when and how do you hunt for sheds?

[cabinguy]

what is the best time of year [ i got a place at the bottom of
tug hill new york] to find sheds?
got any tricks or tips to share?
"preciate it".....
what do you guys do with them after you find em? got any pix?

[mazter]

I often walk many Deer trail's in thick brush, to open feeding feild's. With the Open feilds I use a Pair of Binocular's to help me look, So I dont have to walk as far. I have found them up in small tree's & Brush piles, where Squirrels have taken them too. I find them on the Trails they walk, and Beds they lay in. I have found them under Pine tree's where they have laid up for the hard winter.

Ill get some pics taken of all the ones I have, But it may take a while, Right now they are buried in my Shelf's. But I would like to make a few Knife's with some of them, As I have saw some nice knife's made on here by other Member's. Some of them will get mounted on wood plaque's. I have 4-5 Skulls that will be on wood plaque's as well. Just havent had the room to put them up yet, But it will get done. Sometime

I did find one set that made a Nice set of Rattleing Antler's.

[Thargor]

Deer shed their antlers annually as a prelude to the regeneration, or re-growth, of new ones.
The entire shedding process takes two to three weeks to complete, and the re-growth phase takes place over the summer. The docile male deer sheds antlers between January and April, after the autumn mating season draws to a close. He can do without antlers at this time, because his need for them in prior months, to attract and to impress females for his harem of mates, and to fight with his competitors for the females' affections, no longer exists.

The antlers comprise solid bone tissue with a honey combed structure. Pedicles, or knobby, skin-covered nubs protruding from the skull, support the deer's antlers, or points, which range in number from one shaft to eleven branches. The pedicles are a permanent fixture on the deer's forehead, and are the point from which the antlers annually break off.

During the first year, the pedicles appear on the young deer's forehead. In successive years, as the deer matures, his antlers lengthen and, in most species, he acquires additional branches. One can actually determine the age of the deer from the number of branches on his antlers, as their number increases with age.

During the growth phase of the bony antlers, they are covered with a sensitive skin referred to as "velvet," which is filled with blood vessels that feed the antlers the vitamins and the minerals necessary to build up the bone, and to promote normal antler growth. Antler growth spans two to four months, after which time the velvet is no longer needed. As a result, the velvet withers, dries up, and falls off, often assisted by the deer, which rubs his antlers against tree bark. The antler regeneration is complete, and the shedding cycle will resume once mating season in the fall concludes.

[ghost stalker]

you can't tell the the age of a buck by the number of branches on his horns..... i have found yearling wt's that have shed spikes(not yet a yr old). i have found lil 4 pt's that have 1 1/2" bases, and i have found a spike antler with 6" base's(not a 1 1/2yr old i assure you) oh yeh you might say this guy is an idiot... he's calling them horns... well go out shed hunting and after 30 or 40 hrs in the woods with no luck you too might start to think they didn't shed their antlers this yr.lol.
just have to figure out where the bucks are hanging out in january to march depending on where you live. just lke hunting it takes a long time to get good at it and luck is a wecome companion on the long march for horns. beds,feeding areas travel and migration routes are good places to start. throughout the yr they have but a few nessesities-food,sleep,water. find these spots by glassing and keeping an eye on them around the time they should be dropping. when you start seeing bucks with one or no horns it's time, but a good set of bino's can help pick out the bucks from the doe's once they've dropped.
as the snow melts more and more horns will be reveilled.
just keep at it.

[toxic111]

I start looking in Janauary when I have time to get out. As the spring progresses I start looking a little more. Once the snow is gone I really start looking (again if I have time) I usually watch the edges between bedding and feeding areas, fence lines, and water holes.

I don't spend the time looking as much as I would like, hopefully that will change next spring.

[earschplitinloudenboomer]

Hey cabinguy;

...saw a neat deal in an outdoor magazine a while back...if you own or have access to private property in White tail deer country,
set 3 posts in a "V" pattern, stretch chicken wire around posts, leaving the "V" open. Put corn or "sweet feed" in the inside point of the "V". If you only bait during peak shed time in your area, there is minimal chance of injuring the deer as the antlers are ready to drop anyway. Check all local game laws before baiting deer.

[cabinguy]

sounds like a neat idea!

[GUTPYLZ]

Originally posted by cabinguy
sounds like a neat idea!

I was thinking the same thing. When, I shed hunt in the spring, I glass fence line's that they either jump over, or crawl under.

[Lilred]

I find most of mine spring gobbler huntin..but iffin I was to purposely go lookin fer em, it would be March er so..er even late Feb. I generally look in lots of cedars, fencelines, and general thick stuff.
As fer as the age of a buck, naw you caint really tell by the points. But, as a general rule (not set in stone that is) you can get a good idea by the base of the horn. If the base of the horn is very stubby w/ those lil stubs everywheres, it's safe to say that the deer has some age to it.
In my huntin, that seems to work out good, and it's been very consistent throughout the years. But, that's fer general use, and wont pinpoint the age of a deer.

[GUTPYLZ]

Telling age by branches is like a Urban Legend. I used to think that when I was a kid. Most of Yearling Bucks,will be a Forked Horn. They say a Spike Buck, has a bad gene pool, and should be weeded out. To tell the age of a Buck, or any animal at that, is through his teeth or jaw bone. When I shot my Moose, the Division of Wildlife wanted me to send in the lower jaw. It is pretty easy to guess the age of a buck 1 to 4 years, by the body. The older bucks, get a sway in the back and fill out in the brisket

[ghost stalker]

now we have some more intelligent respnses. nothing against you thagor but ignorance is killing our hunting and i tend to jump on misguidence when it comes to hunting. i feel you need to learn all you can from the environment around you. sorry if i cam off a lil rash.

[Thargor]

I didnt type that. It was a cut and paste from a google search.

I thought it would help...guess not

[earschplitinloudenboomer]

...there is not a calendar date to start hunting sheds, learn to anticipate by keeping an eye on food crop, weather etc. Regions and even areas within regions will differ due to year to year variances in circumstances. If you are too early, no problem, most places it's still squirrel season, take a .22, enjoy! Later in the season, still no problem, trout season, take a .22 enjoy....uh might want to rethink that last!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...one thing to keep in mind, the sooner you find the shed, the better color it will have AND around here, if sheds lay for very long, the mice knaw on them. Have seen many potential knife handles ruined by rodent damage to the antler.
...antler growth is also determined by genitics, food supply, age etc. Number of points does NOT follow any progression of time after the 2nd year.

[Virginiashadow]

What a great thread....this is exactly what I have been looking for on this subject...I started scouting yesterday for next season.

Ghost stalker, chill out. Geez man. Ignorance about points on a bucks rack determining his age is not killing hunting at all.

vashadow

[ghost stalker]

i'm not saying that not knowing about points is killing it. i'm saying that knowing about what your talking about is imporant. and talking about somthing you don't know about like hunting and related subjects may relay the wrong information, and if say that someone asks why people hunt, and you give an uninformed answer, it may make other hunters look bad. just saying know what your talking about. now that me and a few others informed cabin guy that pt's don;t tell the tale he can tell someone else a fact, not a myth. once again didn't mean for my response to come across the wrong way.