Contributors to this thread:
Slim.... you are killing me. Every year you find them early.
Up here in Western New York, they didn't lose them last year until early March. So far I've found nothing yet this year.
Good job!
found a couple slammers while in Illinois over the weekend
Here on Long Island the antler drop is very spread out... Sheds start dropping 1st or 2nd week of December and continue through March... Latest I've ever seen a racked buck here is April 6th.. Usually the majority of Bucks here Drop around the first week of February.. Actually surprised I haven't found more..been walking a lot... Finally had some luck Monday
Here is a Buck that was completely shed...picture was taken December 6th
Slim you are discouraging anyone who wants to take advantage of the extended season...imagine arrowing a buck and have his rack fall off..lol..Tom
I'm in 9H last Friday I saw (3) 8 pointers, a 4 and a spike, all still had full head gear. When I get a trail pic of them without antlers, I'll get the Lab out looking for them.
I haven't seen a buck without them up here near Rochester. Like I said before, last year it was the first week in March before I found any.
Yesterday while walking the farm, I noticed that the we still have a doe leaving a red tinge in her urine. Does it mean she is still looking to breed?
Hey Pogo...no, I dont think so. The color of the urine has everything to do with diet and hydration. I dont believe it's an indicator of estrous- I see it all kinds of colors
I often seen bucks chasing does like its the middle of the rut in January, both here and where I hunt in ct. It is possible to have a doe in heat still
Had a nice eight courting a doe last week on the property.
slim - how is the snow cover out in Suffolk? i'd like to try to get out this weekend, but not sure if it will be worth it if there are 2 feet of snow on the ground... that would pretty much limit me to antlers that dropped in the last day or 2 i would think...
My brother in law just had 3 shed bucks walk under him this afternoon in CT
Slim where is it that you find these sheds every year? Some sort of town park?
a couple I found in illinois
Nice. Too much snow out here to get motivated. Will try to get ahead and work then hit it hard when the snow melts.
Coke13- Nice set. This year? You have a camp out there?
yes this year C. Beck, Had the typical at 60 yards while hunting and then he dropped his antlers that night!
Were stilling waiting on this New York buck to drop them
Long beard ...I find sheds in both parks and state and county hunting land..
What a set Coke...wow...would love to walk up on those..
Charlie beck...this snow is killing me...went out yesterday for 5 hours with snowshoes... Found nothing and it was tough walking
Yesterday 2 (8) pointers crossed my frozen pond in front of the house, both still have full head gear.
the 10 point in the above picture dropped in the last two days
I tried to walk yesterday at the farm and gave up after about 100 yards. Still have too much snow. I wanted to check my last trail camera that is out on a major deer trail to see if they had dropped their antlers yet.
It's going to be at least two more weeks up here near Rochester.
I'm 45 min South of Syracuse and I dont even believe 2 weeks is enough...the snow is up to my crotch...
I went to the farm yesterday and was able to walk (wade) through the snow. We still have at least a foot of snow.
But I was able to retrieve my last trail cam I had out and was blessed with 71 pictures. It did not show an antlered deer at all. But on our way to the mall last evening for our nightly walk, I saw a small buck still carrying his 6 point rack.
I'll wait for another two weeks before I go down to look for sheds.
I finally was able to walk the farm and look for some sheds. I only found two but there still is a lot of snow in places.
I didn't find anything in the places I found them last year. Is that normal?
This one is how I found it.... the right side of a 10 point. It has to be no more than a two year old. He might be something special this season.
This little one was found at about 50 yards from the other one. It's only a crotch but it has 2 guard tines. It's also from the right side.
The best find of my walk yesterday was this massive rub. It was one of many rubs almost as big found on a trail that leads directly down the trail to the tree that I've killed two bucks from in the last four years. It's less than 200 yards from the tree.
I've never seen any buck capable of doing this. I promise I will have a couple of trail cams set up this September in this area.
I had a decent day today myself.
Finally just getting going. Still 2 ft of snow is some locations.
I'm up to 36 dead deer in about 30hrs of looking...99.9% fawns. I'll easily double that by the end I would say
I walked one of my 150 acre farms in Jefferson County last week and found 7 dead. All were fawns but one.
I'm in Madison Co Pat...about 50 min from your Boonville property. Most all the deer have been bedded in Hemlocks as opposed to the few that I perceive as wounding loss and are at the bottom of banks/creeks/brush...
We're at 60 dead deer now. Shedding has been poor
Jim - I grew up in Jefferson Co. where do you own a farm? The above buck was found in Jefferson Co. by me the other day...whopper. I have his 3 yo sheds, 1 of his 4 yo sheds and now him!
SJJ, That is a monster! Especially for up here. Where was that found?
I live in Hounsfield and have permission to hunt this farm on county Rte 66. It gets a lot of pressure so I have to get after the big guys early if want much of an opportunity.
Yeah...he's a great deer. Wounded and lost I'd bet. probably about 145". East of Lafargeville. Private land...no gun pressure
Wow... That's unfortunate. That's what I'm in search of now. I've been looking for a place to lease with little to no gun pressure. It's not easy to find!
64......went on a 45 min "lunch hour" and found 4 more...3 were curled up in there beds like a dog.
Well, I'd say no. There is a very high deer density here...like ridiculous high and they seem to be spread out all over. They do "ball up" in some concentrated groups - often in the same cover year after year - and it is independent of snow depth. But in general they are everywhere. I was sure the deep deep snow would help my shedding but the opposite has been true. Very tough looking (great sign, no antlers). Again, the vast majority of all these dead deer are small fawns curled up in their beds and you can tell that they died recently....not early on
I have a camp near Watkins Glen. I will be headed down there next weekend to see what the damage is. I am hoping not the numbers you are seeing SJJ. If I find anything significant, I will be sure to post.
Deadhead with nearby arrow...
quality is really lacking this year
Back out to my 150 acre farm yeasterday and I'm up to 11 dead now.
Upstatearcher- where is the farm?
Well into the 70's now with dead deer
Ace the farm I hunt is in Jefferson County, Town of Hounsfield. I walked quite a bit at my camp outside Watkins Glen this weekend and only found 2 dead.
SJJ- you can tell for sure if the deer died of starvation or other causes by checking the marrow in the femur bone. I'm assuming racked Bucks didn't die of starvation or they would have dropped their antlers, but that's not a given
A few dead deer have been found here in Westchester but most were fawns and yearlings and the femurs show they didn't starve. Most likely coyotes took them down.
Walked about three miles yesterday looking for turkey sign on the farm with no luck..... but I did find one antler.
I did see two big mature Toms on the same field I've been seeing them this spring. It's about one mile from my oaks as the crow flies. I'm hoping they travel soon!
Poopin out.............
last 2 was a small match I probably stood 10 feet from last year as it was under snow and I never went back
Must be about 10 dead bucks so far this shed season
2 more deadheads...on a roll
Last pic for the year...Big buck from above cleaned up
149-4"
Good question Pat...no, not at all. I look in a ton of places in Madison, Oswego, Jefferson and Chenango Counties. I put on a ton of miles. The most dead deer found were in my home county of Madison but no supplemental feed was at play. Granted, I cant go everywhere but I feel confident saying that. Virtually 99% were fawns (save the bucks- some of which were wounded)and often where there was one there was 2. You could see where they were in one spot for a very long time before they died (deep shit - literally). I had 9 dead deer on my own 70 acres. I got the vibe that the big deer could move from place to place browsing but the small fawns couldn't navigate the deep snow - which we had a lot of. Honey suckles popping, getting warm...I'm burnt. Turkey time
Here's a little shed I found the other day while coming out of the woods while turkey hunting. It was buried in mud after the farmer tilled the field with just a little piece sticking out. I was lucky to see it!
SJJ how do you explain all those dead bucks with antlers still intact? I would think that they would have shed their antlers before they got stressed or starved from the winter.
I cant explain them all. Some are wounded and lost for sure. Those seem to be more often in low spots, along water, brushy bottoms where as others are in open areas and are "fresh" not having been there since Nov/Dec. It's the latter that are hard to explain. I guess they went from alive to dead in a time frame that did not support the separation to shed. I find shed dead bucks too.
A few pics from last few months.
Annual shed hunting weekend on Long Island. The last two years a few friends get together to hike, scout and look for sheds on state ground where we hunt. We all throw $20 into a pool and the biggest shed gets the $. My buddy Pat took the $120 with a really nice set he found.
SJJ can I ask what the 149-4" means? Shanw
Deerman406, that's the score with an 18" spread credit. I've seen it...it's a hawg.