Yep, I might as well have a thread to update as well! Hours: 24 (as of March 14th) Sheds: 7 Dead Deer: 5 Eagles Spotted: 1 February 9th, 2008: The weather alone was reason enough to get into the woods and enjoy the outdoors. The spring-like weather was encouraging but the first few hours in the woods left me wondering if I had made a mistake and embarked on my first shed hunt of 2009 too early. I hadn’t busted any deer but the sign alone told me deer were present. I followed some trails into the old overgrown pasture I wanted to search through. I hit the heavy trails for the first hour or so and decided to change things up. I knew the deer were browsing the cornfield just to the east of the pasture so I decided to tackle those ever intimidating large cornfields. Row after row proved to be void of bone. After a few pointers from a few fellow BH.com members, I exhausted what I thought was the best location for sheds within the field. Exiting the field I found another heavy trail I hadn’t traveled earlier. I followed the trail for about 35 yards and found that it split into about 4 separate smaller trails. Debating whether or not to continue I spun around and something caught my eye. Indeed, after only 3 hours of sheddin’ for 2009, luck was on my side. Lying in the grass so close it should have scared me, was a rather decent 4 point side. I knelt down and picked up my first shed of the year. The feeling was great and this shed alone could carry my spirits for quite some time. Measuring roughly 49 3/8”, this guy might have some potential next year. I didn’t find the match yet, but glassing the cornfield about two hours later confirmed I have been hitting the right spot, just got to put in the time. Countless does, along with another half-rack eight pointer and another large bodied deer that might have already shed were enjoying the snow-less cornfield. I decided I didn’t want to push these deer and backed out, commencing my first shed hunt of the season.
Dude.. I don't know what your talking about.. that's a good shed. Nicely done.. and fresh too. I still ain't found no freshie this season.
At a boy Bols looks like it was a good to shed hunt. Im like you the weather was fantastic, i was in a t shirt.. congrats on a great shed.
Thanks for the replies gents. The first thing I noted when I picked this shed up was indeed how fresh it was. That was pretty cool. I would say this shed wasn't there for more than a couple of days. As for the snow, I wasn't that disappointed it melted away with the 50 and 60 degree weather we have had as of late. Only two disappointments with it disappearing, I didn't have a chance to note the heavy trails to and from the bedding and food sources. And now that is it gone, the frost is starting to come up, making the cornfield a little SLOPPY. After seeing that one 8-pointer still carrying, I am gonna hit the fields again in about a week or two. Hopefully the mud won't swallow me whole.
Congrats buddy! When do you want me to head down and help you hunt? I would love to make it over to Starved Rock and do some shed hunting.
If you are gonna be passin' through and know you have some time to shed hunt, give me a heads up. I might be able to sneek away for a couple of hours.
February 17th, 2009: I was able to get out to shed hunt with my buddy Buckeye as we will be leaving for Dubbya's house in search of hogs. We made due with a pretty productive day. Decent weather and found a lot of good sign with the sheds. Buckeye started the day strong, finding an impressive shed that wasn't chewed to pieces after lying in the woods well up to 2 years. Buckeye rubs it in my face while I was peeing right next to this shed that he found a bomber! Indeed, this shed is probably a year old from a deer that would have went well into the 160's. The G4 and G5 as well as the rest of the main beam past the G5 was enjoyed by squirrels. I still believe this deer is on this property and I will desperately search for his fresh sheds the rest of this sheddin' season. Buckeye had a thing for making me look sorry today. A squirrel had enjoyed this shed a little too much but the ole Buckeye from Ohio State saved it from further destruction. Yeah, insert my dink here. I finally found remnants from a shed which may have roamed the earth with dinosaurs. Buckeye ends his day with his best shed yet. He basically stole this shed from me and shoved me into some briars. What a jerk. I gave Buckeye a big enough lead, I figured I would flex my muscles a little bit and show him how to find "freshies" And to cap off the day, I finished strong finding the match to my first shed of 2009. The sheds, in all of their glory! With Buckeye pretty much stating he is a shed hunting master in IL since he hasn't found a shed in Ohio yet (after 30 hours of searching), he is pretty confident he is going to waste 30 more hours finding nothing. Next stop.....Missouri, to pick up a certain Diamond in the Rough called Mobow.
March 4th, 2009: I was able to get out today for 5 hours. I hit a new spot I thought would be promising. I haven't ever hunted the piece, but it connects through a small stretch of woods to the spots I have found the rest of my sheds this year. Less than an hour into the walk I stumbled across something that really sank my ship. A dandy old buck, which looks to have already shed, lying near the corner of the field, close to a road. Look at what was once an old, graying, Roman nose. Dried up pedicle. Would have left a nice size track. Can't forget the dental records. This really took the wind out of my sails and I had barely stepped into the property. I don't know where this buck came from, or what happened (because of location, I think he was hit by a car). Part of me is thinking this could be the bomber 12 point I have had my eye on for next season. I took a long winding walk the rest of the day. Bumped 8 antlerless deer, one appeared to possibly be a shed buck. I ended up close to the area I have walked twice before which is over a mile away. I didn't really want to step foot in there again, but curiosity got the best of me. Bumped a few more deer on that piece and after sheddin' tonight I glassed the standing cornfield and spotted close to 20 deer feeding. Yep, I am gonna put my nose back in the cropfields during my next outing. On my way out I happened to kick around an old farmstead. Up under the cover of a pretty large tree I spotted something white. Sure enough, it was a shed! This picked up my spirits. I walked for about 45 minutes longer and was able to find a decent rub line and an ambush tree for next fall. Back at the truck! When I got home I was able to score this shed. Even with a massive chunk of tine missing off the G2 and the main beam chewed up, I roughed this guy at 56 1/2". My biggest shed to date. Funny thing I was comparing this shed to a "freshie" I found this year while Buckeye was in. It is hard to deny these sheds could be sharing some similar genes.
It was just west of that farmstead. On the other side of what I called the "Block Plant" which was west of the bean field we were standing in before we headed back to your truck that evening. I'll send you the aerial sometime in the next day or so.
Bols you have any areas near you that we should check out next week when we all come down to do some shed hunting or just want to stay over in the public park area?
