I need tips for finding sheds

  • sticker
    StillwaterMN/Ottertail county
    Posts: 4418
    #1350712

    Man, it’s been a tough spring shed hunting for me. I have combed every inch of our 240 acre farm looking for sheds over the last 3 weekends and have not found one. I have found hundreds of beds, I know where the food sources are and have followed many well used trials. What the heck am I doing wrong? While looking I have pushed deer a little and even walked up on a group of 20 plus in one food plot. There has to be a buck or 2 in the bunch. Any help would be appreciated. I am starting to get frustrated

    roosterrouster
    Inactive
    The "IGH"...
    Posts: 2092
    #1353037

    Hungry tree rats?

    ragerunner
    Winona, MN
    Posts: 699
    #1353038

    3 inches. A great shed hunter once told me to look for 3″ of tine. It will help you slow down and truly see what’s there. I often remind myself of this rule. Lord knows how many sheds I’ve walked by.

    I also look on the higher side of large tree trunks. They are a good windblock for bedding deer and a prime location for treerats that may drag sheds closer to home. I found one yesterday with this method, but it was badly chewed.

    sticker
    StillwaterMN/Ottertail county
    Posts: 4418
    #1353052

    Thanks for the 3″ tip. Yeah we have a ton of tree rats, but I can’t imagine they ate all of every antler. I will try again this weekend using the 3″ tip. Hopefully with most of the snow gone now I can stumble onto one or two.

    sticker
    StillwaterMN/Ottertail county
    Posts: 4418
    #1458999

    Well, as hard as I hit the woods at the farm this spring and covered what I thought was every inch of the 240 acres several times I came up empty. Saturday night we are heading to stand and my son says where should I go tonight. I sent him to a stand I haven’t sat yet this year due to the wind. 5 minutes after I get in stand he sends me a pic of a shed he saw from the stand and got down and grabbed. I think I know the deer it came from and I have his same side shed from the year before. Funny thing is I found a winter kill 1.5 year old buck 10 yards from where this shed was. Luckily it was barely chewed on. See pic of the 2 sheds from the last 2 years and the buck I think these sheds are from. We passed on this deer several times last year and he is old enough to take this year. The pic of him with no snow is 10′ from the stand my son was hunting.

    Attachments:
    1. midday-buck.jpg

    2. PICT0011.jpg

    3. antler.jpg

    kooty
    Keymaster
    1 hour 15 mins to the Pond
    Posts: 18101
    #1459123

    Cool. We found a nice 4 point this AM out in the prairie. Unfortunately the ATV tire found it before we did.

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