Best Time To Hunt For Sheds
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- The best time to hunt for shed antlers is not necessarily when you first think they are dropping. Instead, narrowing down the peak shed drop timing for your area and then searching for sheds after the bulk of them have already been dropped, is a great strategy for small parcels. Making sure that you do not spook the bucks off of your land prematurely, is an important strategy for not only finding the optimum number of sheds, but could also have a positive impact for the overall health of the local deer herd. When is the best time to search for sheds? After you define exactly when the peak timing is for bucks dropping, in your own area. If the majority of the bucks are still holding, make sure to wait longer before heading to the woods to hunt for shed antlers.
Yep we are pretty lucky to have such spots. We actually got the permission accidentally trespassing! We was originally on a piece we had permission but crossed an un-posted line and the landowner saw us came out to ask what we was doing and I apologized for trespassing and he said if all we was doing was looking for antlers we were more than welcome to do so, and he called 3 of his neighbors and got us permission for the whole woodlot! They also asked us that if we saw anyone else back there to go ahead and run them off!! Pretty cool landowners, ESPECIALLY for being in the city! Our total between me and my friend was 29 antlers last year with 3 match set's.
Wow that is outstanding! I guess it pays to trespass? Lol. Very cool...enjoy and good luck this shed season!
U made a lot of assumptions
Good video Jeff! This was the reminder we need to be patient, it's too tempting to run out there and start looking for sheds!
Thanks guys! Man it sure is...so tempting but there are a few reason to wait. We had someone just make a comment they had 13 bucks in SW WI last night still holding...only one 1/2 rack. That's a lot holding on 2/13, but pretty normal for this area...and most in this region. I would guess 1/2 are still holding by 3/1 around here anyways.
I live in sw Wisconsin and this is a huge reminder for me as well to wait
@@devingreen2282 hi Devin, for sure! But boy, not too much longer...
Great vid Jeff! But around here we must start early if we want nice sheds. The squirrels can destroy an 70" shed in a day!
Thanks Jimi! Oh for sure...just in a lot of places the deer can be spooked off a land for a few weeks if you go too early. Always a balance, lol. Of course we have a foot of layered and crusty snow right now so the squirrels aren't probably having any luck finding any sheds that drop early either...dang polar vortext
Ya sucks finding a good shed chewed up ..🏹----🐿🐿🐿😂😂just shot a squirrel this am he’s been messing with my bird feeder .. I put him to sleep wife says .. what was that noise ..🗯🗯22 side yard ...
@@huntwarbukz4117 shoot a squirrel save a shed! Good eatin too! Lol
I live in northwestern Pennsylvania. About 30 miles south of the lake. I always try to wait until a majority have dropped. We always run cameras and sometimes find bucks hold them into March. The biggest problem around here is there is a large number of groups that coyote hunt with dogs. As much as I try to stay out of my best shed areas I know people do not. Any suggestions on what to do in that case? I assume just find where people arent and that's where the mature bucks will be.
That's sounds like a good strategy...waiting a bit! I think a remote area is part of it. But you also need to coming high quality daytime browse cover adjacent to high quality Winter food sources. When you combine winter food, high quality browse cover and remote habitat...those areas are few and far between! I hope you find one of those spots 🙂
Awsome I was thinking about goin for a walk soon to shed hunt but I usually wait til March here .. was cool yesterday just saw 2 nice bucks around 4:30 in wide open feeding haven’t seen horns in awhile!!
It seems ! Was cool they didn’t have a care in the world the guys land is posted his feild is visible from rd I had to stop and watch ahah 👍🦌👀🦌
Nice...I am hearing of most bucks around here, still holding both. From SW WI here to northern IL to IN and into southern MI. LOTS of reports of both sets holding. In most areas it just a bit early to shed hunt, especially on smaller parcels. Large parcel owners can afford to push deer around, have them come back, find antlers eventually...but that is the very rare landowner. The best thing you can do is identify peak time and then search right after...unless you have 500-1000 acres :)
What I do is I dont want to freeze my ass off looking for sheds I PA, so once either starts turning into spring once it changes from 10° to like 40° constantly I'm out there looking for sheds
Great plan...great shed timing, lol. I'm with you! Although I don't mind the cold as much as I mind the snow....really wishing that would melt a little faster than it will. Temps below 30 for us for a few weeks from now. Oh well, I will be in the woods hard on my own lands that I hunt, as soon as that blanket if snow is GONE.
I don't look for sheds vary much so deer are safe were I hunt. The land I hunt used to be a pine farm but still has some hard wood with a rigde that goes between two swamps, one is grassy, one is tamarack, & on the other side is ag. Land. It's a good hunting spot but hard to get to the stand without spooking deer.
Might be fun to try in March some time! I just get so dang busy scouting my client parcels this time of year or I would hunt for sheds a little harder on the lands that I hunt...
Sounds like a great spot good excuse for a nice walk bro .. get. A cup of coffee ..and walk it slow with some sun I see them better somtimes white shows up nice ..🦌🌝
We are in SW WI. Had 30 plus deer feeding on my beans last eve. 13 bucks all had both sides only one had only 1 side.
They are hitting the beans hard and then moving to the corn. Hopefully I have enough in my food plots,, as we are drawing quite a few deer.
Great observations!! That's what I am seeing too. To me, way to early to go pushing them around yet. Everyone gets so jumpy, lol...hard to be patient though, but a wise move for a few reasons. Appreciate the feedback!
Can you define yarding area? I can't say I've heard that term used a lot. Same as a winter home range?
Shawn it is a highly defined wintering area, commonly referred to as deer yards, all across the North, but especially in MN, WI and the UP of MI. In fact a lot of them have names. Check out this pic of a scientific research article on deer yards:
www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3800320.pdf?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
They are not necessarily the same, at least in my experience. For example while deer move to Winter areas in a state like Iowa, those deer do not have to move there to survive. However in the UP of MI, if deer don't move to the deer yards from their Summer and Fall ranges, they will die.
Is there any tips on were to finding the sheds on land? Other than just walking randomly on land. A co-worker is letting me hunt their 100 acres this coming fall, and I would like to look for sheds soon. Here in Virginia!
Hey Benny! For sure...I have that video coming out within a few days and I hope it helps! I talk about the 5 main locations...
Makes a lot of sense to wait in high stress areas for sure. A friend and I have permission for a couple of small CITY woodcuts and we do the same. We are the only ones allowed back there so we went in on the 5th of February this year as we did last year when we got the permission and found 5 really nice sheds, but just as last year a lot of the Bucks, some BIG some small still holding so we dont go back till mid to late March. Even then as u said last year we had o e 140" 10 point was still holding on April fools day! We ended up getting his rack 1 week later.
That is very cool...sounds like a GREAT spot to find sheds - I love those areas! Good job on waiting too...so easy to jump the gun. Great strategy!
Excellent video! Tons of guys are trying to be heros on social media nowadays early shed hunting. It has really started a frenzy with lots of newbies busting through the woods too soon trying to get "on the board". I used to enjoy shed hunting, now it seems more like a competition.
Thanks a lot Jonathan! Like I said I only shed on client parcels...typically 40 parcels from January to the end of April...but I love it! We have to be out on their land anyways. But for sure...folks are way to jumpy and while it can really hurt their results, it can hurt the herd a bit at times, which is why they have restrictions out west when it comes to shed hunting elk and mule deer winter range.
I have friends who feel the same...not as enjoyable as it once was. A LOT more trespassing and stealing sheds now too. Hearing that more an more. It seems folks who would never trespass for hunting...have no problem when it comes to trespassing for sheds.
Great comments... appreciate them!
Good vid jeff! We had a 8pt that had its antlers here in upstate NY on jan 28 this year and weve had alot of cold weather. Usually here it seems like there long gone by then. A couple years ago dec 2 we got a buck dragged it back the antlers were gone with the tag lol. We backtracked and found them and the tag.
Thanks Dan...do you think most of your bucks have dropped by now? I would imagine your area is an earlier shed drop area ...
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 id imagine they have dropped em by now but u never know with nature. We were real suprised to see both antlers on when it was almost febuary. We have found one shed by an old roundbale
@@danplanck4058 for sure Dan you never know! But I find a pretty consistent "average" peak shed timing. Hope you guys find some after the weather breaks!
funny you can out with this video today I was going down an old dirt road this morning to feed at another farm an saw a 9 point buck with about a 16" spread standing on the side of the road still had both sides pencil rack possibly 3 1/2 year old. ? But I was surprised to see that. ALL of the bucks that I have noticed over the past two weeks have all dropped
Hi Yogi! Really depends on the area...quality of food and stress. I know areas where all of the bucks would have dropped by 1/31...maybe even 1/15. Others where 1/2 are still holding by 3/1. Very smart to know your peak area before heading out to shed hunt...sounds like you are really on top of it!
Whitetail Habitat Solutions February 16th was out watching deer this evening saw a half rack and a hole rack tonight both where 2 1/2 year olds.
Totally unrelated Jeff, but I'm looking at the new Sitka catalog cover today and I notice the hunter wearing these funky big boots. I then realized I know who that guy is! Lol! That's awesome!
Andy...I actually haven't seen the cover in any way!? Which picture is it? Surprise to me but pretty cool
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 I'll see if I can message it to you on here or Instagram.
I sent you the cover pic on Instagram Jeff.
@@ananumuss thanks Andy! I never looks at my messages so I will check it out...thanks for letting me know!
@@ananumuss hey Andy...not me, unfortunately! Would have been cool tho. Nice boots tho that fella has 🙂
I have spent countless hours, year after year, hunting sheds. To this day, 20 years later...I have yet to find a single shed. I have found plenty of antlers from deer that had died out there, but never a shed.
I gave up about 10 years ago. Being a pilot, planes are a GREAT scouting tool!!! I'd fly over the areas I hunt. Once snow is on the ground, even just one set of tracks is easily visible from 1000-1500" above. I learned, quite quickly, that by the time antlers are dropping...there's no deer in the areas I hunt.
It's not well known...but...anybody can get use of a plane for this purpose. Most airports (not the big "metro" airports though) will offer flight instruction. You don't have to become a student pilot or jump through a bunch of hoops or anything like that. Just go to, or call your local airport (you might have to ask around a bit), and find the flight school. Tell em what you want to do, bring a map (your phone GPS will work too) show em where you want to look. Prices will vary, but typically, you'll be in for $200-250 per hour for your plane and instructor pilot. The cost is prorated, so you're only charged for the actual time. Bring another hunting buddy along to help offset the cost. You'll probably get to fly the plane too!!!
There are tons of small airports all over the place, and chances are, an hour of flight time will be way more than enough. If you're curious about doing this and have any ???, feel free to ask here. I'd be more than happy to help out and point you to an airport in your area.
In the winter deer come into my back yard every night and every night my dog chassis them away they run at least a 1,000 yards almost nightly during the winter , they must be extremely healthy deer because they never die .
As a matter of fact it's 18 degrees today and 14 deer behind my house where chasing each other and playing WOW I am suprized there not all dead LMAO !
Success in most things depends upon wisdom, knowledge and understanding and with those comes patience. Too many hunters don't have any of the above and they are their worst enemy. Thanks for sharing!
Scott you are very welcome and man, that is so true. Patience and hunting go hand in hand. Just like, "you can't shoot more deer by sitting on the couch". Quite possibly huntings most misleading statement. Patience is so critical... really appreciate the feedback!
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 Haha. I've only hunted for 9 total seasons and have killed nearly 80 deer (many in urban zones) and Other hunters have taken note that I've spent more time processing than sitting in the woods. And I have more free time during hunting season, because I only go when the conditions are favorable.I had one hunter recently mention that he wishes he had the discipline he sees in me. I just told him "my goal in hunting is success." Of course, you have challenged me to reconsider some of the conditions that i've followed, such as barometer and how it might just be the weather associated with the atmospheric pressure. I look forward to journaling my findings.
@@ScottWConvid19 that's great Scott! It is so hard, but discipline is critical. Most I believe in their entire lives, never find that level of discipline in their hinting. And therefore...never that level of success. Great job man! Love hearing this kind of feedback and I think it helps others too...
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 I am a lifetime student. I tell people that it's important to learn quality information. Study it and practice what you've learned, build on that and, in all your ventures, honor the Lord your God and forsake Him not because if He doesn't build the house, her labors in vain that builds it. 👍🏼
@@ScottWConvid19 such great words to live by for sure Scott, thank you for sharing that!
Did you notice later antler drop when you improved your northern Michigan property?
Great question Jack! The deer were completely off my land from 12/12 to early January at the latest. Then there would not be a track until late March/early April during the last 5-10% of snow melt.
Maybe the held longer? But if so it was in the deer yards about 10 miles South. Consider that the food plots we're only a small portion of their entire daily diet. Really the same anywhere. With a high % of conifer, tag alder and leather leaf, their overall browse levels were pretty low quality...same with the soil.
It's pretty crazy...in poor soil and habitat areas, food plot do not change the overall condition of the deer very much...I do think a little not s lot. In high quality ag areas, I don't think they really change the health of the heard at all in a lot of areas. Or a noticeable amount. The problem is that in small parcels deer management there is very little way if any to study deer at an acceptable, peer reviewed level.
Anyways, just rambling. I do think you can send deer into the Winter with a higher level of energy in their gas tank, which increases the level of ultimate survival. Not sure that translates into larger antlers, later antler holding dates, greater levels of fawn recruitment, etc.
Ya, don't know why it slipped my mind that they go to the yards. My bad. Oddly enough I have noticed that the deer will hang around all winter now that we have had pretty large clear cuts on my land, as well as food plots. Do you think switch grass would still work for bedding in an area that gets 200 inches of snow?@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751
@@jackc.3079 Oh no problem, a good question for sure! Those hardwood clear-cut areas help a lot! But boy they have to have adjacent heavy conifer. I can't remember...what city are you near?
I like to avoid switchgrass in the UP...they become more of a predator trap and do not allow enough visibility for the bedding requirements that deer need in the region, due to predation. Same with heavy bedding cuttings.
I hope that makes sense!
We are near L'Anse. Thanks for the advice, and awesome content!@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751
@@jackc.3079 for sure Jack, you are very welcome and man, that's a big snow fall zone!
Appreciate the shed tips by region. I hope my switchgrass comes in even half as good as the clip in the video. Fingers crossed. Following your steps from the switchgrass video on 4 separate areas of mowed pasture that lay out in relation to our foodplots. Good luck in your search for a new parcel.
-Southern Ohio
Dang that's a blizzard
We should find some together next month.
Bob
Bob...nice to meet you on here, can't wait to see you in person! Actually Diane just sent you a signed copy of AWW yesterday 🙂 I'm thinking Diane should come along to find sheds! She has enjoyed chatting with you
Shout out Traverse City, MI!
Nice Stephen! Stayed 9 night is Big Rapids...1 in Mackinaw last couple of weeks. Always around the area...even in TC 😉
To all the men who shed hunt where I go , you need to wait until the end of march !
THANKS :)
Another great video! I had given up on shed hunting in recent years, but I stumbled upon my second shed (ever) this past week in a really rugged area of the Appalachians. It seems that the deer could just be anywhere out here. It’s still fun to get out and hike though!
Thanks a lot Matt! And that is great that you found one. Sounds like a needle in a haystack kind of an area. Have fund scouting/hiking/shed hunting...what a great time get it if you don't have too much snow 🙂
Since deer season JUST ended, now I'm excited to start looking for sheds at about late late January or early Feburary. I found two antlers last year around my feeder.