Shed hunting tips
Whitetail Deer
Just seeing if any one has any good tips or advice to share, in regards to shed hunting.
I personally like to search creek crossings, field edges or around thick vegetation
Que the "fence jump" and "south facing slopes" response in 3.....2.....1.....
I spend all of my time in the following order: Food sources Bedding area Trails in between those 2 spots
Another tip is that antlers cannot be found where the deer didn't spend their time during the months of Jan, Feb, March. I see so often when guys shed hunt the areas they hunt during the fall and there hasnt been a deer on that ground since Mid December.
scout
Know where the deer are wintering, this seems obvious but it changes with snow levels. Therefore where you found antlers last year you may not find any this year. You have to know where the deer wintered.
oz
Wherever they jump fences and for sure SOUTH FACING SLOPES. Any place else and you're simply wasting your time.
Find the beds, find the sheds.
Get yourself a shed dog. I just wander around eating oatmeal crème pies and he brings me as many as I can handle! :-)
Are you telling me there are keto friendly oatmeal creme pies, Brotsky??!!!
Any where near clothes line poles and soccer nets.
There's about as many keto friendly crème pies as my dog finds sheds t-roy! He just thinks he's pheasant hunting all the time! Ha!
You HAVE to find where there is a fence crossing, in the cedars and thermal cover, on a south facing slope, between 2 primary food sources, in southern Iowa. Anywhere else and you are just wasting your time!
In reality what I’ve found above ALL else is if your primary goal is to find as many antlers as possible, shed hunt where there are the most bucks! Where I live in WV, shed hunting leaves much to be desired. I have shed hunted singular days in other states and had phenomenal days. Sometime you have to travel. Something I think people focus on more so for hunting deer, and not enough when wanting to hunt antlers!
Look in the same place from different angles at different times .... sometimes I’ll walk a piece of woods that I was in a week earlier with different lighting from a different grid approach and ask myself how did I miss that antler. It was from a year earlier so it wasn’t like it’s recently dropped between visits.
I have farms in northern Missouri and southern Iowa. I find 90 percent of my sheds in grassy areas with cedars and small trees. We have found close to 60 so far and have yet to find one at a fence crossing this season. All five I found today were in grassy areas near ag fields.
Don't be in a hurry. Walk slow, and don't forget to look behind you.
Walk miles. It took me 24 days and about 30 miles of boot leather to match up this set!
I find it much easier to spot antlers after it rains. It darkens the vegetation and makes the antlers stand out more. Sunny dry days the ground turns close to antler coloration.
Take a shed with you and toss it in front of where you are walking. Don't watch it land and then walk looking for it. This does two things: trains your eye to what you are looking for, and slows you down some. I've found quite a few sheds while looking for the one I threw that took a bad hop and was difficult to find.
Also, I prefer cloudy days with some moisture. I have a real hard time finding antlers in the woods if there is a lot of shadows and sunspots, and wet tines just stand out to me.
Hey cat...that is MY tip! LOL. It really does help to train your eye if you toss sheds. Pretty amazing how a big antler can almost disappear when its off the head. Throwing one in the weeds has really helped me learn to spot them.
Brett.... I agree! Overcast days after a rain, perfect!
Ill Ditto the overcast after a rain thing. It's awesome. Also the "look where they winter, not where they are in June or August, or October.
And south facing slopes with thermal cover in Iowa. That's definitely a good spot too! ha ha ha!
Dont get discouraged. I've had shed seasons where I find zero... then 4-5 in a single day and think I've found the secret sauce, only to not find another until next year. If you live in a lower deer density state, finding sheds is NOT easy. Think about it this way, everyone likes to think the hardest deer to find is a big buck... But his sheds are the easiest sheds to find given they are big. See where this is going. It's literally a needle in a forest you are looking for. Enjoy the walk, and hopefully, you find one now and then.
I'm terrible at finding sheds. I took catscratchs' suggestion and lost the only shed I ever found!
Not big on the fence crossings, only 1 in many miles and years I can say for sure was due to the fence jumping theory.
Lots and lots of droppings concentrated in a 5-10 acre area tell me where the groups are holed up, most years it the same places.
