Time Invested in Shed Hunting

[deershed]

I never gave it much thought before this shed hunting season.I never realized how many hours I searched on the average to find each shed,so this year I started keeping track of hours searched and sheds found.
This season is still young,so my numbers could be very different come the end of the season.Alot of buck are still carrying and prime time for sheds has yet to come.
So far this year I've been out 7 times and found 14 sheds,an average of 2 sheds per trip and on the average a little over 3 hours between sheds.
This doesn't count road time to and from my shed hunting area,it's basically time searched only.And it doesn't count days that I search every square inch of an area searching for other half to a really nice drop I've found already.
This average should get better as more deer start dropping and the season progress.
Last season I searched for elk sheds up-state Pa. and know my hours searched per elk shed were much higher.For elk sheds I didn't start til after most had already given it up for the year and prime hunting had already past.
For elk sheds it was probably close to 15 hours per shed found.

Has anyone ever kept track of total hours they searched for total sheds found for those hours?

BTW-it would be impossible to figure out how many miles were walked during that same period.I can say I'm not a slow walker and my theory is, my more ground you cover the better the odds of coming across a shed.
I have to say I'm proud of my 7 yr.old this past sun.He kept up with me and a friend all day and at one spot we searched it was 2 miles one way between two roads that we walked in and out.Not to mention the back and forth in between.We figured we had walked a total of 8 miles total with all the spots we had walked.
Not bad at all for a 7 yr. old with little legs,he takes two steps to my one.
He did find a nice fresh 3 pt. shed too!!

 

[Shag]

Deershed, yeah, I'm obsessive compulsive enough that I've kept track of that kind of stuff and not suprisingly I don't do as well as you do. I average about 12 hours per shed up here. I know that's not good but like you and all the others I enjoy every hour. I have those times when I'll get in one of the good spots after they're on the ground and I'll pick up 4 or 5 in a relatively short time. Then again, I'll go for several weekends, especially early, before mid-late February and not find a thing. I think I told you about that one last year where that sucker left the one side in a hayfield where I got it easy on about February 19th and was so intent on finding the match that I looked for several hours every weekend until I found it the END OF THE SECOND WEEK OF APRIL. You know what's funny, is when you finally find that damned thing you grab it and walk right straight back to the car in triumph (or relief, elation, whatever). Have you done that?

 

[135inchsingle]

I haven't kept track of hours but I do keep a map with my routes I've walked with sheds found marked on it. I do this for the main area I shed hunt on. It is a 2 square mile area. I use a printout from terraserver and mark the route taken on a given day in white marker. At the end of shedding for the year I can look back on it and roughly figure miles. The first year I kept track it was 4 miles per shed. Last year was much better at around 1and 1/2 per shed. I found 27 sheds in that 2 square mile area. Only 2 matched sets. The other areas I shed on I drive the field edges and find 90% from the truck.

 

[baddison]

I never thought of keeping track of search time. However, I work on a ranch and I am out in the pasture nearly every day. If you guys are like me any time your walking, driving or riding through the woods or pasture, you are always looking.

So, if I put in a 50 hour work week all year and only find 10 sheds a year on average..........whooo that doesn't look to productive.

 

[JackJr]

The areas I shed hunt are heavily timbered so I am not very productive time wise. I have gone right by some and found them on the return walk. I wish I had some open country places to hunt for them.

But I love it anyway.


jack

 

[Shag]

How many guys have ever spotted one from a car while driving down the highway? Not cruising fields in the F250 but actually going down the highway and spotting one? Deershed, you don't have to answer, I reckon you've already done that!

 

[deershed]

shag-your right,I probably shouldn't say a word.

After posting on here that I've seen two different buck dropping antlers,I think members think I'm full of it.
If anyone knew me they'd know I tell it like it is.I've found some nice buck dead while looking for sheds and would never try to pass them off as being shot by me.Found one this year already that's bigger then all mine except 2
Anyway,yes I've found a couple already while in the car.
On this first one I was a passenger and we were driving about 40-45 mph down in the city on a
3-lane road.My partner and I were shed hunting that day and moving to a different area when I spotted it.I yelled there's a shed and he said no way,he turned around and we went back and sure enough it was a shed.
Another day I had the two older boys with me when I found a set from the road.The area we were in was open fields with low cut grass.I told the boys watch for sheds while we were driving cause I've found them before like that in that same area.A couple mins. later a spotted what I thought was a single shed.I pulled over and had the one boy run out and check.When he came back to car he said it wasn't a shed,it was two sheds, a matching set.We were only going about 25-30mph this time.
One more although there are others.
I thought this one was neat.I was out shed hunting again moving to another area where I found the set.The ground was patchy with snow in some places.I was driving slow looking for sheds when I came up on a couple of trees scattered around.There was some snow around the trees that hadn't melted and I saw something sticking out of the snow under one of the smaller trees.I got the binoculars out and started checking it out.It didn't look like a shed,it looked like a stick.The only problem was the tree looked like a crabapple tree,dark in color and looked more like a big bush.Alot of small branches with small twigs,the stick laying in the snow was white and didn't match the tree.I got out and walked over and bingo!! A shed.
Sorry shag,you asked.

 

[wapiti]

I looked for 3 hours one day last week and found these.

 

[deershed]

Wapiti-Congrats!!Pretty good for for a three hour walk,some nice looking sheds too!
Are your shed hunting grounds free of snow?Too much snow on the ground here,I was lucky and had some snow free days already to look though.Dying to get back out again.

 

[Shag]

Wapiti--hey, nice bunch of sheds! That's one heck of an outing by most any standards. Some nice adult bucks in your area for sure. I was in Covington for business related stuff January 27 & 28 and it was some snow cover up there. A lady who owns a farm up there somewhere within a 45 minute drive of Cincinnatti kinda invited me to hunt their farm (northern Kentucky) and I'm wondering if I oughtta check it out. I gotta go back to Cincinnatti end of March and I ought to go early and check her place I think they have an early muzzleloader season. -- Deershed, I shoulda known you'd check in as "The Road Warrior" , finding em in the woods and from the truck--unbeleivable. Kinda scary what you might find if they threw you down in some really good country in Iowa or Kansas (hey, there's another idea!!)

 

[marmot]

Originally posted by Shag@Feb 11 2003, 01:42 AM
How many guys have ever spotted one from a car while driving down the highway? Not cruising fields in the F250 but actually going down the highway and spotting one? Deershed, you don't have to answer, I reckon you've already done that!

I find them by flying around in an airplane. When I spot one I find a place to land on a dry wash, hill top or gravel bar, then hike to them. Often I will find another on on the way that I didn't see from the air.

these are moose shedz, by the way.

 

[deershed]

shag-that's tempting!! Hunting sheds in a state with a good population of BIG buck.

BTW-I forgot about the time coming home from work a couple years ago.Driving down the road a co-worker ahead of me a non-hunter busted a nice 8 pt. with his car.I didn't know it at the time,when I came along there was a nice shed laying in the middle of the road.A telephone repair van passed the shed and pulled over to walk back for shed.I didn't see him til after I stopped for shed myself.
I got shed and headed home again.At bottom of hill I saw my co-worker pulled over checking out damage to car from hitting deer.He told me he hit deer and deer kept going,I told him deer probably didn't go far I'd come back later and look for deer for him.
I went back shortly after wanting to check on other antler along with deer.Other antler was laying on opposite bank about ten feet from road and deer only went about 75 yds. in woods.
I kept the shed antlers and salvaged what meat I could off deer for my buddy.

The deer was ready to drop and the impact from car only helped hurry it up.

marmot-that would be the way to do it.

I imagine you could cover alot of ground fast.And if you see a nice looking area and no sheds you could still land and check area out.
If your ever in need of a spotter,let me know.

 

[Shag]

Deershed, that's an interesting story about your poor co-worker creaming a buck with his car and you being right on the spot to slurp up the sheds from that unfortunate critter. For a minute there I thought you were gonna say the antlers popped off up into the air and they fell in the bed of your pickup as you went by. I actually know a guy who's never shot a turkey but hit one on the windshield of his pickup as it flew low across the road and it catapulted over the cab and landed in the bed of the pickup. Works for me.

 

[wapiti]

Shaq,

You should definitely take them up on the offer. Our state record buck was taken not far from there 2 seasons ago. It was a 206 4/8 typical 11 pointer Net score!

We do have a 2 day muzzleloader season in late October.

Have fun!

My wife nad brother went shed hunting for a couple hours yesterday, my brother found an 8 point set and my wife found one side of an 8 point, I found 2 dead box turtles.