Follow These Tips To Have More Shed Hunting Success!
I’ll never forget the sight. More of an excuse to get my kids out of the house than anything, our “shed hunting” trip didn’t last long. But… it didn’t need to either. Barely peeking out of a fresh crust of snow, two tiny tines were reaching out toward the sky. I hollered loudly for my dad and sons… similar to how I get everyone’s attention when the first morel mushroom of the season has been found. “Guys… check it out, my first shed…” The boys, both quite young, were less than impressed, but my dad thought it was pretty cool. A small fork horn shed, from a buck, we passed all season long. With a bit of fresh blood and hair on the pedicle, I could tell it hadn’t been off for long. I think God wanted me to become a shed hunter because he certainly blessed me with the gift of that shed antler. As soon as I touched it I felt something primal. Man has been obsessed with antlers for countless generations, and being the first human to hold this antler felt amazing. Ever since then, I’ve tried to learn as much as I could to become a better shed hunter.
Working in the outdoor industry has allowed me many cool opportunities. I’ve had a chance to work with most of the big celebrity’s in the industry and learned a lot from them along the way. Recently when talking about spring content, I suggested shed hunting. I know for a fact I’m not the only one out there who is interested in learning more about this sport. Shed hunting is becoming an international obsession, and for good reason. Everyone can be involved, and it can be as challenging or easy and one makes it. Not only are shed antlers from all sorts of animals worth a lot of money, but hunting for them is a great way to involve the family, and as I did with my kids — I get everyone outdoors for some fresh air and exercise. I also like the scouting opportunity and the chance to plan future stand locations.
The first rule to remember when shed hunting is that the greatest chance of finding shed antlers will happen in areas that bucks were frequenting during the “shedding” season. Depending on latitude, the shedding season usually begins anywhere from December through April. Usually in my home state of Michigan bucks shed sometime in January or February. Strangely enough, many hardcore shed addicts that I have spoken to have pointed out that some bucks will shed within a day or two on the calendar each consecutive year. (I thought that was interesting) To best identify when bucks have shed, some hunters still run trail cameras. Others simply do a lot of glassing and long-range observation. One of the trickiest parts about shed hunting is self-discipline. Some overzealous shed hunters hit the woods to scour bedding areas a bit too early each winter and end up sending antlered bucks running to all four corners of the wind. When an antlered buck hits the highway in the winter, there’s no telling where those sheds will fall. Adversely, the longer a hunter waits to look for sheds, the greater the chances of them being chewed up by rodents. Me personally, I like to wait until March. Most decent-sized antlered bucks have shed by then, and the chances that the antlers are still intact are pretty high.
I take an inside out approach to shed hunting, by first starting to look at winter food sources. In my experience, the greatest chances of finding a shed antler are where the hungry bucks had to aggressively dig and paw for food. I then walk the trails hoping to catch an antler or two that got knocked off by brush, or at fence jumps. After that, I scour bedding areas. I have also heard and noticed for myself that big bucks will drop their antlers near each other. Due to the unbalance on a bucks head with only one giant antler, the buck will soon become annoyed and work to get the other side to drop. Younger bucks don’t try to shed as much because the weight difference of only one antler isn’t as noticeable to them with small antlers.
As with anything, when you talk to a few people, you’ll likely hear a few different opinions. Here’s what a few other passionate hunters have to say about shed hunting.
