Shed Hunting

Yours Truly on the most successful shed hunt yet!


Finding any dropped antlers is always a great feeling, its hard to explain the accomplishment I feel when I find even one an antler of any size. I guess the best way to sum it up is that it is like a treasure hunt. A hunt based on observations made over the past 6 months. I look at topographic maps and locate food sources, bedding areas and the trails that go to and from.

Scouring known buck territory this past Saturday I found 5 antlers in 2.5 hours. The two larger ones were from the same deer and lay less then 3 feet apart. To give perspective last year I searched over 20+ hours and found only one small, old, well chewed antler. So, did I get lucky? I’m sure to some degree I was. Are there academics to this shed hunting game? Absolutely.

If you want to bring up a competitive topic among the whitetail fraternity, mention the words shed hunting. With a cult following, those who commit heart and soul to searching for the ultimate antler literally live for the annual shedding phenomenon.

When is the Best Time?
April 1st marks the day that I begin searching. Is this day particularly magical? For those who treasure each and every antler they find, I suppose it does hold some mystical intrigue. But wait! Don’t bucks begin shedding their antlers shortly after the rut?

In consideration of the whitetail’s annual cycle, bucks begin to lose their antlers shortly after the rut. Where I do much of my searching for sheds, the months of March and April are golden. Some antlers drop as early as mid-December, but most fall throughout the months of February and March. That said, with every rule there are exceptions. On rare occasions I’ve seen bucks still wearing an antler in April. The other reasons to get out early spring is the lack of new plant growth which can hinder your ability to not only see an antler but also make movement through thick areas more difficult. Second , the longer the antler lays on the forest floor the more likely the squirrels and mice will find them and begin to chew them up. Antlers have high nutritional value and rarely last more than a year or two before they are completely eaten. In one case I have found one that looks to be much older.

Where to Look
When I begin my routine of checking likely spots, I first drive as many different back roads as possible to look for well-used trails. Those exiting bigger timber and crossing roads into feeding fields are most visible. By well used, I’m not talking about scant tracks in the snow or dirt that appear to be used every couple of days. I’m speaking of those resembling hard packed cattle trails. We’ve all seen them; they’re the ones that cause us to hammer on the brakes, back up the truck and gawk in amazement! These are the rainbows that may inevitably lead you to your pot of gold! When deer movement is concentrated, it can only mean one thing - they use that trail to move from bedding to feeding and vice versa. Most antlers are found in either of three areas; in or near their beds, on route to feeding areas, or right at the feed itself.

Most sheds are found at feeding areas. Regardless of where you look, be thorough and pay close attention to detail.

Be Diligent and Thorough
Don’t be fooled though. Yes, you can get lucky once in a while and find the ideal spot. But for the most part, if you want to find freshly fallen antlers, be prepared to put on the miles. On good days like this past weekend the weather will be mild and maybe you’ll find a few. Other days you’ll have to deal with Mother Nature’s wrath and may come up empty-handed. Sometimes you’ll see an antler from long distances because the entire thing is visible. Other times you may notice only a tip of a tine sticking up through the grass or snow.

Smaller antlers are of course most common. To find a matching set well that’s something we all dream of. Although I found a matched set, it was clear that they were from last years shed and had been badly chewed to the point that some of the tines were thin as knife blades. Each time I lay eyes on a set of truly spectacular sheds, my heart pounds. It may be the anticipation that I’ll be the first human to every touch those antlers … words can’t describe the elation.

Why Do Antlers Shed?
Like other ungulates, whitetails lose their antlers for a variety of reasons. The most obvious is to allow for new growth - much like a child loses their teeth to allow for adult teeth to grow; the primary difference being that deer lose their antlers every year. Many suggest that another reason is to alleviate stress during the more difficult times of their annual cycle. Winter can impose harsh conditions on deer and by shedding their antlers, they simply conserve energy.