shed hunting

[mi-hunter]

could you guys share with me on some good tactics for shed hunting ,never tried and i know there are some things to look for. I could use all the help i can get.thanks,anthony

 

[Passthru]

Ive never shed hunted,but i have found a shed or 2 and they always seem to be in cedar thickets where i would expect a buck to bed,maybe the brush knocks them off once they are loose.

 

[woodseye]

The cedar is where they are usually feeding when they loose their horns up here.We go out in late winter and walk the deer runs in the snow and look for where they bumped something or jumped over something and jarred one loose.I have really found the most of mine scouting for deer sign in summer.I think thats when Buzz my hunting partner has found the most of his alsur deer herd isn't very dense so you can walk a heck of a lot to stumble on to one. Putting a small chicken wire fence up in a V shape and putting corn around the fence base and inside the V bucks can hit or catch their horns on the fence and lose them right there.A horn trap for knocking off loose horns.They sell a feed bucket with stuff hanging down over the bucket to knock against the horns while they eat and loosen horns.


http://www.antlertrap.net/index.html





Just lots of walking has done it for me but I may try one of those homemade antler traps this spring.


woods

 

[pschultheis]

Now is the time to be out and around. I shed hunt every year. But I start now. While the deer rut i get out and see where they are. In my neck of the woods they tend to drop their antlers where the rut. So get out now with a camera (so you can post pictures of huge rutting bucks on JHP) and look for those big ones now. Then go back and hunt those sheds in Feb and March.

Good Luck

Paul

 

[BuckSnort]

pschultheis, I saw that your from clovis and was wondering if you are shed hunting D-7. If you are this comes as a suprise cause I thought I was the only one who does

I sped alot of time hiking our winter ranges I bet we have crossed path's before.

 

[BuckSnort]

mi-hunter,

When you do find shed areas remember to keep them a secret or they won't be that good in future years.

 

[pschultheis]

Bucksnort,

I am sure that we have crossed paths. To be honest I have seen some of your pictures and you look familiar. Of course being from this area I can only imagine some of the places that we may have crossed paths. I do shed hunt and one of my friends and his dad who is a taxidermist shed hunt alot in the D7 and D8 area. They have found hundeds of sheds over the last few years. To be honest half of my motivation is to find one of the sheds that they find sets of yearly. It never hurts to have something that your taxi guy wants. Equals a discount for my next mount

Paul

 

[baddison]

Hey guys just thought I would put my two cents in...maybe it will help someone.

I find most of my sheds near feeding areas. Winter wheat, rye or any other type of spring feeding area is a good place to start. Once you locate the feeding area follow trails from the area. I find a great deal of sheds where the bucks had to jump or jar themselves. Creeks that they jump. Fences that they had to jump. All going to or coming from feed.

Sometimes they will loose them in a creek that is full of water during the spring and dries up during the summer only to reveal the sheds.

The most productive time for me to search is after a fire. The white sheds make easy pickings while walking through the woods.

Hope I helped someone.

Brett

 

[OhioBowHunter]

I have never really shed Hunted before, But I plan to start giving it a go this year here in Ohio... Thanks for all the tips

 

[GIVEMTHEBLADE]

BuckSnort,

I agree w/ you keep them a secret!!!! If you find a shed in a certain area be sure to return in year after year!!!! W/ my experience I have found that the same areas produce year after year!!! I focus on funnel areas, bedding areas, staging areas, and feeding areas I have had the best results in funnels and staging areas though!!!! If I had to pick one place being the best I would have to say it would be staging areas where!!! I have found that the bucks will get to the last 15 yds of a wood lot or swamp and wait for it to get dark before they come out!!!!

 

[deershed]

GIVEMTHEBLADES-as you can see from my handle shedhunting is a great passion of mine.I have to agree with you 100% on where to look.
Let me add it's much easier to find them in grown-up fields and brushy draws.Plus you have to keep in mind the number of buck in an area that survived the hunting seasons.Areas with low hunting pressure or no hunting at all will allow more deer to be able to shed.

 

[Shag]

You're at about the same latitude as me. Start scouting their feeding and bedding patterns around February to mid Feb but don't put too much pressure on them. Find the areas with good winter protective cover and good winter food sources such as combined or unharvested corn, beans ands even winter wheat is great. Look for areas that have the above characteristics and are being POUNDED. Then when the snow is getting thin or off---say March usually into early April get in there and walk the trails and scan either side of the trails and criss-cross--be thorough. I've found that just after long rains or during rainy or drizzly weather is best as the ground turns very dark and the bleached out sheds look even "whiter". They're real easy to spot under these circumstances. Basically they're usually in the feed (easy when it's beans or winter wheat or difficult if it's combined corn), on the trails or right in the beds. Look very hard in the first 15 or 20 yards inside of the edge of the woods or brush line and in areas south-facing with some slope. Downed trees the tops) taken down by loggers or wind storms are good too as they're basically a mini-feeding area, the buffet line so to speak. Deer spend lots of time bedded in Feb & March so spend time looking in the beds. If the area is pounded, you gotta believe the sheds are there and don't give up--you will find them. Good luck.

 

[Shag]

Mi-Hunter...one thing I forgot. You'll be looking on snow quite a bit, initially anyways. When you're in the bedding areas keep an eye out for droppings that are a good 3/4" or 1" long. Also, beds that are 48-50" long or bigger. You're usually see droppings of all sizes and this is from different sex and age classes of deer, all eating the same feed. It's not a hard and fast rule by any means, but given two or three spots, one of which has some really big signs like that, spend some serious time where the big droppings are as more than once for me this has resulted in big sheds. If your area is like mine, there may or may not be big rubs in the area but if the food and shelter cover is there a big "floater" can come in, get with the other deer and drop his sheds where you may find them.

 

[MrRee]

Do porkypines eat deer sheds or is that and old tale??
I have heard that northern Mi. is not good for shed hunting as the porkypine eat them.

 

[deershed]

They have porcupines up-state Pa, where I shed hunt for
elk sheds.They sure do chew on them.

Who ever told you northern Mi. was no good for hunting sheds
must have been shedhunting there himself and only trying to
protect his area.
They don't devour them over night.The one elk shed I found upstate
last year was laying 2 months before I found it and nothing touced it.
Another shed I found was dropped with in a week of when I found it
and something had already started working on it.
The locals up there know most of the bulls and both these two bulls
had a little story behind them.
They (all rodents) probably find them sooner or later,but not as soon
as they hit the ground.