The time between when hunting season ends and the fishing season begins can be torture for sportsmen. Stuck indoors with no game to chase or fish to hook can make a few short months seem like many long years. If only you had a reason to get into the woods. Why not give shed hunting a try?
For those of you familiar with the term shed hunting is exactly what it sounds like – hunting for shed antlers. In the past few years, the practice has sky rocketed, going from a hobby enjoyed by few to one which now even has enthusiasts training their dogs to assist in the search. Some do it to find antlers for use in craft projects, others to better understand the patterns of deer on the property or simply to get outdoors during this otherwise blank period. Regardless of your motivation, let me provide some basic information and tips to get you started.
The first thing you need to do is locate a potential hunting area. All you need is somewhere deer can regularly be found. Although your normal hunting grounds will certainly do you could just as easily start in your backyard – if deer are seen there regularly. Remember you are not looking for the same qualities as a potential hunting area such as shooting lanes, good approach & exit avenues or trees to hang a stand. You are just looking for the deer.
Once you have located a potential property you need to narrow your search to specific areas. Start by locating possible sources of food, water and cover. Next, look for the area where the three merge or are as close as possible to one another – this is the most likely area to find late season deer and the antlers they have dropped. Finally, narrow the search even further by identifying where the deer spend the most time – bedding or feeding areas, south facing slope & travel routes. When searching, travel routes focus on obstacles that cause sudden movement or jumping to navigate such as fence lines, steep stream banks or even downed timber- something that may be just enough to dislodge a loose antler.
Once you have located a hunting property and narrowed your search area all, you need to do now is look. Of course, looking for antlers (or anything else) in the vast outdoors is far harder than it sounds. They are naturally camouflaged and appear much smaller when lying in a winter field than when they sat atop a potential trophy. The best advice is to go slow and look then slow down even more and look again. Remember how hard it can be to see a buck bedded in front of your stand or sliding through the briars near your blind? Same thing only now you are looking for a very tiny part of the buck. Avoid searching large areas all at once; instead, scan small sections piece by piece. Like putting a puzzle together in reverse.
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