seen them caught in 5 strand barbed wire plenty of times.

 

[Blackston]

I think pedicle damage is the concern

 

[ucfireman]

On the board for 2021.
Found today. Was about 8 feet away when I saw it.
Tines down. That's how almost all I've found have been.
Not huge but. I also found 3 dead deer. 1 doe and 2 that I never found the head.
Plus jumped the biggest buck I have ever seen in person. Had both sides so I will go back in a few weeks and stumble around some more.

 

[aabradley82]

I find 90% of mine cutting hay. Mostly in tires

 

[ucfireman]

I find 90% of mine cutting hay. Mostly in tires

I have heard that.
I got an offer to hunt a property in trade for bush hogging their pasture. It hasn't been cut in a few years. I'm hesitant for this reason.
Thought about offering to burn it but I don't think they would be open to that.

 

[sea trout]

I find most of mine just by happen chance while turkey huntin.
We found one nice one today while rabbit huntin.
If I'm walkin the woods intentionally lookin for sheds. It usually takes forever to find that 1st one. Then when I get lucky and find one it seems like the rest of them are easy to spot. Almost like my eye's adjust to spot them.
Usually my mother keeps the kids for 2 or 3 days for spring break and my wife n I go to club and turkey hunt / shed hunt. That's when we find the most.

 

[hambone76]

I would not recommend any kind of “antler trap”. The animals are better off shedding them naturally.

There are plenty of articles online showing why antler traps can be dangerous for wildlife. Bone Collector has a good one on their site.

X2.
You might get a cool souvenir, but you could possibly kill a buck due to a pedicle injury caused by the antler trap.

 

[johnq85]

most that I find are on overcast days when it has rained recently. They just seem to glow in those conditions. I’d say it’s about 50/50 as to how far I see them from.

 

[Echo]

Did some hiking and looking this afternoon but came up empty. I know a few horns are dropping already but it's still probably a good couple of weeks away from getting right.

Finding fresh antlers on the ground is almost never easy but attempting to do so while they are still firmly attached to a live buck's head raises the level of difficulty by a substantial margin.

 

[ucfireman]

Did some hiking and looking this afternoon but came up empty. I know a few horns are dropping already but it's still probably a good couple of weeks away from getting right.

Finding fresh antlers on the ground is almost never easy but attempting to do so while they are still firmly attached to a live buck's head raises the level of difficulty by a substantial margin.

Agree, Chasing a buck at full speed through the woods is very difficult. . Once you catch them though, getting them horns off is even harder.