Spoke with a friend yesterday who said he was out shed hunting. I questioned the timing as too early. They hold horns into April around us, though not likely this year due to weather. Advantage for hitting the woods now is that the deer have been trail bound for snow height. This makes for an easier location of drops. I am going to hit the cedar thickets this weekend and try it out.
I've found fresh drops as early as New Years day in the past.....haven't looked for them in quite a while. Ever see one of those homemade shed "grabbers" made out of chicken coop fence? Stretch some of that around some saplings out in the woods, small pile of deer feed sprinkled at the bottom of the fence and wait......
I have seen the antler catchers in many forms. Gotta watch yourself though, they are illegal in many states. I use the natural version of that method. Sprinkle the corn into bushes or uprooted trees where they must work hard to get their heads to the corn. Found a great pair of horns that way a couple years ago. Only problem with finding them was that I was hunting that deer when I found the sheds. Better than not getting him at all!
Ok, never heard antlers called a shed before. A shed to me is where the tractor gets parked haha! Don't have deer around here unless you consider reindeer/caribou to be deer.
We had a complete acorn failure this year and poor nutrition as a result and the stress caused deer to start dropping in December. I have not seen a deer with antlers since January. The bitter winter in many parts has likely caused deer to drop earlier than normal in other places, but it is close to time anyway. Mid March is when I usually hunt for sheds.
Went out today and only found one small shed. Convinced there are plenty in the piece I checked, but must be under the snow. Still a good foot in many parts of the wood patch. Try again after the thaw.
