Balance between Shed Hunting and Scouting

[Swampthing]

I,m gettin' more and more into shed hunting.I,ve stumbled across a few while scouting buck beds.But it,s tough to do both succesfully in such a short spring time frame.Especially with wintering herds.I,m finding myself asking the question.Do I want scout for Buck Beds or find some cool sheds.Last year I burned a lot of miles looking for sheds in areas that I would,nt ever be hunting.It,s instant gratifaction at the time.But then when the season rolls around ,your kinda kicking yourself for time lost on them buck beds.
One positve however is the bigger sheds I,m finding have actually come real close to the bedding. I know there are some big antlers laying out in the picked fields.But ain,t gonna be finding any beds there.

[magicman54494]

I never shed hunt. I prefer to scout. If I find a shed so be it.
I do this because up north finding a shed really doesn't improve my chances at shooting that deer because he probably won't be in that same area during season. If I hunted in farm country I would probably do some shed hunting.

[Hodag Hunter]

I never shed hunt. I prefer to scout. If I find a shed so be it.
I do this because up north finding a shed really doesn't improve my chances at shooting that deer because he probably won't be in that same area during season. If I hunted in farm country I would probably do some shed hunting.

Same here. I can count on one hand he number of sheds found ....

[magicman54494]

Same here. I can count on one hand he number of sheds found ....

If you want to find sheds you need to go to wintering areas. Hunting there won't do you much good. Lately it seems the less deer are actually yarding. Some are hanging out it the same areas year round so finding a shed could actually be helpfull. My biggest buck may have wintered over where I found him in the fall. Other guys had found his past sheds in that area. It is possible that he relocated after sheding as well.
There is a good one (155 class) that was found this early winter that I believe was there all fall. I hope to get up there and scout it out this spring.
For the record, I have never found a shed on purpose so don't feel bad Hodag.

[Dewey]

Same here.........most of the sheds I found were by accident while I was either hunting or scouting. Never found one when I was purposely looking for one.
I walked just over five miles today and never found a shed but I did find some great mature buck beds and some of the largest rubs I have ever seen.

[Bucky]

I do both Last year I was in the woods Feb-May. This year I started in Jan... It is an addiction 4 me

Picked up sheds 9, 10, 11 on the year over lunch break 2day. One of the three I recognize from multiple trail cam photos. A decent up and comer main frame 10pt

[Gardner Swamp]

Don't really shed hunt here.If I find a shed while scouting then it's a bonus.

[headgear]

Put me in the die hard scouter category, if I stumble across a shed I am happy but I am mostly focused on the deer sign when I scout. I wouldn't be surprised if I walked right past a few sheds looking at something else.

[Casper]

When I shed hunt to properties I have permission I find my self scouting instead of looking for sheds. If I had a really good food source ill just look for sheds. I'd rather give myself a better chance at killing a buck then finding his shed.

[PLB]

Put me in the die hard scouter category, if I stumble across a shed I am happy but I am mostly focused on the deer sign when I scout. I wouldn't be surprised if I walked right past a few sheds looking at something else.

X2!!