Time To Try Something New

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


Jrichard
Posts: 370
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2016 4:39 am
Facebook: Rhode Island
Status: Offline

Time To Try Something New

Unread postby Jrichard » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:30 am

Well I have never really shed hunted in my life. I tried a few times last year and failed misserably. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I dont shed hunt until after the season (Feb 1st.). I dont like to taint my spots before season end.

Any helpful tips on how to find some good sheds? Or any sheds at all? My dog loves to chew on antler. So it'll be a win win. Throw some tips at me that you wish you knew when you were new to the game! I appreciate everyone's help!


bigwoodshuntn
Posts: 287
Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2015 3:11 am
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Time To Try Something New

Unread postby bigwoodshuntn » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:41 am

The best she'd hunter I know gives me the same advice o see him. This guy has more antler than I have ever seen, I believe he goes to several states and cares way more about finding antlers laying in the dirt than attached to a deer skull.

Anyway his advice is this... WALK. Not just a little bit but ALOT. Over his many years of looking for them he said he averages about one she'd every three hours of walking. So on the rare time when he finds 2 right next to each other he says that's great and all but then figures he has 6 hours of walking before finding another.

Might not be the most technical advice but it's all I've got.
User avatar
Jonny
500 Club
Posts: 5754
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2016 3:11 am
Location: In a van down by the river
Status: Offline

Re: Time To Try Something New

Unread postby Jonny » Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:01 am

Bring the dog with. A dog will easily cover twice the ground you can plus has a nose on it that will help pick up trails. The people who get serious amounts of sheds have dogs trained for it.
You have a monkey Mr. Munson?
Jdw
500 Club
Posts: 776
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2016 9:00 am
Location: SE Ohio
Status: Offline

Re: Time To Try Something New

Unread postby Jdw » Thu Jan 26, 2017 10:48 am

If you have access to areas with late season food it will increase your odds.
User avatar
Wlog
500 Club
Posts: 3642
Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:28 am
Location: Eastern Shore MD
Status: Offline

Re: Time To Try Something New

Unread postby Wlog » Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:20 am

Jdw wrote:If you have access to areas with late season food it will increase your odds.



X2.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
User avatar
Horizontal Hunter
500 Club
Posts: 2936
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2014 1:08 pm
Location: Western Massachusetts
Status: Offline

Re: Time To Try Something New

Unread postby Horizontal Hunter » Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:43 am

Where legal you can also use an antler trap with bait. There are some good examples in the article I linked below:

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/8-genius-antler-trap-ideas-sheds-start-dropping/

Bob
Vegetarian: vejiˈte(ə)rēən/noun: old Indian word for lousy hunter. :o

Excalibur Exocet, GT Laser II, 2" Bhoning Blazers 125g NAP Spitfire
Outdoor814
500 Club
Posts: 1620
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2015 12:36 pm
Location: Pennsylvania
Status: Offline

Re: Time To Try Something New

Unread postby Outdoor814 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 12:05 pm

Horizontal Hunter wrote:Where legal you can also use an antler trap with bait. There are some good examples in the article I linked below:

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/8-genius-antler-trap-ideas-sheds-start-dropping/

Bob




I've looked into this before. It's illegal in my state and isn't really a good means of getting your hands on an antler. Depending on the type of trap your using it can be stressful and or life threatening to a buck. If he's not ready to drop his antler he may become stuck and seriously hurt himself.

Since this is illegal in my state I was looking at more natural ways to try and get them. One way I looked at that seemed like it would work is to find a group of small trees that are growing close together or a multi trunked tree that you can put you baits between in hopes that when Mr. Big buck tries to get a snack he drops his antlers in the process.

Hope this helps. Sorry my description isnt great. I'll try to post a picture.
Joe™
Outdoor814
500 Club
Posts: 1620
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2015 12:36 pm
Location: Pennsylvania
Status: Offline

Re: Time To Try Something New

Unread postby Outdoor814 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 12:11 pm

Image
Joe™
User avatar
Hawthorne
500 Club
Posts: 6217
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 2:13 pm
Location: michigan
Status: Offline

Re: Time To Try Something New

Unread postby Hawthorne » Thu Jan 26, 2017 2:05 pm

Walk, walk , and walk some more. Bedding , feeding, and anywhere between they can drop. South facing slopes are good and so are pines or spruce thickets. I usually find more dead heads than sheds. I was walking thru a marsh last year in thigh high water. Stopped to rest and almost put my hand on top of a shed on a grass mound.
User avatar
rbuckleyjr1
500 Club
Posts: 763
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:56 pm
Location: W MI
Status: Offline

Re: Time To Try Something New

Unread postby rbuckleyjr1 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 2:42 pm

Hawthorne wrote:Walk, walk , and walk some more. Bedding , feeding, and anywhere between they can drop. South facing slopes are good and so are pines or spruce thickets. I usually find more dead heads than sheds. I was walking thru a marsh last year in thigh high water. Stopped to rest and almost put my hand on top of a shed on a grass mound.


That's pretty much it. You have to look where the deer are at now, not where they were in season. A lot of time during shed season the deer gravitate toward the best food and thermal cover areas. If those are on your property or property you can access most likely you will be able to pick up some. Just remember most antlers being dropped are small. It would be great to find multiple 4 or 5 point sides, they just aren't that abundant. So you have to go slow and look for those 1, 2 and 3 point sides. Cloudy days after a light rain seem to make the antlers stick out pretty good. I believe you hunt a lot of hilly terrain, so focusing on those south facing slopes like Hawthorne said might pay off. On those slopes check the areas that the deer can bed in the sunlight around that 1/3 elevation. Feb 1st definitely isn't too late to start. A lot of bucks are still holding antlers into Feb.

Good luck wearing out those boots!


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 101 guests