Shed Hunting Archives - Page 4 of 21

9 01, 2023

Sheds Dropping Early: ID A Doe!

Clay Hanback2023-01-09T09:44:34-05:00January 9th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Shed Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Sheds Dropping Early: ID A Doe!

Cody emailed the other day: “Mike, haven't found any sheds yet, but a guy doing drives with us the other week shot what appeared to be a doe but when we got to the deer it was obviously a young buck that had already dropped his antlers.” This is no big deal, an honest mistake, and most state laws about late season hunting take this possibility into account. But I use the anecdote to point out that bucks seems to be dropping their antlers earlier than usual in many areas, including here in the Virginia Piedmont. Lots more bone will fall off the bucks’ heads in the more usual shedding weeks of January, which is when late antlerless seasons are [...]

28 03, 2022

Saskatchewan Hunter Finds 200-Inch Sheds In Road Ditch

Clay Hanback2022-03-29T13:06:30-04:00March 28th, 2022|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Shed Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Saskatchewan Hunter Finds 200-Inch Sheds In Road Ditch

From our friends at North American Whitetail: “I was driving down a road that I know has a lot of deer activity along it,” says Ryan Reddekopp. “The road ran between two community pastures, so I could pick up any sheds that I saw lying along the road.” There was a heavily used deer trail along the road, so Ryan kept his eyes on the trail and a ditch along the road the best he could. Then something caught his eye where the deer trail crossed the fence. “Something just didn’t look right,” remembers Ryan. “I originally second-guessed it, but about 100 yards after passing the spot I backed up. Sure enough, I saw a shed sticking out of the [...]

16 03, 2022

Indiana Hunter Finds Huff Buck’s Last Set Of Sheds!

Clay Hanback2022-03-16T13:04:08-04:00March 16th, 2022|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Shed Hunting, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|2 Comments

Field report from Dean Weimer of the Big Deer Hunt Team: I was recently at the 2022 Indianapolis Boat, Sport, and Travel Show measuring deer for Indiana's Hoosier Record Buck Program. I noticed a large pair of shed antlers that were tied together with a piece of blue rope on the entry table and my brain instantly thought it recognized the sheds. I'm not sure what it is, but when I see a rack or set of antlers that I've seen before, my brain seems to instantly recognize them. I don't know if there is a term for this, but I'm guessing many of you experience this also. At any rate I found out the gentleman who had the sheds [...]

7 03, 2022

14 Facts About Shed Deer Antlers

Clay Hanback2022-03-07T09:43:55-05:00March 7th, 2022|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Shed Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on 14 Facts About Shed Deer Antlers

#1 Typical Whitetail Antler in Shed Record Book: 6-point 104 6/8 left side picked up in Illinois 1992. #1 Non-Typical Whitetail Antler in Shed Record Book: 24-point 156 5/8 right side found in Saskatchewan 2007. Individual bucks often shed their antlers the same week every year. Older bucks in good physical condition generally retain their antlers longer than those who are nutritionally stressed. Older bucks that skip meals during the breeding season and rut hard the previous fall may be in poor post-rut condition, and are choice candidates for early antler casting. Increasing daylight and a buck’s falling testosterone cause antlers to shed. Once a buck drops one antler, the other one usually falls off within hours or a day. [...]

6 01, 2022

How Far Apart Do Mature Bucks Shed Their Antlers?

Clay Hanback2022-01-03T10:02:50-05:00January 6th, 2022|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Shed Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on How Far Apart Do Mature Bucks Shed Their Antlers?

Shed hunting season is coming, and here's new science to help you out. Nebraska researchers collected and analyzed cast bone in the Platte River Valley from 2009 to 2020. Here’s what they deduced from the 11-year project. Generally, the distance between matched sets of antlers from bucks 2.5 years old or older is twice as far apart as matched antler sets of 1.5-year-old bucks. If you find one small antler, chances are the other little antler from that young buck is close by. Some matched sets of sheds from 1.5-year-old bucks were found less than 5 yards apart. But when you find one big antler, you will likely have to walk and search farther to find the matching side. The [...]