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!
Time To Try Something New
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Re: Time To Try Something New
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.
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.
- Jonny
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Re: Time To Try Something New
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?
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Re: Time To Try Something New
If you have access to areas with late season food it will increase your odds.
- Wlog
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Re: Time To Try Something New
Jdw wrote:If you have access to areas with late season food it will increase your odds.
X2.
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- Horizontal Hunter
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Re: Time To Try Something New
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
http://www.wideopenspaces.com/8-genius-antler-trap-ideas-sheds-start-dropping/
Bob
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Re: Time To Try Something New
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™
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- Hawthorne
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Re: Time To Try Something New
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.
- rbuckleyjr1
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Re: Time To Try Something New
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!
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