Should you’re on the skin wanting in, shed looking seems to be a easy endeavor. Simply stroll some minimize cornfields, grid-search a couple of bedding areas, after which work out the place in your man-cave, or she-shed, you’ll show your findings.
As if. In reality, shed looking mirrors the better whitetail group. When you have primo floor to work with, the entire thing is fairly straightforward. Should you don’t, it’s not. That’s not meant to discourage newcomers, however as a substitute to inject some actuality into the entire thing. Profitable shed hunts aren’t all that straightforward to come back by with out stellar floor, even for seasoned hunters like myself. Should you’re new to the pursuit, it’s far harder.
However there are methods in which you’ll be able to hit the bottom with greater odds than the common neophyte. This all begins with tempered expectations.
Shed Realities
Earlier than my spouse and I had our twin daughters, I shed hunted with my golden retriever, so much. Nearly on daily basis from January by April, Lux and I’d stroll some property, someplace, for antlers. I don’t know the miles we placed on throughout these years, nevertheless it was a whole lot of effort. The perfect shed season I ever had with that canine—a canine I educated to search out antlers—was six.
Even with some canine energy on my facet, a willingness to cowl critical floor, and a fairly wholesome understanding of the methods of deer, I couldn’t handle greater than half of a dozen in a season. I’ve since had a couple of magical days and shed seasons the place the numbers obtained higher however by no means nice. The fact of shed looking is that you just may go weeks with out discovering one. You’ll be able to, nevertheless, improve your odds in the event you perceive the areas more than likely to provide some bone.
Excessive-Odds Deer Haunts
Dan Johnson, host of the 9 Finger Chronicles podcast, admits that when he began specializing in shed looking the best way he focuses on really looking bucks, his outcomes improved.
“Lots of people assume it’s worthwhile to grid-search a whole property to search out antlers,” Johnson mentioned. “I feel it’s higher to contemplate the bed-to-food patterns and nil in on these traces, these spots. Put your vitality into areas you’d really hunt due to the deer signal, and also you’ll be extra productive.”
I wholeheartedly concur with Johnson’s evaluation however will take it a step additional. It is best to discover high-odds spots, after which hunt them in quite a lot of methods. There won’t be antlers in a selected bedding space on the finish of February, however might be in March in some unspecified time in the future.
Or, a situation that’s way more possible is one the place you miss antlers by strolling a selected route. When you have an space you recognize the deer are utilizing this month, or subsequent, stroll all the paths. Stroll them in numerous instructions, throughout completely different lighting situations. Recognizing some tines poking up by the snow or leaf litter throughout cloudless days the place daylight and shadows dominate the panorama is vastly completely different from an overcast day with even gentle.
Additionally, at all times carry your binoculars. Each shed season I choose up an antler or two merely from scanning a discipline or investigating a distant object within the woods that catches my eye. Plus, it’s good observe for when you find yourself really deer looking.
Shed Timing
Individuals begin discovering antlers on the finish of December in northern areas, and it’s just about on from then till the turkeys gobble and the ticks are out. The perfect time to shed hunt, nevertheless, might be not the morning whenever you open Christmas presents, though there are benefits to being the primary one within the woods.
“Lots of people say that you just shouldn’t go too early,” Johnson mentioned. “I disagree, as a result of I share the woods with loads of shed hunters. I would like the primary crack at them, even when there are fewer antlers on the bottom after I go.”
As somebody who shed hunts properties with loads of competitors, this can be a good technique. I choose up a whole lot of my largest antlers in January and early February, except the snow has fallen constantly sufficient to bury contemporary drops. If it has, or I haven’t had as a lot time to go early, I don’t fret.
The primary antler drop in lots of locations will occur in February. Which means that on daily basis that ticks by after Valentine’s Day is one the place there might be extra antlers on the bottom. By March, I depend on a lot of the antlers to be on the market, someplace, ready for me. The chances of discovering them are highest then, particularly in the event you’re in an space the place the snow may lastly soften away.
Whereas it is likely to be prudent to mind-grind over the most effective time to go, the fact is the extra you go, the extra antlers you’ll discover. This isn’t like looking on November seventh to expertise the most effective day of the rut. It’s about placing on the miles from one week to the subsequent.
Shed looking isn’t as straightforward because it seems to be, however it’s a hell of a whole lot of enjoyable. It will also be productive in the event you maintain your expectations in verify, give attention to the very best focus of deer signal, and don’t shrink back from burning some boot leather-based.