So...Many of you shed hunt, and many others walk the woods this time of year. What are you learning that will help you this fall? With the enormous amount of snowfall we've had this year, the deer trails are so deep and well defined that a blind man could follow them. The beds are very grouped and predictable (for the weather). However, I notice a huge shift from normal bedding to rough weather bedding. This pattern won't be the norm come fall. So those of you that primarily do your scouting now (I'm thinking of a few conversations with Buckeye). What decisions are you making now to help you down the road?
Last week I went out shed hunting but there was still a lot of snow. I didn't find any sheds, but I found a ton of beds. I noticed that almost every bed I found was on the top or bottom of a ridge/hill.
If/when I get a chance to walk my Ohio areas I will basically be learning the lay of the land and how they may connect to other parts & mark/note any likely looking areas for return. Walking the lands I already know and have hunted for years likely won't teach me anything I dont already know. Maybe I'll pick out a climbable tree that I haven't previously noticed but that's about it.
One of my favorite things to learn this time of year is what trees to set up in. Since the cover this time of year is sparse at best it let's me know what trees will have good cover come fall. If they have cover now, you'll be well hidden with leaves up.
Shed finds this year will indicate a bucks core living area because we have literally no snow. I am always picking apart habitat, native food sources, bedding areas, travel routes, terrain features etc to set up ambush sites while I shed hunt. Shed hunting gives a guy so much more than just antler finds. Its a great way to scout the ground you will be hunting. Knowing how your deer are going to use that ground during your hunting season is dependant upon, pressure, food source changes and the rut. I consider all of this when determining the places to hang trail cams and eventually stands and or building ground blinds.
I haven't learned anything yet this season, but at 4:30 today I'll be heading home for the week for spring break... WHOOO! I plan on getting out and doing some shed hunting next week though. Hopefully the squirrels haven't eaten them all up with all the nice weather we've had here this week.
I shed hunt for exercise and to fill the void until turkey season. Well over half of my shed hunting is done on property that I don't hunt on, so scouting there is kind of pontless IMO.
As far as I'm concerned with all the snow we've had this winter and most other winters what I find for trails/bedding area's while shed hunting don't mean a thing come fall around here. Deer move to different area's around here In the winter months. I'll say this though that a person never finds all the buck sign he was looking for the previous fall so It's always nice to see a rub or a scrape here or there that you missed earlier during the rut. I'll remember these spots come the next year and I'll try and figure out why these bucks made the scrapes/rubs where they did.
By finding 3 sheds on my property (the first in 3 years of hunting) and 2 near beds, hopefully It is telling me my food plots are paying off and the bucks are actually bedding on my place now. I know does have used my place for bedding, but now I have proof the bucks do too.
Shed hunting tells me what deer made it thru hunting season and might of made it all the way thru the winter. Most of these deer that are yarded up will disperse to other areas and won't be down some of these trails again until the late season next year. All in all shed hunting is pretty boring to me, it just gives me something to look for while I'm taking my Bow for a walk shootin stumps! I'll do my scouting come the end of summer for more realistic early season hunting!
I too shed hunt for exercise.....and it's a great excuse to get out and do some stump shooting. Scouting tool? Not for me.
I am learning the lay of the land. I have walked thousands of acres this off-season to just really learn how the terrain ties together. I am also learning about preferred bedding areas, rub lines, scrape lines, vantage points for bucks in different areas just in case one area goes dry, food sources...the list is endless for me, I must be a total beginner.
Too much to list. Here's the thing about shed hunting.. its kinda like reading a book. But this one is specifically written about the woods you're in. So applying the knowledge is up to the 'reader'. The knowledge you gain is not even in a single antler.. it's in all that time it took to find it. You'll learn tendencies of bucks when they're choosing their bedding areas... how to recognize what different rubs likely are "saying" (sorry.. thats the only word i could come up with)... what you can expect to see that year while hunting etc etc etc. It's really more about the dude or dudette who's looking... you're in the woods usually alone in thought.. and after you do it enough... certain patterns start to manifest. And patterns generally translate to more success. You dig?
If that's the case, Duke.....I'm an idiot. I've found exactly ONE 2-point shed ................in 3 seasons, looking. What would this tell you?......lol
That your not out there enough. I guess you missed the point of my post... it's NOT about the single antler.
I went out today, and I learned one thing, there is still a crap load of snow out there. I couldnt go anywhere.
Wow.. if thats not the pot calling the kettle black. I like others opinions... very much so. I just am amused that you always have one on everything. Always. And.. you don't like it when others say there's. Unless it agrees with yours. It's funny that to you anothers opinion is a judge-mental bash.. but its absolutely okay for you to flaunt your own. I just find it humorous.
I don't mind ANYONE'S "opinion". Just leave the personal CRAP out of it. Pretty simple. Address the post.....and not the poster.
I use the next three weeks here to get out the chainsaw and clear some trees that have gotten to overgrown at my stand sites and ill throw the brush on a trail i dont want the deer to go down, also i i see a two or three day rain coming i will go throw some clover out before it hits. also i will take my own advice from last year i wrote to myself in my daily hunting journal from sept. It reads '' must: need to clear stand sites in feb-march and set stands (then) not sept/oct. plant clover on last snow and turnips in july I must of been mad at myself it's in all caps... so i better listen.:D
