shed hunting

[vister]

rutting has a lot to do with when bucks drop their antlers. as bucks are rutting, testosterone levels are high in the buck. it isnt until these testosterone levels drop that antlers begin to loosen up and fall off. so yes, the rut has a lot to do with antlers being shed!

as for antlers in velvet, once testosterone levels start to increase, the burrs at the base of main beams start to grow, and grow quickly, which chokes off the blood supply to the velvet, hence velvet begins to die, and the antler begins to harden.

testosterone is a big factor with antlers, whether be it in growing or dropping them!

bottom line, rut = testosterone = headgear, the longer...well, u get it.

[Musky Buck]

Good points Vister, makes sense. What kind of weather are we in for this weekend ? Good luck shed hunting guys.

[FCspringer]

Thought you shed stalkers might like this one. Thats a full size coors bottle, and a mount with a 20" inside spread for compairison. The squirls beat me there though, I would say the chewed off tines would have been 18" and 14" easily, with a drop tine at least 6". The double brow is 10". Just by the shear diameter where thier chewed, it is a easy estimate. I would love to get a crack at this record.

[LOTWSvirgin]

Holy smoke FCspringer that thing is huge

[buglefever]

Hey y'all! Glad I stumbled upon a good forum with knowledgeable shed hunters! I've been at it seriously for 10 years and here in NE Iowa they seem to drop them from late Dec into April. By Valentine's day last year I had 30 sheds. Though I found a really big matched set in late march that was freshly dropped and within a few days saw a full racked 8pter. Even if they drop early they're easier to see when the snow's gone (obviously), but I start early because I have a lot of competition on some of the properties I hunt.

[trolloni]

Hey guys all good posts, Vister is spot on , been doing his homework ,the bucks that do the most breeding uasually are the ones to drop em first .Im no expert and have only shed hunted for 3 years so ive been reading everything i can get on the subject .Shed hunting book by Joe Shedd is a good start also there is a club called North American Shed Hunting Club they have a web sight check em out they can help with some answers to the puzzell the best thing is to get out there and check it out ,but be cautious you dont wanna kick them bucks outta there before they drop ,kinda makes it tough when there in the next county!Get a good pair of binos they are a big part of being succesful and will save you a lot of extra walkin , also think points thats all you see alot of time.Once ya find one youll be hooked its awesome ,id say it ranks right along with gettin that big buck no kiddin !hit it real hard last year and wound up with 26 sheds one matched set in the 150 class ,couple skulls and a hole new activity for the down time of winter.

[jkcmj]

Went out today and found a couple more, may be a set, but just different enough on the pedicals/texture to make me think maybe not. Still not finding the big ones.

[shedaddict]

Went out on Saturday near Cumberland, WI and found 4 sheds. All of them yearlings. One set is a match and the other I'm not positive on. They were all within 30 yards of each other. We went grouse hunting for the day and did not find any other after checking this spot. I did see one other 8pt later in the day, so I'd say it's about 50/50 on bucks that have dropped. I've also been hiking a lot in the twin cities area and have not found anything. I'm hiking in all new areas and have not seen bucks, so I'm not sure if they are dropping around the twin cities or not. Anybody that lives around the metro area still seeing bucks? Not sure how to post pics, otherwise I'd put them on here.

[gonefishing70]

Well with all the snow we have gotten over the weekend my shed hunting is over till spring. I hope to find a bunch then. Good luck to every one.

[certified jumbo]

Welcome aboard to the new guys!!! Good to see more people getting involved on this thread, its my favorite.

Great pics everyone!!! Keep them coming in.

I wish I had pics to share, but i don't. Looked a couple of times down here in cambridge area with no luck. Haven't made it up north in a couple weeks. I hope they didn't get to much snow up thier. Shed freak or Odonata......anyone have any snow totals from the cloquet or carlton area??? If they did get a lot of snow, it could be difficult the next couple months for me. But i will make up for it in april and may!!! Last year those two months brought me a lot of sheds!!!

Good luck everyone!!

Cj

[shedaddict]

Figured out how to post pictures.

The third photo is of the pair that I'm not sure if they are a match. The one side has less blood, but that could have been dropped a couple days earlier. My dog found the one with less blood on it about 30 yards from the other side. Not the biggest, but still fun to find!

[certified jumbo]

Great first picture post shedaddict!!! Nice looking dog as well.

I would say the two in the last picture are not a matching set. colors, size and bottoms of antlers don't really have much resemblence. the good thing is, thats two more antlers to find.

Good luck.

[shedfreak]

hmmm.. well i say its with out a doubt a matched set. Um snow totals are probably about 4 inches of new snow by carlton. to be safe, ill say 2-5, haha. I havent been out lately, not a good year for me in that sense....Still hope to get my usual totals by seasons end.

[fishuhalik]

lotws, 6 dead fawns?! How much snow you got up there?! Doesn't sound good for next season...

[fishuhalik]

Just an idea, but you guys think the time they drop coincides with snow? It seems that central MN gets the least snow, deer drop late. Northern MN and southern MN seem to get more snow, putting more stress on the deer. Just a thought.

[Musky Buck]

I'm doubting snow depths as some pretty heavy snow years still late which I'm finding out to be more normal. 6 weeks to go till I can get after them. I have to remember last year how many full racked boys were on trail camera that first week of March.

[lungdeflator]

I fully agree with the rut idea. Snow depths might cause some stress, which in turn might cause a couple to drop at different times. Im no Bill Ny the science guy but I like the idea that the level of testosterone in the deer has alot to do with when they drop.

[shedaddict]

I agree with the level of testosterone coincides with when a buck will drop. I found 3 fresh scrapes this past weekend while grouse hunting, and I would say half the bucks in the area haven't dropped yet.

[Musky Buck]

So in my area the bucks stay "horned" up a lot longer or the ability to be still feel the hormones lol. Sorry about the pun and understand if that gets the boot. Makes some sense but I feel there is something else. Is it possible more so in an area that has many bucks wintering together ? No or shedfreak would bhe waiting till April like me.

[eyehead]

My old man feeds about a dozen deer behind his place. He has 4 bucks that have been coming to his feeder this winter. Well, about a week ago they were all up at his feeder one night with horns on all of them except a basket rack that dropped one side. Now just the other night, all 4 of those bucks were back at his feeder without any horns......I thought it was pretty crazy that all 4 bucks lost there horns within a weeks time frame. One is an 8pt(140") and the other ones are little basket racks and a fork......

[lungdeflator]

If he needs the bones picked up so they dont wreck the lawn mower let me know

[shedfreak]

Im still seein racked bucks everytime out myself. BUt im seein just as many without, so ill keep walkin! Sorry i havent been up to date on my pics, been pretty busy. Got an hour and a half in today, I got 2 5 point sides and 4 point side. The best thing about it was I had my 5 year old with me, and i let him find em. I pointed him in the right direction.. and he spotted both of em from about 20 yards! Dad was pretty happy. He got cold and i dropped him off at the house and i went back out and thats when I got the other 4 point. Great Day

[shedaddict]

That's awesome you had your son out! Way to start training him early. I have a one month old at home and I found myself wondering when I should start taking him out with me...I decided that as soon as he could walk I would start taking him. Might not be for long, but it will still be worth it.

[East Rush Rules]

Hey shedfreak, is was cool to see Joe Shead meantion you in his article in outdoor news! I've been out a couple of times now and have yet to see any bone!

[shedfreak]

shedaddict, my youngest just turned a year old on the 3rd... however, his first shed outing was when he was 5 weeks old... february in Duluth.... Thats how I do it! haha... and i was wondering when that article was going to come out... Ill have to grab a copy before they are gone!