10 Shed Hunting Tips

Shed hunting is a great way to get outdoors during the winter off season and provides hunters with valuable information on the age class of bucks that made it through the hunting season. I usually bring a backpack with a bottle of water and some snacks to keep my hydrated and restore my energy on these cold winter walks. It’s also important to dress warm, wear layers, bring a good hat that will cover your ears and a warm pair of gloves. Now that you don’t have to worry about going hungry and getting cold, here are 10 tips for your next shed hunting adventure:1) Walk through bedding and feeding areas deer frequent searching for any piece of an antler. Much like deer hunting, when you’re shed hunting you might only see a piece of the antler sticking out of the snow or grass. 2) Travel routes also work well for finding sheds. With some fresh snow on the ground it should be easy to locate deer tracks and follow them through the woods. This will also greatly aid the hunter in learning how the deer travel through an area and use the terrain to their advantage. 3) Creek crossings also offer shed hunters the possibility to score. Vegetation is usually thicker along the creek which can help pull an antler off a buck. It is also sometimes necessary for a deer to jump across a creek or jump up on a steep creek bank, which could cause an antler to come loose and fall off. 4) Carry a GPS to mark the location of the sheds you find. Looking back on this information later could help you pattern the bucks in the area and give you more insight on a buck’s core area. 5) If you find a shed don’t move on to the next area until you’ve thoroughly searched the surrounding 75+ yard area for the other side. Often times a buck will lose both antlers within a short distance from the first shed found. Walking a grid pattern often works best for locating the second antler. 6) If it looks like a shed, then it very well could be a shed, but you’ll never know unless you look. Don’t pass by that stick in the ground if you’re not 100% sure it’s a stick. Bucks can grow some strange looking antlers so grab that stick off the ground, just incase it turns out to be an antler. 7) Just because deer tend to travel in the same area doesn’t mean you should take the same route every time you walk through the woods in search of sheds. Make sure you always walk the property from different directions and don’t give up until you’ve searched every inch of the property from every direction. You could easily miss an antler walking one way and find it later by walking the same area from another direction. Deer tend to travel along transition cover. I like to walk the edges where swamps meet hardwoods and where grassy fields meet cedars. 9) Take a child and/or hunting buddy out shed hunting with you, it helps pass the time and it never hurts to have an extra set of eyes when you’re looking for sheds. 10) Sheds or no sheds, the most important thing is to HAVE FUN!