Deer Antler Sheds
Searching for antlers gives you a good reason to get back into the field after the hunting season ends, and it will help you discover which bucks survived the season, and how big they are.
The shedding period of antlers is lengthy and may occur over several months, but evidence suggests that individual bucks tend to drop their racks at roughly the same time each year. One buck might shed antlers in January while another doesn't shed until April. In the midwest most people looking for deer antler sheds start the last week of January or the first week of February. The following list will help you succeed at finding deer antler sheds in your area.
Deer Antler Shed Hunting Tips
The shedding period of antlers is lengthy and may occur over several months, but evidence suggests that individual bucks tend to drop their racks at roughly the same time each year. One buck might shed antlers in January while another doesn't shed until April. In the midwest most people looking for deer antler sheds start the last week of January or the first week of February. The following list will help you succeed at finding deer antler sheds in your area.
Deer Antler Shed Hunting Tips
1. Train a sporting dog to find and retrieve antler sheds. Antler can be hidden in plain sight, but a dog can find it with his nose. A sporing dog such as a lab or golden retriever is suggested. If you do decide to train your dog to hunt antler sheds you can buy antlers on this site to use as chews (as a reward) or buy lower grade antlers to train with.
2. Scout out the deer trails in the fall and winter before shed season. It is easy to see tracks after a snow or heavy rain. Mark these trails because this is where you will be searching in February.
3. Find food sources in the area. If you find the food sources, especially where the deer will be eating in February, you have found one of your main antler shed locations. Look for corn stubble, soybean fields, and any other winter food source. Obviously, if you are feeding deer with food plots, those will be good locations. If you want to "cheat" a little, there is a great technique for trapping deer antler sheds. To trap sheds, place corn underneath fallen logs close to deer trails where the deer will find it. The bucks will push the logs and dip their heads to get to the corn, causing the antlers to slough off. <br />
4. Find water sources. Where I live, I have the only pond for a couple of miles. There are definite deer trails around that pond.
5. Follow the trails from the food sources or water sources back to the bedding areas. Look for areas with pines, cedars, or other evergreen trees. In the North, were winters are cold, look for draws, or low areas where bucks may go to ride out bad weather. These offer shelter to the deer, and will be a good source of shed antlers.
6. Follow trails to areas and obstacles that the deer will have to jump over. Check around railroad tracks, fences, and hedgerows. The antlers can be jarred loose on these big jumps.
7. Look on hillsides with a Southern Exposure. This is where the snow will melt first and where the grass will begin to grow first. This is also a warm area for the deer during the day.
8. Use your binoculars, your hunting stands, your field cameras, and any other deer tracking equipment you have to find out where the bucks are and what they are doing in the months before shedding season. Bucks tend to stay in a half-mile radius of their bedding place. Even if they get scared, they will return. If you are watching a buck with a great rack, you can bet that rack can be found within that area.
9. If you only have limited time and the trails lead to fields as a food source, then walk around the perimeter. Deer tend to hang around the perimeter of fields.
10. Don't give up. You may not consider that as an important tip, but the more deer antler shed hunting that you do, the better you get at it. No amount of tips can substitute for the experience of finding sheds and recognizing the areas they are found. There are basic tips for antler hunting, but different areas of the country may afford different hot spot areas, so don't give up. Follow those trails between food, water, and bedding areas, scout the deer like like your are deer hunting, and you will succeed in shed hunting.