Jody Hadachek's tips are a good read as he covers some really good ones and he is a shed dog for sure. hitlistoutdoors.com/forum/index.php?board=6.0 The one I figured out this year is key in on small drainages/travel corridors instead of trying to cover a huge piece. Much easier to cover well and know you have covered it. Also sheds will often be not where you think they should be! Good luck it's getting close.
Wear some knee high rubber boots and make sure they are very comfortable. That is very important! Then walk your butt off! Bedding areas and feeding areas are my two favorite spots to look! Do you have facebook? If you do look up Steve Renner "Picture is of me in my orange vest with two deer" I have shed pics on there.
Amen and take it all in, pay attention to what the woods are telling ya! As far as when I start....I will start shedding over Christmas break.
Walkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk, walkkkkkkkkkkk, and walkkkkkkkkk, some more, that my friend is the key to finding sheds time ,time ,time....... And if there arent any big bucks in your shedding area your not gonna find big sheds. Locate big deer in the spring and summer gain permission to shed hunt the property and go in there and clean house. You gotta locate the bucks and preferably the big ones, and follow them all season know there routes to and from bedding areas and feeding zones. The rest is easy once you find them its just a matter of time before they pop off....
The nights are longer then the days this time of the year. Dont discredit the feeding areas. If you have ever watched a deer feed, they boob their heads around checking for danger. Check all ditches, fence crossings walking inbetween bedding and feeding areas. If you get a lot of rain early during Jan, Feb make sure to check in brush along the trails. When they shake their body to dry off it can jar a shed. That shed may or may not be laying close to the trail or even on the ground. Look for part of an antler. If you always looking for an "antler" your going to walk past many! A large antler with long tines might be laying with the base facing up and all the tines laying flat. Check around the base of every rub you come across over 1.5 inches in size for browtines. Use your trail camera pictures from October to zero in on these areas. Wear a hat and keep the sun to your back. The hat will help brighter objects on the ground stand out. Keeping the sun at your back will illuminate antlers better in front of you. Overcast days are the best. Have binoculars handy and use them. This will help you verify stick antlers before you get over to them. (stick antler - stick that looks like an antler). Go out looking now to identify bedding areas if you have snow. GPS mark them and mark where they are feeding in the fields. So, walk the woods and mark beds, then walk the fields and mark feeding areas. connect the dots when the snow melts and the shed season comes into peak between Feb 14 - Mar 14. ****** Big woods feeding areas in the snow - singlular trails are most likely travel routes, broken trails with that circle next to a trail may indicate a feeding area. If you covering a large area with friends, use a GPS that has smart technology that can tell you where your friends are. This will keep you from making assumptions that the area was already walked (not that that means anything). You will be able to criss cross an area more effectivly as well. A good GPS with this feature is the RINO 530HCx. I will start another thread with using my GPS to shed hunt. Good luck Dave
Some tips I want to give is Look south, like the hills to the south and the south side of the forest. face of the South receives more direct sunlight during the winter. Deer bed here to enjoy the radiant heat, like a cat lying on the window. Direct sunlight is also to reduce the depth of snow here in the first place, makes the deer to sleep, travel and food intake.Stroll through the bedding and feeding areas for deer frequent searches for any piece of wood. Like deer hunting, when you're in the hands of combat, you can only see a piece of wood on the adherence of snow or grass.
Keep your eyes open in the white stuff! This one about bit me! Noticed it at about 10 yards today for my short hour walk! I found it within my first 10 minutes!
I find a large majority of sheds on south facing sides of ridges. THis has been my most productive approach to finding sheds. I dont find a great deal of sheds but I find enough to make me happy. I would also add that you need to keep an eye on the deer. Find a field that is being hammered. I run my trail cameras now as much as I did in the summer. For one to see what bucks made it through the season and most importantly for shed hunting how many bucks have shed their antlers. If you are getting pics of way more deer packing stay out of the woods. You dont want to go bumping them and they drop them somewhere where you cant go. I WILL not intentionally go out looking for sheds until at least the first of February. I did find one today while puting corn out in front of my camera but I walk straight to the camera then back to the truck. As much as you want to walk around just wait until you are certain the majority of the bucks in your area have shed.
