Bowhuntercoop wrote:moondoondude wrote:I start as soon as one I am looking for drops. That is usually towards the end of December or early January. Unfortunately, out here if I don't go look for them right away someone else probably will and someone else will find them first. I confirmed that 2 of the top 10 bucks I planned on looking for this year dropped in December, both at the same property. I picked up 3 of those 4 antlers when I went out. A few of the bucks are accounted for but I'm relatively sure they are down.
If I'm not looking for a specific buck, I usually start by just hitting wheat fields or cut bean fields and glassing. I don't like to hit any type of cover or bedding until all or just about all the deer are down, but again out here most of the time that means that it is too late and someone else already hit it.
So far this year I have walked 4 or 5 times. Since I'm hitting mostly fields and not doing any cover, I can really gear it up and can do 8-10 miles in 3 hours. Yesterday I did 3.75 miles in an hour and a half but I did some high grass and regenerating habitat - more of a gentle bump of some deer and an investigative walk - identifying where deer are now and where they're bedding and their primary food source so when I go back through, I can pick it easily. I got a kid on my back if I go during the weekend so that really limits the type of habitat I can search in as well as how long I can go - they usually can't handle much over an hour or hour and a half at most.
Cloudy days and days with a light drizzle are by far my favorite since you don't have to worry about the sun's angle so much.
Different herds drop at different times, it seems a lot of times certain herds drop at roughly the same times. Any given buck drops around the same timeframe each year and in general, the older a buck gets the earlier he drops.
I listened to your podcast with Mario again the other day. Are you even hunting much these days man or still would rather shed hunt? I think for the guys in suburbs and consolidated areas they should really listen to that old podcast, so many good points you brought up. Good luck in shed season, stay warm!
Hey man. Yeah, I still hunt whitetails but very, very rarely. I'm doing deer stuff a few days a week but that hardly ever involves sitting in a tree with my bow in my hand. The last 2 times I have sat in a tree over the last 2 years, I left with deer.
I love to shed hunt. To me, that is the hunt. If I find him, I succeeded and if not, I try again. I have yet to walk anywhere this year that I don't know the deer i am picking up. Just like in hunting (at least here), with the big ones people know they are there - and they get them before you do.