deer sheds???

[Guest]

I've heard a few stories of people finding sheds already in the mille lacs area. Just wondering if anyone else has found any sheds or heard about any being found this year. Seems kinda early but who knows???

[HunterLee]

i doubt those were from this year. but i guess who knows. i found one during the regular season but it was from last year. i dont even bother to look til end of jan or febuary. but maybe they drop them sooner.

[Mark Christianson]

My neighbor shot a 10 pt buck the last day of muzzleloader season this year.
He got the deer home and when he pulled it out of the truck the right antler fell off.
It was not busted off, it fell off just like a shed.
After further investigation, the deer had been shot previously(probably during regular firearms season), and our guess is that with the body weakened and trying to heal the wound, the antlers are on of the first things to go. Just a theory, but this deer was definitely not fat and happy.
He was pretty withered, and our initial thought was that it was run down from the rut.
Maybe some of the early sheds, are from wounded deer trying to heal up. Just a thought. It seems way to early for any numbers of sheds to be found.

[benelli_dude2002]

Dec 6th last year i shot a buck that dropped his headgear and this year i seen a buck on dec 12th and he too dropped his antlers too. My dad also shot a buck that dropped his antlers this year on nov 30th and it was running with another buck that had his antlers still and needless to say he shot him too. By the way this was in canada where the season is much longer than out little 9 day hunt here in MN. i think every deer is different as far a antler loss goes. A few years ago i shot a moose on dec 8th and he too lost his headgear. Good luck shed hunting! Happy new year! BRian

[swampbuck]

I have found fresh sheds as early as the 10th of Dec. They all drop them at differnt times based on health, available food, etc..
The best times to find them are in late feb and march, but any time from now on you will find a few here and there.

[Guest]

The buck's in our area still have there antlers . I have 10 deer coming into the feeder and three are buck's . One is a 10 point and one is a 4 point and a spike . I'm hopeing that they will knock of there antler's in the feeder . I have heard if you put feed in a 5 gallon bucket they some times knock them off with that . I also heard that they sell some sort of feeder that will also knock of the antlers has anyone heard of this . I live in town on the very edge so I don't hunt these deer just watch them with the grand kid's and take pictures . This year we had a doe with three fawns in the back yard and that was a blast to watch them play .
Brad Sr

[Mark Christianson]

Yep, the bucks I have at home and the ones at work all had antlers within the last week to 10 days. They seem to have become a little scarce, but probably just coming in later at night. I hung the trail camera at work tonight, and I have my other camera at my Dads farm. I need to buy another one to have at home too.
The feeder I have at work is just a tray with a roof over it. I put some 2x2's about 12 inches above the tray in hopes that when the antlers get a little "loose" on their heads, and they will maybe nudge them off. My feeder at home is a hopper style. The bucks typically have to really twist their heads in some goofy directions to get their nose in the tray at the bottom. I am thinking of putting some chicken wire, or something on the hopper to snag the antlers when they twist their heads around. I just don't want them walking away with a roll of wire on their heads. I need to think about my antler catching methods for the feeder at home some more.
Not sure how buckets would work.

[Canuck]

Had a 3 X 3 bedded down in the yard all day and about 10 minutes ago a real nice 5 X 5 in the 160 class walked by the window with his full head gear. This nice cold weather sure has caused the deer to come into the yard to feed alot more.

[Boyz in the Woods]

I haven't heard of any sheds yet in the Rochester area.

This brings up another question:

Should we be feeding deer in backyard feeders?

I'll start another post.