Shed Antlers

[brassman]

I find them along trails and just off of trails, I usually walk the deer trails from one place to the next and then grid search the bedding areas. I have found some bigguns that way.

[LOTWSvirgin]

I have never paid much attention to the rubs I always thought that they did that more in the fall But I really dont knowif it is true. But its good to notice things like that for the next fall I try to write stuff like that down I dont just shed hunt wjen I am out there I also scout you can figure some of the best information about a area this time of year

[titelines]

I strapped on the snowshoes and spent a couple hours looking last weekend. I've never done it before and was wondering if I was doing it correctly.

We've got some pretty nice, well traveled trails around our acreage, so I walked a lot of them. Found a lot of bed down areas, but no sheds.

Sounds like I'm going about it the right way(?)

[lungdeflator]

Sounds like it. With all the rain we got and cold weather now you might not even need snowshoes. South facing hillsides might be especially good this year considering all the cold we got earlier.

[shedfreak]

I have been pretty busy at home with the baby, but like before I was able to do some after work hikes of about an hour. I found 3 more since last time I visited the site, as well as my second skull of the year. Sooner or later Ill get on the board with a decent one, nothing real big yet, 5 outta my 6 are yearlings. ah well. still a rush seein them sittin there baskin in the sun! I seem to have lost my digital camera too, maybe in the woods somewhere! Luckily i always take pics with my phone as well, so i can still bring ya some ATL's. Nice to see the thread pickin up pace here, the best is yet to come, i usually do well in march and april... 29 two years ago and didnt pick up the first one until march 13th! So dont give up quite yet guys! No one ever said shed hunting was easy.

By the way, i have said before but ill say it again, joe shead's book on shed hunting is a must read, it sure helped me out... He also released his first DVD this year, all public land sheds, with immensely helpful hints. He's a local guy as well as one of the nicest you'll ever meet. You may even recognize a few of the spots in the DVD. He also just started a blog on his HSOforum a month back check it out. VERY HELPFUL.

[shedfreak]

ill share these with ya as well... I have one side off this buck, mine is the faded white side, found it in october... the other is a fresh set from the year before i found mine. Mine tapes out at 86 inches... the years set previous scored 96 on one side, and 84 on the other.... he was betwen 18 and 20 wide, putting him at 195-200 inches...

The reason for my "sickness" right there!

G2's AND g3's are 13 inches long!

[LOTWSvirgin]

Its nice to see you back Shedhead I dont know you but you always have helpfull info. I have not bought the book or dvd But I have read his blog its real intresting to read

[FishingRealtor]

Freaky Freak...I can tell you were home with the kids all day. As you know, we hit some yards up north today. Great stuff, tons of deer, huge rubs, not many boot tracks...but zip on the sheds.Still lots of snow, we need to go back! What's up next weekend?

Drew

[shedfreak]

and out of the shadows comes the fishingrealtor! Nice find today, pretty nice ATL too! I again found a dead buck..in velvet this time, NASTY! Not as nasty as the two homo bucks I saw going at it. 6 pointers, which i think they were brothers decided to start their own February Rut. Wish I had the video camera.. bout 5 different times it happened, the bigger 6 just walked up the hill as the other was on top, walkin behind.. anyone else ever see that before?! Next weekend, the grandparents are coming up from out of town so Im not sure If i can make a north shore trip or not.... Maybe friday or sunday, if we do it early... Ill let ya know... your catchin up to me... the freak cant allow it to go on much longer, gotta widen up the gap here!! the famous joe shead also picked up a nice shed today, nice 6 point side. Keep the pics comin guys... i hope to get some more up soon... not worth postin the velvet buck....yet

[eric29]

I put in a couple hours today with no luck. I found all the spots to look throughout the winter when i take the dogs out to run everyday, found all the bedding, feeding areas, and S facing hills. I hit all the spots that looked good today. I did see probably 30-40 deer, i didnt notice any head gear but theres a good chance they were all does and fawns.

[so haaad]

I believe I know the spot on the DVD. I think I used to run and hike up there.

[Musky Buck]

No sheds, walked many miles this weekend only to see a few more bucks with full racks. My uncle on his bus route has seen many racked bucks. The majority have not shed in my area same as the last 10 years. No wonder we didn't find any. I walked 3 different swamps with roughly 50-80 deer in each swamp. In certain areas of the state they shed late, way late. My uncles always told me don't look before mid-march because they haven't shed yet and he is right on.

[Musky Buck]

Last year tried the same, went looking in February, zero, waited till mid march and walked the same trails and bingo. Why would you think that they carry their antlers so late in the areas I scour ? It's East Ottertail County with rich soil and rich farmland.

[certified jumbo]

Well, its been a busy 4 weeks for us. We have looked a ton for antlers. We've had some success. We are up to 18 on the year, unfortunetely no real big ones though. I also found my first Isanti county antler in 4 years, that was a dry spell. It is the biggest of the year so far, 50 inches. The other 17 are from carlton cnty and they are smaller, but 6 are matching sets, so thats cool. Attached are some pics of some of the antlers as they laid. Also, attached are some pics of the cabin with our antler display. single shed finds go on one wall, matching sets go on the other. we've got some adding to do to the collection, i need to get more tacks. i also included our big find from last year for motivation purposes. one antler scored 59" the other 72". you never know what you might find. keep looking, i know i will. cj

[SapperACE]

Great pics guys! I was out today looking for sheds in Cottonwood County. Found one antler today, actually my pup found it, but it was just a small one. I don't know if it was just a fluke deal, but I hope she keeps helping me find 'em.

[dukhnt]

Went out with a buddy yesterday. Didn't find any sheds but he found a skull of a small 8 pointer. It was definately a nice day to be in the woods though.

[WaitForIt]

Got out on some pub land in the south metro last weekend. Saw lots of deer but no sheds and no buck sightings either.

Kinda makes me wonder where all those deer went while I was trying so hard to hunt them...

[LOTWSvirgin]

Ok fishing is over March will be here in a week who is ready to go get some sheds. I just picked up some new land on Heron Lake A bunch of it the land owner has already picked them up in his yard so he dont run them over. For those of you who dont have any place to go except public go ask some farmers they dont like hitting them with there tractor tires apperantly it can cost 400-500 hundred dollars

[lovebigbluegills]

Saw a buck with both sides still on this morning on the way to work (thief river falls area)-glad to see it. I've spent alot of hours wandering around the woods, corn fields, etc and haven't found a shed yet.

I spoke with a older guy (80+) that that shed-hunts whenever he can not too far from where I live, and asked him what he knows about deer dropping their antlers. He told me (for what it's worth), that it's not any specific time of year, but how hard the winters are. He's found deer sheds before Christmas, and not until as late as March or April.

[jkcmj]

I have found 2 so far. One was 53 inches and the other ran about 75 inches with 24" Main Beam! To bad the squirrels were at it already!

Displays better with chewed side down.

[Musky Buck]

Shedless yet, more bucks spotted with full racks. Going to give it another month.

[dportner]

Could someone point me in the right direction as to how to score shed antlers??? My buddies and i have been out numerous times and have only found one shed so far and i would like to score it. thanks

[jkcmj]

B&C Scoring system. Total up the measurements of the tine lengths, Main Beam, and 4 circumference measurements.

[tracker x-2]

I have not been out looking for a week or so, but I did check my trail cam last weekend. It was a poor pic but looked like a basket six with both sides on yet. That was around the south metro area.

[Quackaddict9]

jkcmj- Nice find!