The offseason doesn’t mean your deer-pursuing days are entirely over. If you like to hunt elk, deer and other antlered animals, you can take advantage of shed hunting. This activity can take a while to perfect, requiring patience and good eyesight. How can you master the art of shed hunting? Here’s your guide to this outdoor activity.
What Is Shed Hunting?
Shed hunting differs from regular outings because it doesn’t require a special hunting rifle. Your eyes and tracking skills are the most important because you’re searching for antlers. Collecting these animal parts is a fun hobby similar to a treasure hunt. You’re searching for a giant needle in a haystack and finding new wall decorations. Your living room could use an antler display for a better home design.
This hunting variation is also worthwhile for understanding your local deer populations. When you shed hunt, you find where they like to feed and spend their days. You gain valuable insight for future hunting trips. If you participate in this activity, stick to public lands unless you have permission to be on private property. These forests still have excellent opportunities to find prized antlers.
How Can You Improve Your Shed Hunting Skills?
Shed hunting can be challenging, but there are ways to make it easier. Use these six tips to improve your skills and collect more antlers.
1. Find The Common Locations
Shed hunting starts with understanding deer, elk and other antlered animals. Knowing the most common locations is an excellent strategy for this outdoor activity, as it could lead you to the antlers. Start by searching for food and water sources on public lands. Experts say deer prefer acorns in the winter while also searching for corn and wheat. Check motionless water before the streams and rivers because deer don’t like moving water.
2. Study the Topography
While expansive land makes shed hunting more time-consuming, you can be more strategic in your antler searches. Topography knowledge is advantageous in shed hunting because it could take you to the deer’s most frequent spots. Focusing on these areas could take you directly to the valuable antlers. For example, deer enjoy south-facing slopes in the winter to stay warm. Scout these areas to heighten your chances of locating antlers.
3. Time It Right
Shed hunting season typically starts in the winter, so checking with your local wildlife agency is essential. While it may be tempting to hit the ground, exercise patience by using the 70% rule. This guideline says to wait for 70% of the bucks to shed their antlers before you start. Patience pays off because you keep the deer around the public lands. If you go too early, you could scare the deer away.
4. Try Trail Cameras
You could also find visual help through trail cameras, considering how far they’ve come. Modern devices have 360-degree rotations and a stealthy design to remain undisturbed in the woods. With a trail camera, you can better identify when deer have spent time near your strategic setups. If you see a buck with no antlers, you may have identified your next place to look. The trail camera can also signal when it’s time to start shed hunting.
5. Aid Your Vision
Shed hunting could mean walking in the snow to find pairs of antlers. While the white ground reveals footprints, heavy snow could bury objects and reduce visibility. Despite the conditions, use your shed hunting knowledge and stick to their food and water sources. That said, you should further aid your vision with technology. Use binoculars for terrain scouting and observation, as you could get lucky and spot one with your handheld device.
6. Ask Friends for Help
Public lands cover many forests and bottomlands for deer to roam. Covering every inch is much more challenging when there are thousands of acres to find antlers. Make your shed hunting trip easier by bringing family and friends with you. This excursion could be a good introduction for your kids to learn about local deer. Split into groups for safety and to cover as much land as possible.
Making Shed Hunting Easier for Successful Outings
Shed hunting can be terrific for relaxing and spending a day in nature. However, you want to find something eventually. If your searches have been unsuccessful, it’s time to implement strategy and make them smarter.
Get into a deer’s mind and imagine where they’d go on public lands. Consider the food sources, fence lines, creek crossings and other frequent deer spots. If you’re meticulous, you could end up with prizes and new home decor.
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