finding deer sheds.

Magicman · April 07, 2010, 08:01:51 AM

The only sheds that I usually find is during Turkey season. I found one match set....lying one on top of the other....

SwampDonkey · April 07, 2010, 11:51:45 AM

Most sheds around here are moose. Eight moose where bedding down several nights by the house. That's more than all the deer around here. ;D

Bibbyman · March 06, 2011, 06:53:03 PM

First time out looking for sheds this winter season. Did pretty good. Don't you think?

Easiest shed I've every found.

I about didn't go look at these. I figured they were just sprout stumps from where I'd bush hogged last summer. I've found pairs before but never like the buck just took them off and laid them down just right.

This pair was in sight of our house on the hill about 1/4 mile away.

CX3 · March 06, 2011, 08:04:31 PM

Bibby nice ones man. Thats a real treat right there.

Hey Chuck White, try snooping around the south slopes of brushy hillsides. Deer bed there in the winter, also try oak flats where they are still feeding, and also look in spots where they jump the fences. Sometimes when they land the "jolt" will knock the antlers off. Also food plots are a good spot, just look in spots where deer spend the most time in your area in the late winter. Good luck

Magicman · March 06, 2011, 09:31:52 PM

Finding that matched set is a real treasure Bibby. Good for you.

woodtick#2 · March 06, 2011, 10:32:02 PM

I am a hunter, outdoorsman, and logger. I spend most of my time in the woods and I have only found 1 shed. I was cutting oak and i happened to trip over the antler.

Magicman · March 06, 2011, 10:36:16 PM

The only ones that I find will be during turkey season. I have only found one matched set and they were lying one on top of the other.

thecfarm · March 07, 2011, 08:08:38 AM

Bibbyman,nice find. smiley_clapping I really like the ways it just lays there. A very unique find. My step son is coming up to mark the trails around here.He buys the feed and I feed them.Lots of trails where they have been walking.We still probably have a couple feet on the ground. He wants to mark the trails and yards so he can find them with no snow.I put this post in favorites so I can show it too him.He will like to see it.

Troublermaker · March 07, 2011, 10:14:24 AM

A friend sent this to me about a Record Minnesota Elk Found Alive With Antlers Stuck in Mud on December 12, 2010. It goes on to say that they thought he was trying to jump a fence and being old with such a big rack it was more that he could hold up. Do any of you people from Minnesota know any thing about it?

http://www.gothunts.com/record-elk-found-pinned-alive-with-antlers-stuck-in-mud-in-minnesota/

Burlkraft · March 07, 2011, 02:27:43 PM

Wow

That was a nice one

clww · March 07, 2011, 04:10:13 PM

Bibby-That's a serious set of antlers there. Nice job on the matched set!

Bibbyman · March 07, 2011, 04:58:05 PM

Too bad the rodents got to them before I did. Most of the points have been gnawed on. :-\

I made another circle around another field this afternoon. Nothing.

Autocar · March 08, 2011, 09:31:56 AM

Ive found three whitetail and a once in Newfoundland I found a moose horn and a few steps further I found the other side. I tied them to my pack board and figured I would bring them home but after a while I layed them on a stump ;D they sure were heavy plus walking in the muskeg was just to much for this old man. One of the whitetail antlers I found it had snowed over night and I was starting a new job I carried my saw into the woods and cut a deer track and there laying was a four point with a bloody stem where it feel off. So I walked the track out of the property bur he never dropped the other side. The biggest one I ever found was a river bottom in southern Illinois.

Bibbyman · March 12, 2011, 07:29:53 PM

I've been lucky this deer shed season. This makes #4. My record was 5 a few years back. I found this in the middle of an old logging road on the back side of our property. It was about 20' from the line fence and within sight of the neighbor's house. I looked long and hard for the mate to it. It could have fallen off a week earlier or later a mile from where this one was found. It would have been a nice trophy if taken while on the deer.

It really is a good time and season for shed hunting. The heavy snows we had earlier has mashed down the vegetation in the pastures and matted down the leaves in the woods. The wind has not had a chance to cover them with stuff.

It's a lot easier to spot sheds with the points sticking up. Seems like if they're points down, they tend to look like just another stick.

Magicman · March 12, 2011, 09:51:14 PM

That's a nice find and a very nice buck. And, you have proof that he is still there. ;)

Bibbyman · March 13, 2011, 04:14:20 AM

Quote from: Magicman on March 12, 2011, 09:51:14 PM
That's a nice find and a very nice buck. And, you have proof that he is trill there. ;)

Not an assurance as I suspect we are surrounded by a small army of poachers. I've heard rumors of the land owner that joins us to the south shooting deer in his field (that he leases out) in the guts so they run off and die somewhere else. I find the remains of a couple of deer a year and I'm not really looking for them. Our dowg comes up with a fresh deer bone every now and then when the season has been over for months.

I have never seen so much buck sign as I have this fall and winter. Along every trail the scrapes are so often you could almost jump from one to another. Every place a limb reaches out about 4' off the ground has a scrape. Rubs are everywhere. Our property is somewhat rugged and over half of it is woods. I don't know if the pressure from the area drives them to our place or if the conditions are more suitable for rubs and scrapes. I've not trespassed on areas off our farm to see if the buck signs are as heavy.

indiaxman1 · March 13, 2011, 06:28:56 PM

Found a matched set (6 pts) on the side of steep knob yesterday..first time I ever found a pair....a previous post noted the ground you have to cover to find one, so I was, and still am, smiling over the find....heard they often drop at same time, and to look for a second if you discover one...its the little things nature gives that sustains

chain · March 17, 2011, 09:05:52 PM

Quote from: indiaxman1 on March 13, 2011, 06:28:56 PM
Found a matched set (6 pts) on the side of steep knob yesterday..first time I ever found a pair....a previous post noted the ground you have to cover to find one, so I was, and still am, smiling over the find....heard they often drop at same time, and to look for a second if you discover one...its the little things nature gives that sustains

I'm glad you mentioned finding the set, I found a matched set today [4points]. They were in my main timber trail, I apparently ran over them a couple weeks ago as one side had a point broken off by a tire. Today, I was coming down the trail with my ATV, just happened to spy them, wonder had I not blown a tire!

Also, found what I think could be feral pigs rooting in forest road. Had not seen this type of sign before in the timber but we had one or two pigs come up a creek bottom couple years ago. I will be taking along some buck-shot or slugs next month during turkey season. Have to watch the legality and not load up while hunting turkeys.

treefarmer87 · March 19, 2011, 07:52:52 PM

i used to go look all the time a few years ago. i found some real nice ones, never a full set from a big buck, just the little ones. i have heard of people killing a doe the next season and mounting the horns they found the spring before. they are easy to find in a really green field with binoculars. my neighbor has a big field and there are always sheds in march or april there.

gunman63 · March 28, 2011, 03:41:37 PM

Quote from: Troublermaker on March 07, 2011, 10:14:24 AM
A friend sent this to me about a Record Minnesota Elk Found Alive With Antlers Stuck in Mud on December 12, 2010. It goes on to say that they thought he was trying to jump a fence and being old with such a big rack it was more that he could hold up. Do any of you people from Minnesota know any thing about it?

http://www.gothunts.com/record-elk-found-pinned-alive-with-antlers-stuck-in-mud-in-minnesota/

This is a bout 75 miles north of me, it is a true story, its a bad deal the old elk died that way, but nature is funny, there is a small group of elk up there, the state started a herd back in the 50's i think it was, last i heard it was about 100 animals, they hunt a few each year, this is the close to the area where the state cleaned out the deer herd and bought out alot of cattle farmers because or chronic wasting disease. they also bought out most of the private elk herds up there

Bibbyman · March 28, 2011, 08:57:31 PM

I found another couple of sheds this evening. That makes my total of 6. Both are small 8 pointers. I found one in a draw in the woods. It had already browned where it was below the leaves and tips had been chewed on. But I'm sure it's this year's shed because I don't think any last a year and in near complete condition. I looked further up the draw and spotted a second shed about 30 yards from the first. I was nearly a match. But I noted it was for the same side. Very odd deer to have to antlers on the same side. The base of one was a bit larger.

This makes antlers from 5 different bucks I've found on our 240 acre farm and I've not been over nearly all of it and wouldn't expect to find every one if I did. I think I'm going to have to rename the farm "The Buck Ranch".

Ron Scott · March 29, 2011, 09:11:02 PM

A worthy name! and you have proof.

SwampDonkey · March 30, 2011, 06:58:01 AM

Your pretty lucky just finding them. I find moose sheds, but I don't go looking for them. I bet if I did, I wouldn't find one. :D I've not found any real big ones, and we have some bull moose with some big antlers around here. When I came across those two bulls muscling in 2007 over a cow just down the path, those boys had some nice racks. Steam rolling off them on a frosty morning. ;D

Burlkraft · April 06, 2011, 08:03:46 AM

Here's a picture of the shed and dead roundup we had at my old farm last weekend.

It was a banner year for sheds! 8) 8)

These were found in about 5 hours on about 1000 acres