Any spot along a deer trail where a buck must jump, bound or leap such things as fences, creeks, ditches, depressions and dips are all possibilities to discover shed antlers. All deer need to drink, so whatever water source is the prominent one in the area is a good start. Through practice. If nothing else, bring an antler with you and toss it on the ground, then go find it. While there are some breeds that come with some innate hunting and sniffing abilities, almost any dog can learn how to hunt for elk sheds. Binoculars are an … This occurs quickly, but any jarring can jettison them on the spot. Finding deer antler sheds has become a very popular hobby for hunters and non-hunters alike. Whitetail deer antler sheds have a wide variety of uses and are becoming more popular as a crafting material and for home decor. Therefore shed hunters need to get permission from private landowners to access their property and pick up sheds. When you're hunting for deer antler sheds and you spot one side, look nearby to see if the other side of antlers is around. Get some really good optics. Say you walk 300 yards on a line and cross only one fence. Posted by 6 months ago. This will allow you to see what calls attract them and which ones make them turn and run. Good spot for antler sheds? Once bucks go antler-less in your images, start hunting. This obsession corresponds with the time of the year when deer shed their antlers. Archived. Another tip is to practice spotting sheds. Saw that this is a good time to go looking for shed antlers. Michigan hosts many animals in … Photo by Greg Wagner. Look Where Deer Jump: Sudden movements caused by jumping or running can knock an antler loose. Find the food, find the sheds. Good spot for antler sheds? The fifth spot seems obvious at first; the deer bed and the deer feed, so look to the trails where these areas connect. Many western states have seasons for shed hunting on state and federally owned land. If I’m walking with a partner and one of us finds a shed, the other person walks over and tries to spot it before the finder even touches it. The more they move, the more they are likely to drop an antler. Where to Look for Elk Sheds . The rewards of a shed antler hunt are many. It helps to know a little about the habits of deer to know where to look. If you go too late, you might find sheds already damaged from other animals. Another idea is to look at photos online of sheds where they lay, and practice picking out the shed. Practice knocking them together when you're in the tree stand and you spot a deer you don't want to shoot. Cornfields, while often the most rewarding, are also the hardest because the stalks camouflage the sheds so well. If you want to test your luck with nature and try to find some antler sheds on your own, here are a few words of advice. The first place you need to look for sheds is in the food source itself. A lot of this stuff is common sense if you relate to the animal rather than trying to think like it. In this video, we talk about the best place that we discovered to find sheds! You might find sheds on or just off a trail, or on the bedding slope. There comes a time in the off-season when whitetail deer hunters all over the country become obsessed with collecting deer antlers. There is hope, however. You could spin 360 degrees and see… Read The Full Article Here What made it interesting was that the antler was laying in a spot where rubs were literally everywhere. In most cases, you should only need: Several antler sheds: You will need these for scent training your dog to recognize the smell of shed antlers. Looking for antler sheds is perhaps one of the most rewarding things I enjoy doing outdoors. Start looking for sheds at preferred food sources early in the year. Elk shed hunting is not that unlike finding shed antlers of whitetails. 7. Now I could look for the other antler… Trail Troubles. Many of the key principles that apply to whitetail, and mule deer shed antler hunting are also important when looking for elk sheds. One bad bounce can poke the dog and make it fear sheds. Advice on training a range of breeds to locate sheds, professional trainers, and trained dogs for sale can all be found on the Internet. Don’t play fetch with real sheds. Then, antler tines will make contact with the floor. A rainy day is great—sheds shine and catch your eye. All of these considerations can make it harder to find a shed antler than it is to find the buck that grew it. Draw or take a picture of the antler and save it for comparison later. Additionally, sheds are just a neat thing to find and have around. Fence gaps and jumps can be dynamite spots for finding sheds as well. A few people have trained their dogs to find antler sheds and that may speed the process up. Time: 1 hour active, 2-3 hours drying time. When, Where, and How to Search for Antler Sheds. Use a permanent marker to identify each antler at multiple spots on the antler (e.g.base side) in case one area gets chewed … Jump a fence, lose an antler. These are sheds from the same whitetail buck from one year to the next. Antler scores by age class form a bell-shaped curve on a graph. Growth peaks in late August throughout most of the whitetail range. Instead, hide the antler out of the dog’s sight, return to your dog, and give the command, “Find the shed!” You’ll soon notice a focus level your dog won’t display during normal play … ; Treats: To reward your dog when he gets it right. Hunting breeds can also be taught to find deer sheds, and sometimes, man’s best friend may be better at it than we are. Now, as you walk through the woods picture how these features would appear lying in the vegetation. 7. Finding Deer Antler Sheds. Skill Level: Easy Peasy. Again, it takes four very similar sheds to do this, and you still may have to shave off the tips of the tines to get the table to sit level. That means that for any age class, there’s a common average, but there are also uncommon bucks with below- and above-average antlers for their age. Or when you’re shed hunting and a friend finds an antler, ask them not to touch it until you walk up and try to spot it yourself. Overlap is when above-average bucks in a younger age class have the same antler size as below-average bucks in older age classes. Try looking on Etsy and at flea markets (the one in Dresden had TONS if you’re ever in Germany). It isn’t an easy project, but dang does it look cool when it’s finished. If you prefer to buy sheds to make handcrafted items rather than find them yourself, you’ll need a Hide/Antler permit ($34). Ideally, it’s best to go when the snow is mostly melted and grass growth hasn’t kicked into high gear. The multi-antler shed hunting dog training process is the same, but instead of one antler you hide two or three antlers. How to Clean and Display Antler Sheds. Be sure to drop a like on the video and subscribe for more content! More people are looking for sheds, so you may be competing with them. Small groups of males tend to congregate, including during shed times, increasing the chance to find antlers if you spot a group. Bucks often walk only 100 to 300 yards and lie down out of the wind on the first east- or south-facing hillside. What You Need: an antler shed! In their natural state, they are used to create rustic chandeliers, lamps, and table centerpieces, or simply as wall decor.As a raw material, they can be turned into knife handles, jewelry, decorative carvings, key fobs, and a variety of other items. stepped on a shed antler. It was a small 4-point that fell tines up in the frozen leaves. Time Your Search: Like it or not, you will be competing for deer shed antlers with other shed hunters. Check all trails that enter and leave a feed field. Later, when Bonnie stopped actively feeding and started looking for a rest ing spot to chew her cud, I gently led her back to the pen. Fields of winter wheat or fall canola are probably the easiest places to find sheds. The antlers found in the wild can be used for everything from pure collecting purposes to dog chews to making crafts … Anyone got suggestions for good places to look around the metro area for … Because sheds can be harder to spot than most hunters think, training dogs to find sheds is growing in popularity. Shed antler hunting is one of the fastest growing outdoors activities. You often can’t spot them until you’re standing right over them. Once an antler falls off it legally becomes the property of the landowner. Sometime in early spring, velvet-covered antlers begin to protrude from the pedicles. You need to visualize all of these scenarios and think about how you would spot them in … Most bucks shed their velvet between mid-August and mid-September. If you are new to deer hunting and are eager to collect your first deer antlers, you are probably wondering when do deer shed their antlers. Another spot for shed hunting is on the borderline of forests and fields. Antler prices over the last five years have been averaging about $13.00 per pound. An antler may be on top of the leaf litter, below the leaf litter, bleached, or stained. It gives you an idea of where antlers may be and what to look for. Check deer trails where they cross fences, ditches or other obstacles. Practice throwing old antlers into the woods and coming back later trying to spot them. The antler-growing process begins almost as soon as the antlers are dropped. In order to find shed elk antlers there must be elk in the areas you are looking in, specifically bull elk that have dropped their antlers. I didn't know that was a thing, but it sounds neat. Close. Treat your shed hunts like your spot-n-stalk elk hunts. *Where They Jump. Shed antler ‘poaching’ has become a major problem in many areas, especially where trophy bucks and bulls roam. You do not need a specific breed to find sheds. But I'll admit that they aren't easy to find. ; Plenty of open space: You need plenty of room to work with and ensure your dog can find the antlers. Measure each antler from the base to the end of each point or branch. Vernon has followed this advice and is working with his labradors with some early success. South slopes experience earlier snowmelt, allowing the shed hunter a chance to go picking when snow is still covering other areas. Not only do they act as funnels by offering deer the path of least resistance, but they also can help bucks cast antlers. Jumping fences, spanning gullies and bounding over any obstacle could jolt an antler loose. 4. The antler wasn’t anything special. ... but antlers of respectable size can be easy to spot. In this case, scour the area where the antler-less bucks frequent. 2. Shed hunting is the search for antlers that have been shed by cervids, or members of the deer family, such as deer, elk and moose. Most people secure the antler base to the underside of the slab. A good, prospective shed white-tailed deer antler hunting location — the edge of a zero-till cornfield abutting woodland habitat. Dogs can make excellent shed hunting partners when properly trained. Training your dog to find antler sheds doesn't require a lot of supplies. I shoved the antler into my back pocket, ckopped my handkerchief to mark the spot, and continued observing Bonnie. 5. 8. 7. Some shed hunters search for sheds with the intention of selling them, while others use sheds to help plan hunts for the following year. 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