That's a good idea Tim, I don't know why I never thought of it. There's a farm right down the road from my place that hasn't been hunted in probably 10 years that's full of open fields and cedar thickets, it looks like it could be a real hot spot. I think I'll contact the owner (he lives in Pennsylvania) about doing a little shed hunting. I was planning on asking him if I could use him farm for photography purposes in the summer anyway!
Cool finds. I was hesitant to go out this weekend cause we had some 2-3 day old snow. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find anything. But I suppose this time of year they can fall any day and be on top of the snow too.
Put another 2 hours In today, notta!! Saw boat loads of deer though. Nice day out too, 20 degree's. Total hours shedding so far- 11 Total sheds- 0
Keep after is Steve, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then ... Man i hope you find your big bucks sheds, that would be very cool! I got shed hunting in the future, 4 day weekend next weekend.. Yahoo! Hope to find at least a few..
Today on my dinner break... I found the other side to the little 3 pt shed I found Sunday. Only 2 matched sets out of 10 sheds. Steve... are you seeing any racked bucks or do you think they have all dropped in your area?? Got a lot of snow in your area ?? Troy... good luck this weekend. I think we are getting all your snow plus what we normally get. LOL They are talking snow the next 3 or 4 days. Another 5 - 10 inches of the stuff. We got enough dammit !!! We will probably hit it hard at least Saturday but alot of my areas are getting snow in pretty bad. I need do some scouting in a few new areas to see where the deer are at. Probably do that Sunday. Tim
good luck Tim, sorry about the snow.. can you believe I have 0 snow on the ground and its FEB! this winter is freaky.. over 100 inches of accumulation last year at my house.. this year I havent had more than 2 inches at once and it melted fast. These El Nino winters here are a nice break though .. I know the deer and elk are appreciating it. I hope to find some bone tomorrow, gonna go hit the "a-frame" bucks mountain
Troy- I don't believe that buck of mine Is around. No big tracks, no big beds that I can find. I've had trail cams scattered through the woods and on my brothers little food plot and nothing but doe's and fawns and 3 different bucks (two 1.5's and one 2.5). The neighbors have 2 big food plots, I'm guessing he's over there. I know better then to ask him If I can shed hunt It. I used to ask him all the time and he always said nope, were going to shed hunt It. Never has he done It yet In the 10 years he's owned It. Tim- So far I've saw 3 racked bucks on the trail cams. I've saw 2 shedded bucks, one Is a 1.5 year old and the other might be a 3.5 that I let by In late October going by his body characteristics. I know It Isn't the buck I hit (no wound mark and too small of body but still good sized). I'm starting to get a little frustrated with bigger bucks never sticking around In the winter, happens every year It seems. I've checked my woods twice and 2 other state land spots. I'm not going back In to my woods for 2 weeks. We've got a good 14 Inches of old snow on the ground and just got another 4 Inches of fresh stuff. 18 Inches or so total you could say. The cow paths are amazing though, unbelievable!! Tim and Troy- Do you look more for your sheds In bedding area's or on these cow paths coming and going from where ever? I've been concentrating more on the bedding area's on south facing slopes so far this year and the trails that lead to them.
Steve We hit all the areas but concentrate more on feeding areas/staging areas now and trails. It is so open and different from what you have... Troy would be better to ask. We tend to find more sheds on north sides of hills here as the NW prevailing winds keeps that side blown off and dumps it on the south side... especially in feeding areas. Snow depth is the biggest factor for us on where the deer will feed The few spots of trees we have.... we do follow the south facing side logic and have pretty decent luck. The deer use these areas more for staging areas to get out of the wind and browsing for grass. We just don't have many areas like that. You are on the right track though since your areas is more like this. Once the snow melts hit everything. I mean everything. This will be the best teacher in getting an idea where your bucks tend to drop. They can drop anywhere but you should be able to see whats spots tend to be more sheddy then others... the more you tromp When finding a shed or a lot of deer sign ( winter ).... Pay attention to direction of facing slopes. Pay attention to wind swept spots as the deer don't have to fight the snow depth. Pay attention to what staging areas they seem to like as they tend to use these areas every year. Pay attention to areas they like to really browse... grassy areas, evergreens, bushes and ect. They will tend to use these spots almost every winter if they winter there every year. Best advice is to get access to as much land as possible and tromp alot. In order to find sheds or a lot of sheds... you got to be able to look where a lot of bucks winter. Learn to look for parts of sheds sticking out... tines... curve of a main beam or the pedicule sticking out of the snow. A lot of time you will not see the whole shed especially in snow or taller grass. A good set of binocs is a must. Use them for glassing open areas... looking up corn rows and ect. They will save you a lot of walking. I won't leave home without them. Tim
Tim you could not of said it any better! Great advice! If you go to team 4 and look at the set that I found, I found them on the south end of timber where the snow was most of the way melted off. It is now back under snow due to the snow storm we got yesterday so I am glad that I went out when I did. Staging areas and bedding areas are my two best finding spots. This set was in a fresh bed and still had blood on the ends.
Tim is the Yoda when it comes to shedding! Well actually he looks more like Chewbacka! LOL Good advice brother!
Thanks I think ??? Chewbacka was the tall, handsome one right ?? LOL Didn't you find anything ?? We went on a 6 mile hike yesterday. My God is the snow getting deep. I was almost pooped out by the time we got back to the truck 4.5 hours later. LOL We wanted to check out an area off the beaten path to see if the deer have been wintering there. There were but the fresh snow is just too deep to do any good now. That spot will be waiting until spring before we go back there. Tyler found a shed by stepping on it as it was buried big time. We saw two racked bucks. We had more snow last night and was really windy today so we didn't go out. This snowing every day or every other day is getting old. Someone make it stop !!! Tim
I didnt go, baskteball all day Sat. Family time and superbowl Sunday.. I wanted to go Sunday but just didnt have the time. I do have a 3 day weekend coming up I hope to get out at least 1 day! I will put in a good bit of time once basketball season ends.
Fricking snow!!!!!!!!!! As of right now were In another snow storm. So far we've got at least another 6 Inches of fresh stuff since yesterday and another 6 to 10 Inches Is In the forecast. Top that off with 20 mph winds, the woods Is going to be a ***** walking around In. One good thing will come about It though (hopefully), It might bring a few more new bucks to my bro's food plot. Thanks Tim for the advice, solid Info there!!
Steve- I was going to ask this question in the GB forum, but I was mainly looking for an answer from you so I'll just ask ya here! How many deer do you suspect ya'll lose to starvation up there? We are experiencing the toughest winter here in Western Virginia in 20 years, and I think that starvation may be a realistic possibility for some deer just because the lack of mast we had this year. Still, I think the winter's here are mild compared to yours. So how many do you think?
Honestly Cody I'm not sure. Years ago I think It was fairly common to loose older bucks and fawns to starvation but In this day and time In my area there are so many food plots around so I believe their chances of survival are pretty good. Up In northern Minnesota where they get 3 times the snow we get starvation Is a gaurantee up there. Happens up there all the time when winters are bad and can greatly have an Impact on the deer populations up there. The winters In northern Minnesota have been fairly mild the last 10 years and the deer populations show It. This winter up there will be tough on them though. There Isn't hardly any ag land up there either (all big woods and swamps). Were lucky to have ag land down here to help these deer through the winters. Weather plays a big part too. If we get allot of rain In the winter It can really make It a challenge for the deer to paw through all the Ice and snow. Ice I think Is a deer's biggest obstacle In the winter.
Steve, my bud J in Iowa had to take his tractor out and plow the iced snow off his fields in spots so the deer could get to the feed.. They've got pounded down there this year.
Hey guys, sorry I havn't posted yet, but I am still around. The majority of the bucks are still holding onto their antlers around here, within the past 5 days there have been 3 big bucks spotted on one of the farms that I will be shed hunting this year. My buddies uncle found a pair of sheds at their corn crib on that property so it should start picking up soon... the weather has been rough though. We have around 20" of snow from Friday night on the ground and we are supposed to get another 12-14 inches more tonight and through tomorrow. Hopefully wihtin the next two weeks I can get out and hit the woods pretty hard. Congrats to the guys who have already started finding sheds, and goodluck to the rest of you guys!
Carrying us ??? Hell... I am just trying to catch up to Fran and get a bigger lead on Tyler !! LOL Good luck this weekend !! I'll give you a shout this weekend to see how your doing. Still seeing a few bucks carrying as of today. The herd is building south of the main farm. Must be close to 100 head of deer down there now. Probably close 150 deer down by Albert's. There could be more as it is a big area they roam. Still nothing like last year or the year before but things are looking up more then they were a month ago. I've got Friday off and we will probably hit a couple smaller spots once Tyler gets home. Saturday we will hit it hard and hopefully get both areas walked without disturbing the deer too much. Tim
