I know a lot of you guys have picked up shed sets from the same bucks year after year after year... Could you post pics of the annual sets, along with scores, so that we can see how different deer looked as yearlings or at 2.5, and how they progressed? It would also be interesting to see how the growth progresses in different parts of the country, and during different years when external factors like tough winters, weak mast or unfavorable crop rotation affected (or did not affect) the growth. Unfortunately, I haven't really had much luck picking up annual sets from the same deer, with a few exceptions. This year's sheds will really put me in a better position to bring more to this conversation, but nonetheless, if y'all could post some pics and measurements, that would rock. For Example: Here's a 69" 5 pointer that I picked up this year, and I'm 100% sure this buck is only 3.5 years old. Below is his progression from 1.5: He's a 3 year old that's already pushing into the 150" range. As a 1.5 year old, he was a strong yearling, and scored somewhere around 85" or so. It was obvious that he had pretty good genetics, so I was interested to see how things turned out. At 2.5, he packed it on and grossed 125". He was a great looking buck, and if I didn't know who he was, I'd have called him a 3.5 year old. Year 3, he blew up again, and now he's probably grossing just over 150" (he's a 4x5 this year, so his other side should come in around 65"). I'll pick up the 2010 match as soon as the snow melts, at which time I'll come up with a real score. This has been an eye opening experience for me, and buttressed my belief in simply giving young deer a chance to age and realize their potential.
Last year while in IL I found a set of chewed up sheds that had dropped the previous year. They were laying right next to each other in the same bed. Later that day I found another shed 200-300 yards away from another buck (the buck I shot this fall). On my way back to the truck I found a really large rack that matched the old set I had found. I didnt have time to invest in finding the other side but it will haunt me that it was likely to be within 75-100 yards. The distance between the set from 2009 and the freshy (2010) was less than 100 yards. Here is a picture of them all together - and a picture of me holding the stringer of large antlers when I got back to the truck - IL Sheds from 2009 & 2010 – Hard to really compare these 2 sets because the 2009 set had laid out in the woods for a year and got pretty chewed up before I found them in 2010. The Left Side (2009) scores 47 4/8. The right side from 2009 scores 43 6/8 with a main beam of 22 3/8. The right side from 2010 scores 65 3/8 and has a 24 3/8 main beam. The flyer is 9” long.
My greatest series of sheds comes from a hometown buck where I grew up in MD. I found a set of sheds (yearling sheds) behind the barn in this little thicket (1997). Didnt think much of it until the next year when I found another matched set in nearly the same spot (1998). There were tons of old stumps, some dead falls and tons of greenbriar. The following fall (1998) I hunted close to there but with little trees to get in, the only spot to sit was ontop of the barn and it wasnt comphy. After the season I found one half to his rack (1999) but couldnt find the other. He had been seen a couple times but was otherwise a ghost. That summer I got my first trail camera, placed in in there and got one picture of him just as the season opened (1999)- I hunted hard for him, he was "huge" but my sightings of him went down, I didnt get any more pictures of him and didnt find any sheds that year of him (2000). I thought he was gone and gave up on him. 2001 while in the thicket thinking about the previous sheds I stumbled on a fresh shed. I was sitting on a stump meer yards from where I had picked up that first set back in 1997 and could see that long G2 sticking up. Shocked, happy, estatic .... dont describe the amount of emotion that ran through me. that was the moment I went from shed hunter to shed addict Here are the sheds from that special buck. Here is a picture for comparison - I never saw him again, never got another picture of him or found another shed from him. Who knows what happened to him. What I learned from him really changed me as a hunter and shed hunter. The 1.5 yr old set is Left 21 3/8, right 21 5/8 The 2.5 yr old set is Left 36 1/8, right 37 3/8 Main Beam 19 1/8 The 3.5 yr old right side is 47 7/8 Main Beam 21 2/8 The 5.5 yr old right side is 58 5/8 Main Beam 23 4/8 At 5.5 he also grew a 5 inch drop tine out of a blowfly hole. Dave
Quik, no disrespect, only wondering.....what evidence do you have that makes you so sure that he is only 3.5?
Dave - did you ever score his antlers and put numbers on his growth? That's a whale of a buck, by the way. Ben - I found every shed when it was fresh. I have trailcam pics of him throughout. He winters in the same thicket every year, and his antlers flop off in the same place like clockwork. He may be the single most predictable deer I've ever known. Granted, he was a strong yearling, but I have yearling sheds that outscore his. Given the nutrition in the area, there's no question that when he first showed up on my radar, he was 1.5... And I've found his sheds and taken his picture every year since. That's how I'm 100% sure of his age. I could only wish he lived in an area where I could hunt him, but he doesn't, so the best I can do is pick up his sheds, monitor his growth, and hope that he's doing lots of breeding!
Thanks for the reply Quik. I find what you do intriguing. I'd be interested to know the opportunity cost of it all.
I have quite a few of them, but these are the only ones I have here. I want to believe he was 1.2, 2.5 and 3.5, but was probably a year older in each case. He never really put on any mass. After I found the last shed, I believe he became wolf ****....or someone shot him.
Dave, thats an awsome story man! Was this all in Finksburg? Im prolly less then 15min from 32. You ever hunt liberty?
I found this picture online... No scores attached, just thought it was impressive. Same buck from two years in a row. Looks like he jumped from 70-75 to 90-95" in one year. The caption was as follows: "The second photo is of two sheds from the same deer (shed on consecutive years). They sheds were found near Houston, Minn."
It's hard to believe that bucks can even grow that big.... I do not have any sheds I can confirm from year to year, but I have a couple bucks that I have shot with past sheds... Sorry, I am no help.
Quick, I will tape them this evening and update my posts with some measurements. LOO, They are from where we grew up in Ellicott City (Howard County). I have hunted a ton over the years in Liberty. Some real nice woods if your willing to learn it. If you would like a shed hunting area back in Liberty shoot me a PM. Dave
Fran I will do some digging in the pile this weekend and get you pictures/scores of certain bucks we have a few years of. Tim
Without digging out my score sheets I think it was around 17" difference if i remember right. Hard to give a good answer because both brows were snapped off the sheds and one on the rack so numbers are conflicting. The three on the left are from the same Buck. Now im just guessing but I think the farthest to the left was at 3.5,, the next at 6.5 and the other was 5.5 I found the 6.5 and the 5.5 the same year because the 5.5 was a year old and had laid in water that saved it from the rodents. All were found within a 1/4 mile of each other. The biggest went 72 + with a short beam, short G-1 and weak G-4,,the Mass made it all up.
