shed hunting

[Musky Buck]

I'm not certain as to why it's so varied, all I can figure out is maybe, maybe it's their condition going into winter, maybe it's soil/nutrition related, I don't know. Cmon experts tell us.

[WaveWacker]

Found one in the Benson, MN area yesterday.

[Musky Buck]

Wacker you gave me an idea. Anyone find any yet between Hewitt to Henning to Ottertail to south of Wadena ? That's the main area I have searched for 30 years and they must like hanging onto them. You could do a musket hunt in that area up until Valentines Day and 90 some % would still have a full rack according to our analysis.

[buckhunter21]

Im not too far away from you MB and its the same thing for me. I might get lucky and find one or 2 in January but I will have alot of trail cam pics in late Feb and into March with bucks still holding both sides of their racks. I dont even plan on getting out until March, as long as the mice and squirrels dont beat me to them they are not going anywhere. I dont like bumping deer either in case they still have their horns, even though they more than likely wont go far it might make the difference instead of dropping them on my land they might drop on the neighbors. But if our area was like Shedfreaks and some other guys who are finding them I dont know if I would be able to resist!

[00rowe]

I've seen them with white antlers in March around Bertha, 2 nice bucks in the past 5 years, never seen any little ones that late though.

Mike

[certified jumbo]

Interesting conversations guys!!! I'm no expert but i will tell you what i have seen through 5 years of tons of hours of shed hunting.

First, I primarily look in the carlton, Mn area. I have about 5 or 6 very good wintering area's where i have great luck. Most years the deer drop their antlers in January or late December. Occasionnaly as late as February. Never later than February though. Our biggest bucks always drop first, always. The reason I know this is because we track our deer by trail cams and always have them out.

Secondly, I look in the cambridge isanti area. The deer here usually drop in february to march, sometimes even april. Why, i don't know.

My friends that feed deer in the cities area (mounds view), the deer will almost always carry antlers till march and april. Why, i don't know.

All i know for sure is that if we get the snow thats forcasted this wkd, i won't find another antler in carlton until april!!!! That sucks.

As far as the blood thing goes. When i look for antlers i find blood all the time. No doubt some comes off when antlers fall off, but no doubt deer are also bleeding from hoofs and other parts of the body as well. Anybody that shed hunts a lots see's lots of blood. I'm sure there are many reasons for this.

As stated before on this thread, i don't think we have any conclusive reason why some deer in some area's drop early and some drop late. But no doubt, it differs drastically pending on your location.

Good luck, get out before the snow and look!!!

CJ

[shedfreak]

In my area, its always the same.... some early, alot in the middle, and some late.. I mean ive picked up fresh sheds before mid december. And ive also been shed hunting in the same chunk of woods I have picked them up in December in say, April, and Ive seen bucks with both sides even then... Last year up here, I saw a 150 class buck in May with both sides....I wish it was something that could be explained, but as much as I try to figure it out, its almost pointless. I just know I like pickin em up, and enjoy walking in the woods. So its December to June 1st for me every year. Havent gotten around to uploading my last 3 yet.... and im due for a dry spell here, Ive taken on a side job, and my wife has kind of put her foot down on my shed hunting :-( So i gotta patch that up and Ill be good to go. ive only got 18 hours in, i dont think its much, but she just doesnt understand it... oh well...Hopefully I can get out before this next storm!

[stompinaround]

It is definitely early, checked the cam this evening six bucks full racks. Buck your right, I think I'm in your area and I too dont start finding them until way late like march and april, have found them in dec. and jan. though so its really varied.

Found something really strange that I forgot to post before, three scrapes! First I thought they were beds but the sign of broken branches above them and flung dirt and urine everywhere it was clear too me. There was alot of traffic to these scrapes, ive heard of second rut but never this late before. No wonder there not dropping here, when their done with the rut sometime in February maybe they'll drop them in May!

[hockeybc69]

Rutting wouldnt have anything to do with holding antlers or dropping them.

There is no question there are some does that come into a 3rd cycle. Not many probably, but surely some. So a 3rd "rut" isnt that surprising.

[lungdeflator]

Rutting might have everything to do with dropping antlers. Unless there concrete 100% evidence that they drop when .... happens then its any bodys guess. That idea about the rut is actually interesting. There should be a study done to see if rutting activity has correlations to when deer drop there antlers. Think about it, if the rut is still on, the bucks will still be competeing with each other and the ones without headgear lose

[vister]

rutting has a lot to do with when bucks drop their antlers. as bucks are rutting, testosterone levels are high in the buck. it isnt until these testosterone levels drop that antlers begin to loosen up and fall off. so yes, the rut has a lot to do with antlers being shed!

as for antlers in velvet, once testosterone levels start to increase, the burrs at the base of main beams start to grow, and grow quickly, which chokes off the blood supply to the velvet, hence velvet begins to die, and the antler begins to harden.

testosterone is a big factor with antlers, whether be it in growing or dropping them!

bottom line, rut = testosterone = headgear, the longer...well, u get it.

[Musky Buck]

Good points Vister, makes sense. What kind of weather are we in for this weekend ? Good luck shed hunting guys.

[FCspringer]

Thought you shed stalkers might like this one. Thats a full size coors bottle, and a mount with a 20" inside spread for compairison. The squirls beat me there though, I would say the chewed off tines would have been 18" and 14" easily, with a drop tine at least 6". The double brow is 10". Just by the shear diameter where thier chewed, it is a easy estimate. I would love to get a crack at this record.

[LOTWSvirgin]

Holy smoke FCspringer that thing is huge

[buglefever]

Hey y'all! Glad I stumbled upon a good forum with knowledgeable shed hunters! I've been at it seriously for 10 years and here in NE Iowa they seem to drop them from late Dec into April. By Valentine's day last year I had 30 sheds. Though I found a really big matched set in late march that was freshly dropped and within a few days saw a full racked 8pter. Even if they drop early they're easier to see when the snow's gone (obviously), but I start early because I have a lot of competition on some of the properties I hunt.

[trolloni]

Hey guys all good posts, Vister is spot on , been doing his homework ,the bucks that do the most breeding uasually are the ones to drop em first .Im no expert and have only shed hunted for 3 years so ive been reading everything i can get on the subject .Shed hunting book by Joe Shedd is a good start also there is a club called North American Shed Hunting Club they have a web sight check em out they can help with some answers to the puzzell the best thing is to get out there and check it out ,but be cautious you dont wanna kick them bucks outta there before they drop ,kinda makes it tough when there in the next county!Get a good pair of binos they are a big part of being succesful and will save you a lot of extra walkin , also think points thats all you see alot of time.Once ya find one youll be hooked its awesome ,id say it ranks right along with gettin that big buck no kiddin !hit it real hard last year and wound up with 26 sheds one matched set in the 150 class ,couple skulls and a hole new activity for the down time of winter.

[jkcmj]

Went out today and found a couple more, may be a set, but just different enough on the pedicals/texture to make me think maybe not. Still not finding the big ones.

[shedaddict]

Went out on Saturday near Cumberland, WI and found 4 sheds. All of them yearlings. One set is a match and the other I'm not positive on. They were all within 30 yards of each other. We went grouse hunting for the day and did not find any other after checking this spot. I did see one other 8pt later in the day, so I'd say it's about 50/50 on bucks that have dropped. I've also been hiking a lot in the twin cities area and have not found anything. I'm hiking in all new areas and have not seen bucks, so I'm not sure if they are dropping around the twin cities or not. Anybody that lives around the metro area still seeing bucks? Not sure how to post pics, otherwise I'd put them on here.

[gonefishing70]

Well with all the snow we have gotten over the weekend my shed hunting is over till spring. I hope to find a bunch then. Good luck to every one.

[certified jumbo]

Welcome aboard to the new guys!!! Good to see more people getting involved on this thread, its my favorite.

Great pics everyone!!! Keep them coming in.

I wish I had pics to share, but i don't. Looked a couple of times down here in cambridge area with no luck. Haven't made it up north in a couple weeks. I hope they didn't get to much snow up thier. Shed freak or Odonata......anyone have any snow totals from the cloquet or carlton area??? If they did get a lot of snow, it could be difficult the next couple months for me. But i will make up for it in april and may!!! Last year those two months brought me a lot of sheds!!!

Good luck everyone!!

Cj

[shedaddict]

Figured out how to post pictures.

The third photo is of the pair that I'm not sure if they are a match. The one side has less blood, but that could have been dropped a couple days earlier. My dog found the one with less blood on it about 30 yards from the other side. Not the biggest, but still fun to find!

[certified jumbo]

Great first picture post shedaddict!!! Nice looking dog as well.

I would say the two in the last picture are not a matching set. colors, size and bottoms of antlers don't really have much resemblence. the good thing is, thats two more antlers to find.

Good luck.

[shedfreak]

hmmm.. well i say its with out a doubt a matched set. Um snow totals are probably about 4 inches of new snow by carlton. to be safe, ill say 2-5, haha. I havent been out lately, not a good year for me in that sense....Still hope to get my usual totals by seasons end.

[fishuhalik]

lotws, 6 dead fawns?! How much snow you got up there?! Doesn't sound good for next season...

[fishuhalik]

Just an idea, but you guys think the time they drop coincides with snow? It seems that central MN gets the least snow, deer drop late. Northern MN and southern MN seem to get more snow, putting more stress on the deer. Just a thought.

[Musky Buck]

I'm doubting snow depths as some pretty heavy snow years still late which I'm finding out to be more normal. 6 weeks to go till I can get after them. I have to remember last year how many full racked boys were on trail camera that first week of March.

[lungdeflator]

I fully agree with the rut idea. Snow depths might cause some stress, which in turn might cause a couple to drop at different times. Im no Bill Ny the science guy but I like the idea that the level of testosterone in the deer has alot to do with when they drop.

[shedaddict]

I agree with the level of testosterone coincides with when a buck will drop. I found 3 fresh scrapes this past weekend while grouse hunting, and I would say half the bucks in the area haven't dropped yet.

[Musky Buck]

So in my area the bucks stay "horned" up a lot longer or the ability to be still feel the hormones lol. Sorry about the pun and understand if that gets the boot. Makes some sense but I feel there is something else. Is it possible more so in an area that has many bucks wintering together ? No or shedfreak would bhe waiting till April like me.

[eyehead]

My old man feeds about a dozen deer behind his place. He has 4 bucks that have been coming to his feeder this winter. Well, about a week ago they were all up at his feeder one night with horns on all of them except a basket rack that dropped one side. Now just the other night, all 4 of those bucks were back at his feeder without any horns......I thought it was pretty crazy that all 4 bucks lost there horns within a weeks time frame. One is an 8pt(140") and the other ones are little basket racks and a fork......