Skunked

[Shag]

Well I was able to get out today and covered a pretty well pounded cover but found only a dead 6 point buck and no sheds. I was on snow shoes but in an area south of my home outside the main snow belt and even at that I measured the snow at almost 40" firm on the level (not drifted). God only knows how deep it is here in my neighborhood. The deer trails (the good ones) are about 18" wide and with the forming of the snow pack, about 12" deep and well pounded. I was squatting looking at some of the many beds I examined and saw about 1.5" of something sticking out of the snow right on the edge of a bed. I took and pulled on it and a freakin whole deer head with a decent 6 point rack pulled up out of the snow, the second I've found so far this winter (more dead deer than sheds by far). The bright spot of the day was a nice breeding pair of Redtail Hawks and also a pair of Northern Harriers (Marsh Hawks) with the male being pale white and the dark female. Yesterday my wife and I saw the first Bald Eagle we'd ever seen up here in 20 years we've lived here (pretty cool). Birds of prey seem to be easy to find right now. Alsdo, many coyotes hunting in the areas here and in pairs (breeding season). If you follow em long enough they'll take you to a deer kill. Eventually most of the snow will melt and it will be a joy to go out. I recall one day a year or two ago when I got out of my car and entered a old bean field to begin a shed hunting session. In the field in front of me was about 50 turkeys, 25 Canadian geese, a dozen Snow Geese and about 10 deer....oh yeah, there was also an old cock Pheasant crowing nearby too. You can't beat it.

 

[Bill M]

Sounds like you are really up against it Shag with all the snow. Looks like you had a good outing though even without any sheds. What is the word on coming up this way this spring? I talked to Bill E. the other day and he said you had mentioned it. We have about 20" of snow on the ground so hopefully it will be a good winter. I found a new area to check out and plan on hitting it sometime this week. The deer are roaming alot still up here so the antler hunting might be a little tougher.

 

[deershed]

Shag-Not only do you have all that snow,your area gets pounded during the hunting seasons.You need to find some city deer like mine.
They've been having deer shoots in my areas the last couple years.The one area I went to today I hear they want 300 deer taken each year.They shoot what ever,but I hear some of the shooters target the bigger buck then come back later for the rack.
I have noticed the size of my sheds getting smaller and smaller over the years.Too many deer and the bigger buck probably are targeted.

 

[Shag]

Deershed, yeah, I'm kinda getting the idea that you've got some sizeable areas of country that holds a good number of deer but that's within a city limit of some sort or township that's populated to the extent that no hunting of any kind is allowed. Right around the Syracuse area there really isn't anything quite like that. Even the areas in the burbs that hold deer are hunted right up to the edges, no big parks around here that hold em. Rochester, NY has some big parks and deer infestations in the suburbs where I think you can have some decent odds on good sheds....a bit far for me to go on a regular basis. Keep your digital pics coming. I enjoy just getting a gander of the areas you're finding sheds in, the terrain and cover, etc. I went to Rochester to take my son out to lunch today and my wife and I took a ride out around one of the parks there in the country south of Rochester. Saw a bunch (several bunches) of deer in short order including two that looked like they were hit by cars just today. And, I even saw a buck packing a nice rack. His antlers were bone white, medium 6 or 8 point, not sure but feeding in someone's back yard well back from the buildings with 3 or 5 other deer, so some of them still packing.