New here.

[IowaShedHunter]

I have been reading posts on this site for some time and decided to join. I see a few on here I already know. Can't get enough of shed hunting. Look forward to sharing a few photos and stories with all of you.

Chris

 

[coyotebandit]

Welcome to the board IowaShedHunter, can't wait to see some more Iowa shed pictures!

 

[135inchsingle]

Well....There goes the neighborhood!

Actually though, welcome aboard Chris

 

[deershed]

Welcome IowaShedHunter-figures you and 135inchsingle know each other,both of you seem to always find the sheds and some nice ones.
Have you quit finding them for the year yet?

 

[Brotherwolf]

Welcome!

 

[IowaShedHunter]

Thanks for the welcome guys. Yeah I'm done for the year, Deershed. Well unless I stumble across one. Hey Jay, thanks for the warm welcome!

Deershed I am going to get those sheds together for a group pic this weekend. I promise.

Chris

 

[Shag]

Welcome to the site. I reckon you guys in Iowa don't bother carrying anything under 65" out of the woods, right? Your timing to join is good. Your pics will come at a good time as it seems everyone's long since done finding anything and something fresh would be nice.

 

[TJF]

Chris
Glad to see you join in. If memory serves me right, you're the guy that has just a slight interest in shed hunting and is happy finding just a few but takes your shrooming serious ??

Seriously, looking forward to your posts and pictures.

Tim

 

[baddison]

Iowashedhunter,

Welcome aboard! I can't wait to see some sheds from your area. You guys grow them big up there!

 

[spectr17]

Welcome IowaShedHunter

I love them bruiser Iowa deer and sheds.

 

[IowaShedHunter]

I finally got around to taking some photos of all of this years sheds from Iowa. This photo includes all the sheds my kids found and 2 that a friend found when he was with me and gave them to me.

Chris

 

[135inchsingle]

Nice job as usual Chris! Is that one about in the middle towards the top a 7 pt. typ. frame with some kickers at the base? It looks as if it has a short G6.

 

[IowaShedHunter]

Almost Jay, the 7th point is too small to score. The mate is right next to it. It a 160's net typical with huge beams. I believe they are around 27 inches a piece. They had laid for a year in the middle of a bean field in a small patch of grass. That was a lucky find. I had my youngest with me and we were doing some fishing early in the year. As we walked around the lake at one end I thought I spotted tines in a small grass patch in the field. Aaron ran out into the patch and picked up the side I didn't see than went over and got the matching side. We never did catch anything that day. I think we forgot all about fishing after that.

Chris

 

[deershed]

IowaShedHunter-WOW,is all I can say!! If I found that many nice sheds in a life time I'd be happy.I thought you said you did find little ones??

My 10 top sheds I've ever found wouldn't even compare to the average shed you found this year alone.
Congrats to a great year!!

 

[IowaShedHunter]

Deershed I feel very forutante to live and hunt in the great state of Iowa. If you ever make it out this way, get in contact with me and we will get out and tromp some ground together. Here is an 8 point typical with some extra junk. It still scores 102 4/8 with around 5-6 inches missing from the g-4. Also the end of a few times and the end of the main beam has been roughed up. Otherwise I feel this shed would have scored well over 110 inches.

Chris

 

[coyotebandit]

I think I am going to stop posting on this forum now

I have been shed hunting for over 5 years and my collection is as much bone as one of your matching sets!!

How many acres do you cover to find that many, don't people hunt deer down there??

 

[IowaShedHunter]

Coyotebandit, yeah we hunt them. Sometimes they get away, whom am I kidding a lot of the times they get away. I shed hunt about 35-40 different areas. Most years I'm good for between 250-500 hours shed hunting. I've had some problems with my right foot the last two years and have had to cut back. I had under 200 hours in last year. I think I went just as many times, they were just 2-4 hour walks instead of 6-8. Don't give up, I've read tons of articles on shed hunting. There are 3 things that have to do with my success. The first is to shed hunt where the bucks are wintering, you must do some scouting after hunting season. They will be keying on food sources and this is where I start, then I work my way into the timber following trails back to the bedding areas. The key is not to go to soon. Watch the field until most of the bucks have shed, then go looking. If you must look before most have shed, hunt the food. Stay out of the bedding areas until they have shed. This is where the biggest mistakes are made, people get nervous about someone else beating them to the sheds. Then they end up pushing the bucks out of the area. I know, I deal with this every year. The second thing is keep after it, you can't find them from the couch at home and remember no one finds all of them. So no matter how well you think you have covered it. Go back and look again, walk it a different way. The last thing is a good set of Bino's. I'm no different than anyone else. I get tired and lazy, the bino's let me check stuff that I might not normally take the time to check out. It's easy to get discouraged. I look at at Bentley Coben's collection and am completely blown away. I have no idea how many he has found for sure. Somewhere between 5000-10000 is a good guess, but if I live to be 100 I still won't find as many as he has. I don't compete with anyone else. I'm only competing with myself. I set a goal each year and try and beat it. In 14 years of shed hunting I have only meet that goal 4 times. So don't give up.

Chris

 

[Shag]

Iowashedhunter. your pic sure put a smile on my face. I think we all recognize you live in a special part of the country as far as deer and shed hunting is concerned--all the right ingredients. Having said that, I give you a lot of credit....250 to 500 hours!! Holy cow, that's a lot of walking although when I think I had to walk 50-60 hours here in NYS to find 8 this year, I think I'd put the time in if there was more reward. Oh, one more thing don't invite Deershed out to shed hunt with you---that would be a big mistake--especially if you want to find anything yourself! He could pic a shed out of Central Park in NYC I think. He's a human shed vacuum, a machine, Uhh, think twice about that. I gotta admit, NYS sucks for shed hunting by and large--there are exceptions in some suburban no hunting zones around Rochester and Buffalo but they get pounded, etc. I will say, based on your comment about food sources, there have been a few years when I was able to get on a food source left standing near good winter cover and I found some nice sheds. However, typically, even those fields left standing up here are locked under DEEP and encrusted snow by january and are unusable by deer. Keep postin on here--very good reading.

 

[IowaShedHunter]

Glad it put a smile on your face, for me one of the best things about shed hunting is sharing photos and stories. You have a good point Shag, what works best here in Iowa might not be the ticket in another area. I have had pretty good luck most every where I have shed hunted with it though. I would think the worse the winter is the more it would bunch them up and make them key on smaller areas. The last hard winter we had in Iowa was a few years ago, the shed hunting was awesome. This past year it was mild and the sheds were every where. I found matches over a mile apart. It also seems the harder the winter the more matches I find. I found 69 sheds this year in Iowa. Out of that 69 there were 7 matched sets. I had a friend get serious this year about shed hunting, he has found around 5 sheds his whole life. This year he found 17 sheds. He found 2 sets out of the 17 sheds he found. My kids also picked up another 10 when they were with me. They found 1 matched set and the mate to 2 of my sheds. Deershed can come on out, it won't be the first time someone has out shed hunted me. For that matter it won't be the last either. Iowa is a great state to shed hunt, but I love going to Canada. I think the main reason is the color of the sheds. You can't beat that dark color. The second thing is you have a chance to pick up more than whitetail sheds. Nothing like walking up on a big elk or moose shed. The only drawback to finding elk and moose sheds is carrying those dang things. Just think only 7 months until shedding starts again.

Chris

 

[coyotebandit]

IowaShedHunter,

Thanks for the words of encouragement, I truly enjoy looking at your pictures, even if I am extremely jealous!!

I guess I need to put some more time into it, and try to get permission on some new land. I think you have a point, and I have two problems on the land I shed hunt on. One, are some deer that overwinter there, as we have corn in some fields, but not a herd like I have seen when we have a bad winter. The other factor is I spend too much time in the woods disrupting their travel routes. I guess I'll just have to keep on trying, and learning from others.

Do you use a dog when looking? I have heard you can train them to find them, wonder if it's worth trying?

Thanks

CB