Share a shed hunting tip

[Shaun]

I have been a very late bloomer to this shed hunting thing. I found my first shed while bird hunting in tall grass. I got so tangled in it that I litterally fell down and had to extract my foot from it.

I have found a few by accident while setting up stands and scouting, but never till today found one on purpose. I just took a walk / stump shoot and found two, that's right, two in a row on pupose! One medium 8 pt and one big antler mostly chewed but with a 9" forked G2.

I was checking along a fence that deer jump over. I had heard that where they jump they sometimes loose sheds from the shock of landing. Did not find either second antler nearby.

Come on with some more hints of where you find sheds...

[George D. Stout]

In Pennsylvania, the squirrels, chipmunks and other gnawers ususally render them to ashes before we get there.

[bowdude]

My best deliberate areas are:
  Next to heavy cover where the morning sun will shine, out of the wind.
  Fencelines - just walk em. Don't daydream too much and forget why your walking it!  

  Depresions out in fields, especially grassy ones.  This is not next to heavy cover but basically where a buck would feed, bed and chew their cud.  Be there for a time period, out of the wind and the sun shining on them in the morning.

[bbassi]

1# in areas where pines are not real common, always look under the ones you come across. I've probably found a dozen over the years under pines.

#2 When you do find a "big" shed, mark the location and start making circles around the area. I've found that the larger the shed, the more likely you are to find the match within close proximity. Several times I have found one, and without moving my feet, looked around and seen the match. It doesn't always work, but very often it does.

[Steve O]

Shaun,

One of the guys we shot with at F&F trained his lab to find them.  She finds them 10 to one for him and he says it is easier for her to find the older ones.  

Real think Multi Floral Rose areas where they bed are good spots...

Steve

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

Dude

I found eleven sheds two week ends ago at the farm !!

Since there had been 2 to 3 feet of snow since early in the season, i hunted all of the south facing hillsides out actually past the wood lines.   The deer were bedding on these hillsides on the very edges of the wood lots. Since the horns were covered all winter, all but one had zero damage from the critters.  The grass being flattened from the heavy snow allowed one to scan the hill sides with binocs and it was the best ever!

[mbbushman]

Walk your legs off! That's the best advise I can give. I generally hike between 80-100 miles every spring in search of sheds. I usually average around a shed a mile in my area. Get off the beaten track, and never walk through an area the same way twice. We are creatures of habit, and tend to stick to the same trails. Often just walking the same area from another angle will find you antlers you missed before.

[overbo]

use your bino's
I read or heard of someone making a comtraption at a minerial lick that bucks would hit  their antlers agianst and knock them off.

[Earl E. Nov...mber]

Not only the fence crossings but the trail 50 yards or so past the fence.
Any place they have to jump.. Creeks crossings etc.
Bedding areas near a good food scource in remote areas..
Lately I have found some older ones right next to trees, where the tree rats have tried to climb the tree with them but dropped them.
I hunt a creek bottom there are numerous points where a bedded deer has good visual up and down the creek.. I have found several there and several of these points have yielded sheds from various years.
You might try carrying a shed along and pitching it out to train your eyes. Like mushroom hunting, Once you see one others are easier to spot.

[Stone Sheep]

check small ponds. Look on the bank to about three feet from the bank. Ponds near or in food sources seem to be best.I've found some real dandys actually in the water with just the tines sticking out. I'll bump the 2008 shed post back to the first page.

[longbowben]

Finding sheds is easy if you know where your deer hang out in late winter and feed.Look in the fields first then the edge of the woods the first 200 yards are the best.Then go deep in the woods the hardest place to find them,the deer just walk anywhere.You will learn more about the deer in your woods by looking for sheds.After a few years of looking you will know where to look,most of the sheds we find are in the sane areas year after year.Happy hunting........

[j-p]

I'm in NE CT. I've found many in beds that have good views. I check out hilltops, outcroppings, and just about any bump in the land.