Twenty some years ago, I was baling hay for my uncle. The air conditioned tractor was a welcomed relief from Summer's early heat wave. Country music played on the radio as countless windrows of hay were consumed by the New Holland round baler. Staring out the window of the enclosed tractor can get pretty monotonous while unseen groundhog holes will break you out of your zombie like trance. It was during one of these rough “wake-up calls” that I glimpsed a curved white bone jutting out of the orchard grass. I stood on the clutch and brake to get the tractor stopped, threw it in neutral and jumped out the door! Sure enough, the curved piece of bone at one time belonged on the head of a whitetail buck. The weathered beam once carried 5 points and I was ecstatic. After hours and hours of shed hunting, I found my first one from the seat of a tractor!
I was addicted to antlers long before that find. That particular “horn” just helped fuel the passion. Since then, I have found over 400 elk, whitetail and mule deer antlers across eight different states. Is there a secret formula for shed hunting success? Not really, but there are things you can do to increase your chances.
Scouting
Finding antlers before they become sheds can greatly increase your odds. It's no different than actually hunting the animal. Spend time looking through your binos to see where bucks and bulls are feeding in the evening. Keep your distance so you don't disturb them. I like to glass these areas once a week if possible. If not, I already have a good feel for where to start looking. The last thing you want to do is go walking through their primary feeding grounds before the antlers hit the ground. You could bump them to an area you don't have access to. Running the animals around is not good for your shed hunting opportunities or their health. Give them space and be patient, sheds won't run off once their on the ground.
Timing
The majority of deer drop their antlers anywhere from mid-January to the end of February. I have heard that, some guys were finding sheds around Christmas this past year. I've also seen bucks carry well into April, so there's a big variation. It's a pretty safe bet to start walking your best areas out by mid-March. You want to wait long enough that most of the bucks have dropped but not too long that the spring green up will make them hard to find.
Elk drop quite a bit later than most deer. Guiding bear hunters in Montana toward the end of April a couple years ago, I saw a group of 18 bulls. Nine of them had new antlers growing; one of the nine had four new points per side, and the other nine bulls were still carrying last year's racks. I'm assuming the younger bulls carried longer that year as they were all small 4 & 5 point bulls. I don't like going into good elk areas until after the 1st of May. True, the older bulls probably dropped in early April but waiting those extra few weeks will probably result in double the horns being packed out.
Where to look: East coast to the Mid-West
My focus is on food sources. I have found well over half of my sheds in fields or in the brush that surrounds field edges. These are the first places I look. If you can get to them before winter wheat and native grasses start to grow, you can cover these areas in a quarter of the time it takes once green up occurs. On a previous years' bean fields, I walk the edge and glass towards the middle of the field. Corn stubble ground takes more effort as you have to physically walk the whole field.
Fence rows, overgrown ditches and thickets are good places too. They provide plenty of browse and good bedding cover. On years of deep snow, we find more antlers in these areas than we do in fields. The reason being that, it's easier for deer to eat browse that's 3-5 feet off the ground, than it is for them to dig through the snow to get to leftover corn and beans.
Extremely cold years seem to have an affect too. Fields or thick cover that get plenty of afternoon sunshine produce better on these years. Deer are in survival mode and don't want to use any more energy than necessary. They feed in the warmest parts of the day, in the warmest locations that have feed.
In areas where deep snow and severe cold cause deer to “yard up”, you may want to try thick stands of cedar or other evergreen trees. States in the northeast have limited agriculture. Browse and leftover acorns, beechnuts and moss growing on trees may be the only food source available. Deer will also stay near highway right of ways during years with heavy snowfall and penetrating cold. States that use salt and other ice melting chemicals often melt snow in the medians and on the grass just off the shoulder of the road. This snow melting will reveal grass to hungry critters as well as water. I've picked up three antlers in the median strips just driving down the highway. If you're in the upper northeast and see deer and moose standing along the road in these areas, it may not be a bad place to check out come spring.
Where to look: Western
Unlike elk, deer drop their antlers before much of the snow melts off. Often times, in the agriculture country, that means antlers will be laying in plain view. Alfalfa and stubble fields of grain, are key locations. Early season antler finds are accomplished by glassing. I like to drive roads that get me close to these locations and glass. If I spot an antler, I will either keep a mental note on where it's at or go get it. I don't like running stressed animals around, so if we are in the wrath of a bitter cold snap, I will just let it lay. When the weather warms, I walk theses areas. I also follow likely travel routes back to bedding cover. Somewhere between feed and bedding areas, there will be antlers. Deer are not traveling far this time of year if they can help it and they are often herded up. Trails and bedding areas should not be hard to define.
Haystacks and known fence crossings are good spots too. You'd be surprised at the number of antlers ranchers pick up in their hay yards. Deer will feed on the baled hay and eventually knock them off during the process.
Deer that don't live in ag country will winter in sagebrush flats. They use these wintering areas year after year. Walking around the flats and the barren hills could turn up a pack frame worth of bone. Not all areas are created equal, but once you find a good area, it should produce for years to come. You may walk miles and miles to find such spots but to the antler addict, it's worth it.
Elk have generally started to head back to calving and summer ranges by the time they shed. Travel routes between winter and summer hangouts is where I concentrate my efforts.
Location of prime shed hunting grounds usually revolves around snow. On years with little snow, the antlers will be scattered. Lots of snow usually means a pile of bone in a small area.
My favorite areas are wind blown ridges. These ridges have very little timber. The wind blows hard enough to knock the doors right off your truck, which also means, it blows the snow off the grass that the elk feed on. I glass these areas with my spotting scope and once I see the bone glistening in the sunlight, I start hiking.
Low elevation drainages also produce sheds. These places melt out quicker, therefore offering up new growth sooner. Drainages are often overwhelmed with thick cover. The only way to shed hunt it is by walking. I like to follow game trails up the mountain as they parallel the creek bottom and zigzag the side hills on my way back down. This is a great time to test out new hunting gear, especially boots.
Just so you know
Shed hunting has become very popular over the last few years. There has been a TV show about it, hundreds of articles and many trespassing incidents that lead to arrests. Shed antler ‘poaching’ has become a major problem in many areas, especially where trophy bucks and bulls roam. Antler prices over the last five years have been averaging about $13.00 per pound.
Many western states have seasons for shed hunting on state and federally owned land. Make sure you check the regs before venturing out.
Picking up antlers without landowner permission is stealing. Always ask permission before going. You would have to sell an awful lot of bone to pay some of the fines that are being handed out.
While shed hunting, there's a good chance you may come across winter kill or other ‘dead heads’. Every state is different on how to legally handle this. Some states require a warden visit the site of the find, while others require you to purchase a salvage tag when bringing it home. Other states simply won't let you take them.
One last thing, Spring is a great time to be outdoors. Spring also brings violent thunderstorms and blizzards that can leave you stranded for days. Be prepared for when these situations arise. Always let someone know where you will be and what your intentions are.
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