deershed's 2005 Shed Season

[shedhunternb]

Happy Birthday. My dad was born on april 04 1900. He was a great hunter and trapper. I still hunt the same places he did. I live on the old homestead. He would have enjoyed your pictures as much as I have Congrats.

 

[deershed]

shedhunternb-Thanks for the birthday wish and the kind words.I too enjoy your pics and some of those awesome sheds you've found.Those pics you posted from the same buck from 3 different years were great.
Glad to hear you've kept the family homestead alive and thriving.I bet you've got some great memories there.Hope it stays in the family for many years to come too.
Keep those sheds coming!!Good Luck and thanks again!!

 

[deershed]

Well,I made it back out yesterday needing 10 more sheds to hit that magic 100 shed mark.I found my 10 and an extra shed for good measure.My 100th shed had it's mate laying on top of it.lol
Just got done going over my sheds from this year,40 sheds were old sheds and only 8 matched sets.Only one really nice shed and that was the one I figured to score 60".Not sure what my dead buck count was this year,probably between 20-25.Most were spikes and small scrub bucks.Only 3 8pts. and they were nothing huge.
After all the looking I did last year in my areas I figured my old shed count would be down this year.Turns out alot of my areas from last year were void of sheds and I ended up finding alot of this years sheds in new areas.
Two new farms and the surrounding areas this year produced probably half my finds this year.
I'm not done for the year yet.I'd like to check some areas for that final search for missed sheds and make some upstate Pa. elk shed trips.I missed the elk sheds last year due to a bad transmission.

Good luck to everyone still looking,there's still time!!

Here's some pics from last week.

 

[deershed]

Another

 

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Another

 

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Another

 

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Another

 

[deershed]

One more.

 

[B&CMulies]

Looks like you are having a great year. What is the count up to these days? Keep up the good work.

 

[deershed]

I've been out one more time for WT sheds and made two trips for elk sheds since I was last in here.
My WT shed hunt I found 2 5pt. sides.One was off a buck I was looking for that I had one side to already.The other was in a area I was looking for a really nice 4pt. side that I already had.No luck finding the other 4pt. side.
My first elk shed hunt upstate Pa. was a bust,but my second trip I found 2.
The first one was a fresh 16" spike and the other a fresh raghorn 5pt.
Things are getting pretty green in my WT areas so I think I'm done with them.I still might make another trip or 2 for elk sheds.
My total count for WT sheds was 103 with 9 matching sets.And 2 elk sheds so far for a total of 105 sheds for the year.
I'll post my elk shed pics and my WT shed pile for the year soon.

Good luck to anyone still looking!!

 

[shedhunternb]

Good going deershed. I'm still looking for a couple weeks. Post some pics when I find some. Have a great summer.

 

[deershed]

I made another trip for elk sheds and came home with another one along with a matching set of WT sheds.My first ever WT sheds found upstate Pa.
The elk shed was 5pt. shed off another raghorn with a messed up browtine and a small sticker point.The WT set was off a 8 pointer laying side by side.
With these latest finds it takes my elk shed count up to 3 and WT sheds to 105.
Here's some pics of the elk sheds.

 

[deershed]

Here's the first raghorn 5pt.

 

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Here's the second raghorn 5pt. from my last trip.

 

[deershed]

This is the upstate WT set,"as they layed".

 

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This is all 3 elk sheds.

 

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My last elk shed and WT set.

 

[deershed]

Here's my 2005 shed pile minus my last elk shed and the last WT set.

 

[younghunter]

Awesome Pics!

Thats cool you guys can find elk sheds over there. It seems to me that I remember when they transported elk to PA, it wasn't that long ago was it?

Ernesto

 

[deershed]

Thanks younghunter!!
Actually the first elk arrived from Yellowstone in 1913 and some bought from a Monroe County (Pa.) preserve to restore the elk in Pa.Things were slow with the elk herd growing for years for different reasons.Mainly crop damage and illeagal kills.
With better management and habit improvments the herd started slowly growing starting in the 70's and by the start of the 80's was figured to be 135 animals.
Then in the 90's the herd really started taking off and by year 2000 was estimated at 566 animals.Not sure how big the herd is now,big enough they've been having annual hunts with limited elk taken since 2001.
The problem with finding the sheds is the elk range is about 800 square miles with pockets of elk scattered over that area.
And there's alot of competetion for the sheds specially the bigger bull's sheds.