2022 Antlers

Anyone been out yet? Did a long walk on Saturday and lots of beds, no sheds. Saw some deer but couldn’t tell if they were Bucks without antlers or Does.

I want to find this one!

I’ve seen a few office bucks still holding in the last week, haven’t been out for a hike yet tho.

mn hunter wrote:

I want to find this one!

Dated 9/24/21. Me thinks he might already be on somebody’s wall.
Ya never know though.

I have seen a lot of them in the food plot and all still holding tight.
My nephew did find 2 almost a month ago.

I’ve been walking a lot of miles more to get me and the dog ready for the real push the next few months. I only found two fork sheds so far, but I also haven’t been into bedding areas in hopes of not pushing the deer more than needed. Of the big bucks I’ll be specifically looking for this year they’re all carrying still. This is certainly different than last year when 3 of the biggest bucks I knew of had dropped by the 3rd week of January.

Here’s the big one for the first month of 2022…

It’s still pretty early for the big boys to drop their headgear

Just got back from a walk on a small piece of pubic close to home, and the dog brought back his first of the season! That makes fork number 3 for us this year.

So when do they typically drop sheds. There is a big buck I seen on my brother’s land I’d love to find his sheds. Non of the neighbors claimed him so he may still be alive. If not there were a few more in the area. I would like to go out for a nature hike. That and the miles of public land across from the house

Some will already be dropping or have dropped. If we get an extended period of no snow in the near future I will start looking. I usually do good at the end of February into March but again, we need periods of no snow so they don’t get covered up. I’ll also go in April when almost all of the snow is gone. I prefer a little snow so they are easier to see.
DT

6 deer right now in my back yard. Was glassing them with the F class 40x two small bucks without head gear. Time to look

There’s definitely antlers hitting the ground now, and it will start ramping up over the next few weeks. I saw two nice bucks on the way back to the truck this evening, and one was missing a side. I also picked up a nice 5 side. Not a shed but last night I found a buck a friend shot in the fall, and was never able to find it. He was sure excited to take that one home finally. As far as I’m concerned shed season has started. If you need me I’ll be in the woods for the next few months!

Right on HH! Had a fork, basket and nice 10 come by the office today still holding.

I was pretty excited to see this thread going already. I know it’s early but I’m pretty jacked to get out there again. Might go soon here even though the snow on the ground does no favors. I think it’s because while finding an antler makes up a very small fraction of a percent of your actual time spent, the other 99%+ is spent exploring in the woods and it’s a ton of fun.

Only my second year doing this-very vague, general question, but what are locations like in relation to where you found them last year or the year before? I think I’ve got a pretty good understanding of ideal locations for antlers as I did a TON of research last year, but for those who’ve done this for years, are you seeing antlers in the same general area year after year or is it just all over the place?

There’s definitely some areas that produce year after year. Those areas can be quite small to. I checked one of those spots on public today and struck out. Not a bad place to start the weekend though.

Im kind of a wuss and have a soft spot for deer that make it thru February. A bit too early for me to push them around, but looking forward to Iowa and 3000 metro acres come April. Nice bones.

ganderpike wrote:

Im kind of a wuss and have a soft spot for deer that make it thru February. A bit too early for me to push them around, but looking forward to Iowa and 3000 metro acres come April. Nice bones.

I do think people should be mindful of where they’re walking, especially when it comes to bedding areas, and the extra stress they’re putting on the deer when they start shed hunting this early. Most of what I walk pre-march is large ag fields and the public that has very little or really concentrated(easy to avoid) bedding areas due to all the non-hunting human activity going on every day.

Stress on deer and elk is why there are shed seasons in some states. However at least in my area, where there’s quality food and bedding everywhere you look, I think the deer have it pretty easy all things considered.

I spent a couple hours this morning walking bean fields, and it paid off with the first side of the big 10 at the farm. I also found a cool little young buck.

We’re headed out of the area for a cruise tomorrow so after reading your post hillhiker I decided to walk around a little this afternoon, and it was a bonus because I got my 3 1/2-year-old to go with. Not surprised to not find any but at his age he’s getting to know the woods pretty well. He will point to an obvious bedding area as a spot the deer went “night-night” and points out pee and droppings. Did find a deer skull and jawbone today, the second kill in our area I’ve seen recently.

Another good one for the pile. I got lucky a deer jumped on it so it was actually visible!

You’ve got quite the pile going already hillhiker!

I haven’t been out yet.

In SE MN about half are bald now and a few with 1 side hanging on yet.
I’ll wait a little bit before I start looking just because I don’t want to stress them and also don’t want to bump em and keep them in the area.

The ones that shed already sure get bullied by the boys that still have their head gear!

Did some walking over the weekend but no antlers to show. Did find some new spots and things are really starting to click now as far as where deer are bedding in this area.

Put 3 miles on this weekend, tons of sign but not a lot of beds and no antlers found. Still looking for my first shed

Took the dog for a walk during lunch today, and about 10′ off the bike trail was this pair. I’m assuming they’re a match anyway since they were laying pretty much on top of each other.

I got one side to the nice 8 point this morning. However it was pretty disappointing to see all of the boot tracks, coming off the public, into the private fields. I just don’t get the whole trespassing thing…

Just saw one of the forks or baskets by the office lost his head gear, now to decide on my odds of finding anything in the new powder….and if a basket 6 is worth it

This snow is definitely going to make things a little tough for a while unless they’re big antlers. I think my legs are going to get a much needed rest for a few days. Good luck if you give it a shot BigWerm!

Is there certain areas you focus on more then others? I have a ton of public land across the street from me and I would enjoy getting the dog and kid out for a few walks when we have nothing else going on.

I’m jealous to all of you who are getting out. Few things beat the feeling of a nice find after walking a few miles thinking you’re wasting time. I have always enjoyed shed hunting and morel hunting as the great equalizers in the outdoors.
There is no substitute for hours and miles spent looking. No latest great electronics, Youtube videos, fancy gear, etc are really going to help you. This was one of my favorite late Winter hobbies for many years until we started a family and took on more and more things for work.

Keep posting the pictures!

Bearcat89 wrote:

Is there certain areas you focus on more then others?

Full disclosure I suck at shed hunting, and have never found one while purposely looking, so definitely not the best resource here. But from what I’ve read, south facing hills, bedding area’s, food sources and jump areas (fence lines, creeks etc.) are the best areas to look.

I went searching through half of the park that I walk before the snow.
Had good luck, found the antlers of the 2 big deer that I see still on their heads.