Snow is gone here big guy We were just south of where the big stuff hit. I was in Indynapolis this weekend, they had alot of ice and snow left to melt. It was 56 degrees here today!
walked about 3 1/2 hours worth out at the in-laws house this weekend, no go, still had 12 inches or so, but is starting too melt off pretty fast.
Went out Sunday for a couple of hours. Found one side to the goofiest 6 point I've ever seen. His tines curve away from his body. Hope to find the other side soon.
Wild shed OS68 got you listed! Well we still have one member not checked in. I sent pm to everyone awhile back, ill send him another one!
I may check out some public land after work tonight, I don't know if they allow hunting or not. A buddy of mine hunted private land that butted up against it and they took some good ones off of the private sector. He has seen some giants in there. Hoping too pick up some good sheds. Won't get too much time in tonight, but will hit it again sunday for at least half the day. It's around 750 acres of mainly timber, some crp.
Picked up my 1st last night after work. A pathetic little spike with a brow. Must have been fresh, still some blood stains on the base. I'll get a pic this weekend. My collection of tiny crappy 2 pt sheds is really starting to grow. It's sad.
I got alittle 3 point shed the other day, I'll get a pick up soon. At least i'm broken in now. Now off too the big ones. I'll be out tommorrow sometime hitting a couple spots.
I'm up 4 more from the past week... Paired up a small 4x5 set, and added a fork and a couple 3x's. My shed-o-meter is sitting on 11. Rybo and I will be hitting it on Monday, and we will come home with the motherload!
Finally lost all of our snow and had a nice day to look today. I picked up 17. This is a spot of mine that usually gives up several more than that but I found some boot tracks from a trespasser. Some of the better grassy south facing slopes that always hold several sheds had already been hunted. I have some pictures and will try to get them posted up on Monday. Found one really neat set from a deer that is at least 6 1/2 years old. I passed him up when he was at least 3 1/2 because he had 3 broken tines and I have 4 years worth of sheds off him now.
Fletch... sorry to hear about the trespassers. Really sad that some people stoop to that level. The fines are a joke if you do catch here. Congrats on the 17 sheds. Great haul !!! fran and rybo... congrats on your sheds. Good luck Monday !! Dan congrats on the oldy. Hoyt congrats on your shed. Tim
Here are the sheds from Saturday. I picked up several more Sunday and will try to get them posted up soon.
Here are the 4 years of sheds off the older buck. He has always had a broken up rack and this year he kept it intact. Although, the tips of some tines were badly chewed on. His left side grossed 80" and they had 43" of mass. The only time we have ever seen him was the time I passed him at 12 yards with the bow when he had the first rack we found that was missing 3 tines. He had been chasing does in some thick brush and I used a can call to get him to come to me. He walked in to 12 yards and layed down for about 20 minutes before moving on. I actually drew on him a couple of times but decided to pass and hope for a chance the next year.
congrats fletch on all those sheds! Thats cool you have great history with that big buck, I too passed on big borderline 150 class this past october because he had a couple broken tines. give him another year too grow and hopefully don't bust anything off! love the mass and character on those sheds...
Dam Fletch, thats more than I have ever found in a whole season my best is 13 and many many many hours and miles. That older buck is a STUD,,,congrats on the finds!
Thanks guys. It's kind of like cheating here though. Bedding areas and feeding areas are fairly easy to figure out and lots of bucks. Just takes putting in the hours and miles. There didnt used to be much competition for sheds except the rodents, but now everybody has gotten into it and trespassing is starting to piss me off. A buddy of mine has found boot tracks in most of his private spots just like I did. The area I found these has given up 35 - 40 sheds in a single day in years past. Last year I had to go back to the truck to empty my backpack. I would love to see what the trespassers stole. Too bad I wasnt still running cameras. You can bet that next year there will be a few "bait" antlers with hidden cameras watching them.
Congrats on the finds, Fletch. You're 100% right - it's all about location as far as shed hunting goes. Those time-tested shed hotspots seem to produce year after year. Bummer that you've got guys cutting your throat to poach your sheds. I guess that happens as deer-mania continues to grow. The game is definitely changing, and it definitely pays nowadays to keep those honeyholes played close to the vest. Hunting competition here in PA is off the chain, but shed hunting competition is zero-to-none (largely because we shoot most of our bucks as yearlings, which means there are no sheds to find). LOL That said, 90% of my shed picking is in Ohio, where things can be competitive. Plant a nice, big, bony-white shed in an obvious area and perch a trailcam over it. You'll nab your trespasser. Shed hunters keep their eyes fixed on the ground and on the low trunks of small trees (scouting for rubs). If you put a trailcam on a horizontal overhead limb (pointing downward), nobody will ever notice it. I can't get over how many sets you've got from that one buck, and an absolute slammer, at that. I picked 3 more since I last posted - bringing my total to 14 for the year. My shed hunting productivity is way down, as compared to the past two years. We're averaging 10-13 miles per hunt, and only picking up 2-3 per trip. Normally, we'd be grabbing at least 5 per trip. I've got two big sets, and everything else has been yearling sheds or oldies.
I walked 3 and a half hours in the rain yesterday on a public forest preserve and came up empty handed. Between seeing numerous boot prints and a couple of tripod stands near the food sources for sharpshooters in the cwd program, I wonder why I'm empty handed! oh well you have too keep plugging away at it...
