What's the obsession with them? Personally, I love to find sheds myself. I love to see them as they lay. The last thing I would want is a dog messing that up. So, what's the draw?
Laziness? Having "mans best friend" with you while you're in the woods is a great feeling though - Assuming that's why most people use them.
I don't take shed hunting seriously enough to care if my dog or I find the sheds. Working together with my dog is more rewarding to me. I spend enough "Me" time when I'm out sitting in a stand.
Im talking about spending many hours training a dog to find sheds. Not just the family per that you take for a walk and he stumbles upon a shed.
I am training my dog to find sheds so he can walk with me and eventually help deer possibly, and simply because his nose is better than mine, And I have never found a shed, so It cant hurt.
Some people just have a weird fascination with antlers. Out here it can be big $$$. People drive long distances (out of state even), hit the hills in large groups with horses, ATVs, dogs and comb the ground. There's a lot of abuse. People driving where they shouldn't. Chasing deer and elk with hopes of getting them to drop antlers. Some people are even using drones. It's all stupid if you ask me.
I am with Dan on this one. Love finding them myself. I can see why people like using dogs so each their own on that. I see this as just another fad when it comes to buying a dog just for shed hunting. Just like hunting or any other endeavor... give it a few years and most will be trying something else that is new and cool. I have two kids that find most of the sheds anyways. Throw a dog in there and I wouldn't find any !!! :p Tim
That would and should make anyone mad. That isn't my idea of shed hunting. We aren't wrecking anything or harassing the deer here. The last thing we want is mad landowners, putting pressure on deer coming off winter and pushing deer off the ground we have access to. Greed, stupidity and no respect for anything !!! Why people are like this is beyond me . Tim
I have a dog that I've just tinkered with in finding sheds over the years. When we brought him home I gave him shed antlers to chew on and over the years we have hidden sheds out back behind the house and pretty much every time he would find them. However, we haven't had a lot of chances to bring him with us to Ohio until this past year. Him finding his 'first' was about as special as my first one. I guess it's one of those things if you love your dog like I do it's like your kid finding a shed antler. As for why people spend the time doing it I'd say it's the dog training thing that is fun, kind of like running trail cameras, it's not for everyone. I like the idea of finding every shed antler out there and I know there's only so much ground I can cover.
They're just another tool to have. Just trying to maximize the number of sheds you can find. To me they're no different then say a trail cam. The camera is out watching the woods while your not, seeing what your missing.
My dog and I are pals. We hunt as a family so I figure she should be included as our family pet. I like training her to do stuff because it keeps her obedient and thinking sharp.
I like trying to find as many sheds as possible, especially for the bucks that I have pictures of. I also enjoy spending as much time with my dog as possible. I'm sure she would definitely find a lot of sheds that I would never be able to see. I hate the idea of antlers laying around deteriorating or being chewed to nothing.
Im the same Dan, personally I just love taking my Labs as there great woods running buddys and its great exercise for them!
So here's what got me thinking about this. I have a few Facebook "friends" that have "shed dogs." According to their posts, they've spent countless hours training these dogs to find sheds. They post about taking their "shed dogs" shed hunting, yet I've never seen them post a picture of their dogs finding anything. I'm heading to Canada next week, and I guarantee I'll find more sheds in 3 days without much effort than these "shed dogs" will find in a lifetime. So, until your dog actually finds something, please quite calling it a "shed dog."
So you dislike people training dogs to find sheds.... because the dog might find sheds? AND you dislike people training dogs to find sheds if the dog doesn't find any? You're a tough crowd.
Dan, are you saying that a dog can't be a "shed" dog until he actually finds a shed? Kind of like a dog isn't a bird dog until he actually finds a bird? :D
Close. I personally wouldn't want a dog finding sheds for me. I love finding them myself. If someone has a shed dog that actually finds sheds and they enjoy it, great. But, if your dog that you trained to find sheds doesn't actually find sheds, please stop calling it a "shed dog."
