shed hunting

[fireman]

We'll try these pics and see if it works.

These are the one found today while I was out for about a 1/2 hour:

These were the only ones I found all of last year.

Guess thats the way it goes. It was fun getting out. Need to get the shoes fixed so I can get out again.

[LOTWSvirgin]

Half hour and thats all you found?? Wow you need a new area but can you tell me where you were at?? Yah I finally broke my funk I was in last year. I had a 2 year dry spell still dunno how it happened but it does keep at it. Oh yah nice finds.

[matchset]

those two sheds are FRESH! wow man! nice finds!

[fireman]

The two smaller sheds were on top of the snow, after we had 2 days of heavy wind on Sunday/Monday. Im guessing they had fallen in the last day or two.

The matched set was found with just the tips sticking out of the snow.

[Monkster]

Fireman - A nice find for 1/2 hour!

Thanks for the info everyone.

I just received permission to walk a private refuge. Can't wait till Saturday. It should be fun for my new 9 year old "shed addict" and I to search a fresh area.

[certified jumbo]

Great stuff guys......Keep it up!!! I love looking at the pics!!

Cj

[Musky Buck]

I tried a new area last night in a state forest and when I got there, there was already 10 guys going through the cornfield and it's surrounding trails and edges. I guess I'll wait for area 240 to get going, keep getting full racked buck reports but it will be game on soon enough, if the weather holds for awhile that will help finding them.

[scsavre]

Nice work Fireman, I wouldnt have expected Glyndon bucks to have dropped them yet. I might have to head up to the cabin sooner that i later. catch fish and find shed could make for a fun weekend.

I am going to try a woods in the Cities now. I will report after.

[Musky Buck]

Good Luck Savre, my Fridley connection claims his bird feeder bucks are all full racked yet as of last weekend, but it's in that time frame where it's more likely as each day goes by to find a few. Please report, I've got a month to go finally. Can't wait, but praying for a better spring than last years, good luck.

[shedaddict]

Great finds guys! I haven't been able to get out lately, but I have had a chance to drive by a few areas; didn't see one buck. I'm planning on getting out this weekend. Good luck to all.

[Monkster]

Went for a drive scouting the area we are walking tomorrow, we saw at least 15-20 deer at or near homeowner feeders. Surprisingly, no head gear on any of them! Even my 9 year old could tell one was a massive buck, he said to me "Hey look, that one has spots on his head" He was also was about 8 inches taller than any other deer. At least I know they are out there somewhere!

[scsavre]

I walked some good area yesterday and still nothing. I am looking where the deer are hanging out too. I just dont think many have dropped in the Cities yet. I did see 9 deer last night with no head gear. Couldnt tell if any were bucks though, bummer.

Back at it today i guess. Its atleast a good workout for the dog.

[shedfreak]

hmm i recognize those sheds...which reminds me, i still gotta go back and get my portion of em! any luck today " matched set"?

[certified jumbo]

Nice job matching

set and shed freak. You are off to a great start!!!

LOTW - To answer you question on what do we do with our antlers. We take all the non matching sets, the right and left sides and stagger them from smallest to biggest. Then we take the matching sets and keep the together along another wall at our cabin. I will enclose a couple pics of how we do it from a few years ago, some of you might recognize them. I will try to get a updated better pic as now have antlers going around the whole room.

Shed addict - You asked about moose shed hunting. We have just started dabbling with it a little bit. 2 years ago, we drew a tag for the gunflint trail. While hunting in october we found 3 sheds. 1 freshie from that previous spring and 2 older ones. My wife and i went back last spring to look and the road was washed out and we weren't able to go where we wanted. A couple of weeks ago we were up in the BWCA trout fishing and found a couple of spots with lots of moose sign, we are planning on going up in the spring. I would like to do more moose shedding, but its a 5 hour drive and i'm unable to get to a lot of the areas i'd like to look in the winter. It would be fun to go up with a group of guys and see if we can do some damage. I'll enclose a couple of pics from 2 falls ago.

I'm heading up tomorrow to look for deer sheds. I'm not expecting much, but who knows. I'll keep you posted.

Good luck,

CJ

[shedaddict]

CJ, cabin looks great! As far as looking for moose sheds, I am planning on going up to a few spots in a month just to see what sort of sign I find. I'll go back again for some camping starting the end of May. I've been in contact with several DNR employees, and the've given me some good points to start with. I'm also doing a fly-in fishing trip this year up in Canada; I plan to spend at least one day looking for moose sheds there. I would really be pumped if I found one. Good luck this weekend!

[UNDBowhunter]

Went out today for a couple of hours....first 10 minutes found a matching set of a decent 8 point within a 2 feet of each other. Checked a couple of more spots, and found a small 5 point side on the last spot. Pushing my count to 6 so far this year. I will post pics later.....

[buglefever]

Well, our snows here in NE Iowa are really hampering the findings. Went on some public land wed to no avail. Snow was between knee and waist deep and we've had a lot of fresh snow. Today I took my pooch out for 2 hours in a great area and nothing! Again, the snow was really, really deep, but I still thought I might luck out and find a fresh one, or a bigger one sticking out.

Looking at my calender I kept from last year, I am 31 behind last years total to the date. I have 5 so far, on the 19th last year, I found 6 that day alone!!! Amazing what a difference a year makes! To make my goal this year it's definately gotta be all out from here on out!

I also want to say I love the look of the cabin! Great way to display em!

[james_walleye]

I went and checked an area on friday morning to see how much sign was out there. It was amazing, there is definately a pile of deer hanging out, and no doubt some antlers to be found. I snooped around the top side near the road for a bit. Its a grown up tree farm so i was walking through the pines. It was loaded with beat down trails, fresh droppings and hundreds of old and new beds. I didnt find any antlers, but in the scheme of it i didnt hardly cover any ground. It would take 3 guys a whole day to cover that part of the farm with all the heavy trails criss-crossing the area. I found the heavist trail left the pines, went 3 feet from my treestand and then split. One trail through the hardwoods and one trail went to the other side of the ravine up to the back of the property where its another 23 acres of mature pines. Where do you guys think i should concentrate my efforts coming up there? Are they spending more time bedding in the pines or should i follow that trail through the hardwoods and find the bedding area back there? The obvious answer is check it all, but just trying to make a gameplan.

[matchset]

hay there! here is my opinion. about 50% of the sheds fall in the food source, 25% on trails, and 25% in beds~ so if you can locate the food, you'll find sheds most likely. i've had a lot of luck with this strategy this year. what it boils down to is that a buck or more likely to lose an antler when he is moving then when he is stagnant lying in his bed (tho it happens).

[matchset]

a couple more!

here is a dandy that has a 12 inch G2, too bad its a year old!

then, trying to find a spot with less snow, i ran across this young 4pt. right on the edge of a gravel pit.

here is a pic of a three legged shed out buck!

[shedaddict]

Nice going matchset! I went out this weekend and found some great sign, but no sheds. The areas I was walking still had at least a foot of snow, so they could be buried. I did find a dead doe. Only one spot did I find another person's tracks, so I don't think the areas are picked over. Matchset, are any of the antlers you're finding fresh?

[certified jumbo]

I was humbled a lot on Saturday as I spent 8 hours looking and no dice. Most of the antlers I knew would be covered by snow, but i was hoping for a late drop. No luck. Did see lots of deer though and one fresh fawn kill. I will save the looking now until the snow melts. Hopefully soon that is.

[matchset]

shedaddict! i've found 22 sheds to far this year; and all but three have been fresh! lots of bloody bases; but those bases dry up or wash away within a few days after they fall.

keep at it; i know a lot of sheds are buried but a lot of bucks are still carrying. i saw 6-9 tonight! a few of the 8pts looked alike so; there is still hope!

[no bait nate]

not exactly sheds but a few I came across at the trout streams last year.

Southern Minnesota flood victim

found the whole body but took the skull and propped it in the stream bed for a few pics

[LOTWSvirgin]

Thats pretty. Nice find!!