2019 Shed Hunting - Time to Start?

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  • mom45

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    I've seen this guy a couple of times now with just one side...lost the other about a week ago. It seems early for them to be shedding already but I have seen posts on FB about this already as well.

    hZ4C9SS.jpg
     

    mom45

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    I was shocked to see this guy with just one. I saw him one day with both and the next day like this just before the end of December. Others had been talking about seeing bucks with just one already in counties to the south a couple of weeks ago. I have a few others with just one antler, but those are younger bucks and I saw them with their antlers hanging and bleeding over a month ago so I assume they broke them sparring with other bucks. I've seen a lot of that activity on the cameras as well.
     

    mom45

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    All my deer had antler's this morning.

    Ive heard, if a buck gets injured, it will shed earlier than normal.


    I don't believe this one has been injured. I've been watching him all winter. He was a nice 9 pointer before he dropped the right side. He was on the camera one night with both sides and the next with just one. The smaller ones definitely were injured as I had several pictures of at least two of them with an antler dangling along the side of their face and dried blood on them. I was surprised when guys on the conservation page were talking about finding sheds already but figured it was just due to them being farther south and warmer temps. I'm wondering if our mild winter has affected them. I am going to have to do some searching in the woods to see if I can find the shed antlers to see if they look any different than normal. I have just never seen any drop them this early in the year. I'm pretty sure this is the same buck (the one on the right) just a few days earlier.

    KnJAANZ.jpg
     

    mike4sigs

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    i am rookie to the whole shed hunting .
    do you just walk the fields looking ? And i just seen the bucks i have seen all year last night and he still had his antlers. do they fall off ? do they knock them off by rubbing ?
    do i look around rubs?
     

    mom45

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    i am rookie to the whole shed hunting .
    do you just walk the fields looking ? And i just seen the bucks i have seen all year last night and he still had his antlers. do they fall off ? do they knock them off by rubbing ?
    do i look around rubs?


    They drop them every year and grow new antlers in the spring. Most of the time, they are not near trees or rubs...just laying where they run through the woods or our orchard. The squirrels eat them so sometimes they are not in very good shape when I find them. Other times, I am lucky and find them soon after they drop before they have damage. I found a spike antler a couple of years ago, which was a first for me since they aren't very large and the leaves easily hide them.

    I guess I need to go out for some walks and start looking for them. I'd like to find the one that guy in my picture dropped!
     

    mom45

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    I've been looking for them myself. They are expensive!

    JYpXq6p.png


    Those are cheap sheds compared to the "Amish built" ones that are for sale near us. I about choked when I saw some of the prices on those things....yikes...might as well build a garage!
     

    JoeG1

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    Could be a lot of factors as to why he lost an antler already. A friend of mine shot a young buck back in mid December and while loading him into the truck one antler came off. I like to start shed hunting around Feb or March. They aren't going anywhere why not wait to improve your chances of finding them? But if you just like to get out in the woods anytime is a good time to go.
     

    Sniper 79

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    I've been out a few times. Seen a few deer and they were still on. Be holding out until spring. Found one that just fell off. It was first week of April a few years back.
     

    mom45

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    The squirrels seem to get them very quickly here so if I wait, I don't find them or they are pretty much destroyed by the time I do.

    I will have to start looking at least when I walk out to check all of my cameras. I leave the cameras up year round so I can monitor for coyotes, etc. plus two legged visitors that don't belong here. It seems awful early but talked to another local guy last night that has already found a couple of sheds.
     

    yetti462

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    i am rookie to the whole shed hunting .
    do you just walk the fields looking ? And i just seen the bucks i have seen all year last night and he still had his antlers. do they fall off ? do they knock them off by rubbing ?
    do i look around rubs?

    Welcome to a new addiction if you are just getting started. Being a forester, I spend a lot of time in the woods and find quite a few sheds, have several hundred if I were to guess a number, honestly I have no idea. On a year like this 2018 bumper acorn crop I'll find sheds around oaks. Black/Red oak mainly. White Oak send a tap root out in the fall, your Red Oak species, red, black, shingle, pin and scarlet will not send a root out until spring, some trees of the red species still have acorns on the limbs. Deer seem to prefer this species during the late season. Another late season food source is Japanese Honeysuckle, it stays green and is a preferred late season browse. South facing hill sides too where deer will bed and absorb the heat from the sun is a good place to look as well. Trails from bedding to feeding areas too.

    Crop fields where you notice winter herds feeding is a good place to look. Wet years like this where there are still some standing crops will be a big draw for winter feeding as well. Other places to look are any kind of obstacles of terrain. Think of driving down a highway and where there is a dip in the road, all the oil drops that fall from the engine in the road. Same with a deer trail fence crossings, ditch crossings, trails off a hill side to a level place. Any place where a deer has a jarring difference in their trail will knock an antler off.

    I have a lab that I trained to find sheds. He helps too, sometimes when I get home there he is in the yard with a shed he found while out on his daily travels. Only problem is, every deer bone he finds he brings back. I credit his finds as mine, let him chew
    the little ones and put up the big ones.
     

    Leadeye

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    I don't know how it works in fields, but in the woods wait for a rain and go out after it stops. Sheds will look white against the dark wet leaves and are easier to see until the leaves dry out.
     

    two70

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    I don't know how it works in fields, but in the woods wait for a rain and go out after it stops. Sheds will look white against the dark wet leaves and are easier to see until the leaves dry out.

    After a measurable snow melts off is even better time to go, especially in grassy fields, food plots, etc. The snow helps to mash down any vegetation around the sheds and as mentioned the damp vegetation makes the lighter colored antlers pop out.
     

    spainy79

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    I was checking my cams Sunday morning (almost noon) and just happened upon a fresh shed laying alongside the lane on our property. Checked the immediate area for any others but no luck. Looks to be a smallish 8 pointer.
     

    mom45

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    I was checking my cams Sunday morning (almost noon) and just happened upon a fresh shed laying alongside the lane on our property. Checked the immediate area for any others but no luck. Looks to be a smallish 8 pointer.


    :yesway:

    I looked some this morning but didn't find any in the spots I have found them in past years.
     
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