Shed Hunting Archives - Page 6 of 19

23 04, 2018

Late Spring Shed Hunting

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00April 23rd, 2018|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Shed Hunting|Comments Off on Late Spring Shed Hunting

Tyler Knott of Iowa is still shed hunting, and he just found this 72 6/8” left side. The late spring of 2018 has the woods still brown and open, with “green up” still a good week or two away. Conditions are great for one last day or two of shed hunting in an around bedding areas. Hit the woods, find a deer trail and follow it until you come to a thick and obvious area where deer stage and/or bed. Back in the fall hunting season you would have stopped, tested the wind and worked the outer fringes of such a sanctuary so as not to spook any deer. But now, plow right in. Go slow and look close for [...]

5 03, 2018

Potential State Record Mule Deer Sheds!

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00March 5th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Management, Mule Deer, Shed Hunting|Comments Off on Potential State Record Mule Deer Sheds!

My friend Ricardo, a New Mexico hunting outfitter who specializes in limited-entry archery hunts for giant mule deer, found this antler on public land. Look at the size and deepness of the front and back forks--that is what you look for on a trophy mule buck. The shed taped out a tad over 96 inches. “If you double the antler score for the other side and give him a 30-inch spread the buck would score 223 4/8, potential state record! I’ll keep looking for the other side.” Picture below is last year’s shed off the same buck. “He put on a lot (tine length and mass) this year, but lost the extra point,” Ricardo says. Deadline to apply for the [...]

27 02, 2018

Oklahoma Man’s Amazing Deer-Skull Artwork

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00February 27th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Shed Hunting|Comments Off on Oklahoma Man’s Amazing Deer-Skull Artwork

Three years ago I posted on the amazing skull art of Robert Nichols, a deer hunter from Oklahoma. I told Robert that I thought his work was awesome, incredible really. I figured he had carved, engraved and painted professionally for years. Robert wrote me back: Hey Mike: Thanks for the compliment on my engravings! This is a new hobby for me. We got snowed in for a couple days last November. My wife had been telling me I should try something like this for a while, so she convinced me to do it. I had a small shed antler and figured, “Why not?” You asked what tools I use. I’m using a 15-year-old dremel…I just picked it up and hit [...]

22 02, 2018

Deer How-To: Scout in February

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00February 22nd, 2018|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Shed Hunting|2 Comments

If you’ve got a free day this weekend, go back out to the stands you hunted last fall, walk out from them in an ever-widening circular pattern and look for old sign. You will learn a lot about how deer used the terrain, structure, cover and wind when traveling from bed to feed 3 or 4 months ago. You will find spots where bucks rubbed and scraped the most. You will learn if you need to move your stand 50 to 100 yards…or maybe you’re in a good spot and should stay put…or maybe you should pull out of the area all together. All this will double your chances of whacking a big deer when you come back to hunt [...]

20 02, 2018

Shed Antler Trivia

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00February 20th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Shed Hunting|Comments Off on Shed Antler Trivia

Did you know… #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. As a rule, older bucks shed earlier than younger ones. 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. Squirrels and porcupines chew on dropped antlers for the calcium they provide. Shed antlers are valued by size and grade, from Grade A Brown (best) to old, white Chalk. Antlers can fetch $5 to $18 a [...]