It's the only logical explanation. They must drop their horns, dig a hole and bury them so I can't find them! Either that or pick them up and carry them around with them. A couple days of shed hunting/scouting and NOTHING! Oh well it was cool to poke around in the great outdoors anyway. I did have a deer about 10 yards from me while I was sitting against the base of a tree taking a break. Walked right behind me and stopped for a minute trying to smell my stinky arse. Pretty cool. But alas............. NO SHEDS! I'm on a mission now.
Do you have any pics of shed bucks? I've only got 1 out of 6 that have shed. This weekend will make it 2 weeks since I've checked my cameras. I've been restraining myself from shed hunting my property until more of them have shed. Right now I'm in the process of trying to back track a certain buck with the use of my cameras. It is pretty fun.
I suck at shed hunting. I have only found a few while mushroom hunting, or some the next season, while I was walking to and from the stand. Anytime I go out shed/scouting, I come up empty. Heck last year my mom found 1 off a 10 pointer I've been chasing walking her dang dog. I walked 4 hours behind some public land behind my house over the weekend. Not only did I not locate any sheds, but I couldn't find any buck beds, and just a few rubs and scrapes. I did find some pretty good doe beds, along with a very nice looking funnel that should be on fire come rut.
I'm of the opinion that I suck at shed hunting as well ... though I've never tried that much, either. I'm going to attempt to put some real time into it this year to see if I can validate my hypothesis. :p Walked about two miles today, and nada.
What is the difference between a BUCK and a DOE bed???? As for shed hunting, I think I'm starting to figure out WHY I don't often find any as I found out that 2 of my neighbors scour our woods starting the next to last week of Jan. until March about once a week...... That being said, I've only really ever went "SHED" hunting a few times, and I've found 3.....
I was out for 4 hours today and didn't find any. I don't suck at shed hunting over all... I just sucked today. That's my story and I am sticking to it. Tomorrow is a new day. Got to think positive Greg. Hope you find the sheds off the buck you got on your trail cam. He is a dandy !! The snow is getting knee deep in a lot of our spots. The top foot is soft snow so anything falling off disappears. I did get a good work out plowing through it though so I got my exercise in. I was darn happy to see the truck at the end of the walk !!! Tim
Probably the latter. I am kicking his butt so far... but I think he just likes toying with me. He lets me get about a 10 shed lead to start the year off and then destroys that in one day and then some. After that he doesn't look back. LOL He says this year will be my year since he is gone for college and only has weekends. Ya right !!! I'll be lucky to stay within 30 by the end of the shed season. That's my goal . LOL Tim
The squirrels around here sit in ambush on low limbs and take the loose antlers right off the deer's heads. Then they call all their squirrel buddies and devour them in a matter of minutes. At least that's my theory. I'm still waiting a while before I go into my better spots. We did pick up 6 the other day in a place we dont hunt. The snow is really too deep to do a good job of looking.
I invented a fine piece of equipment for such problems last summer. It's called the Shed Hunter. Similar to a metal detector in build, frame and concept, the Shed Hunter detects Calcium and Phosphorous deposits within a 100 yard radius and, once one has been detected, it flashes on a 5" radar screen
My wife found the biggest set we have ever found last week right next to the road. Literally within 5 feet of the road by our house. She was taking the dogs for a walk and there they were. How no one else saw them I have no idea.
To prove my point, we found over 40 beds the other day without a shed in them. Satchmo is taking them all.
I've found 8 so far, well I guess my boys found them technically. :D We knew of only one buck that hadn't dropped and he was only carrying one side. So on my farm they have all dropped. We were out about 6 hours so far and we have covered nearly 1/2 the farm so far. I have permission from 3 of the 4 bordering landowners to search their properties as well, so I still have a lot of walking to go. I may just have to train my dog this summer to find them. If you click on the link to my blog below you can see the pics and story.
When I find some beds in a clustered area, then the chances are they are doe beds. This weekend, all the areas were on points near, or on top of ridges. Usually there were 3-5 beds in about a 10 yard circle. To me these were doe beds. If I stumbled onto an area that had multiple beds, but there was buck sign in, or leading to it/ out of the area, then chances are it is a buck that is using that area. The multiple beds are coming from him getting up and switching his position as the day moves on and using the thermals to his advantage. There are others on here that could probably answer that a lot better than I just did. I'm fairly new to the "bed" hunting game.
