Hi this is Kyle with Wired Outdoors and
it's late winter here in Pennsylvania, and it's the time of year that I start
getting cabin fever. And I'm sure most of you do too. But it's also the time of
year that we get out there and start scouting pretty heavily for next year's
whitetail season. And part of that involves shed hunting. And you can see
here I've got a bunch of sheds that we found here in Pennsylvania, and I know a
lot of people out there have probably tried shed hunting and covered a lot
of ground and haven't had much luck. So what we're gonna try to do today is give
you some points and techniques that we use to find more antlers, and hopefully
make you a better shed hunter. So the first thing we need to talk about is the
actual time of year to get out there and start shed hunting. And we've seen Bucks
drop here in Pennsylvania as early as December and as late as May. And
especially the younger bucks, you know they have a tendency to hang onto those
antlers a pretty long time. So if you've got a lot of older deer in your herd
though, you know those deer are going to be dropping in January/February
typically. So that's something to think about. And the other thing to think about
is your snow cover. If you're in northern states and you've got a couple feet of
snow on the ground, there's not much sense than being out there hiking around
looking for sheds. I would definitely wait until the ground
is bare. And another thing to consider is on what type of ground you're gonna be
looking. You know are you gonna be on public ground mostly, or are you gonna be on
private ground. You know on public ground where there's a lot of guys out there
looking for sheds - probably gonna want to start your search a little bit early. You
know you might luck into finding one of those big antlers off the mature deer,
you know before somebody else does. Now on the flip side, if you've got private
ground where no one else can access it, I'd probably wait till April before I
really started looking hard because that that kind of guarantees most of the
bucks are gonna be shed. So one other thing to think about is, if you're out
there and you're doing some early shed hunting say, January/February -
I'd probably focus on those food sources rather than the bedding areas.
You know you don't want to be into your bedding area of pushing deer out if a lot of the
bucks are still carrying their racks. And then finally, use those trail cameras. You
know they're a great asset to keep track of your local herd and see what's going on.
If a lot of your Bucks are still carrying their racks, it doesn't make any
sense to be out there looking for antlers. But usually what happens is
you'll start seeing a lot of half racks on the cameras you'll see those sockets
and you know the antlers are out there to find. So all those things can kind of
help you hone in on the exact time of year to get out there and start looking.
So the second main point that we want to stress as far as shed hunting is the
type of day. Now I know a lot of people out there if you've got some free time
you're gonna be out there looking and I'm probably right there with you but
one thing to consider if you had to pick a day I would pick a cloudy overcast day
and it's even better if it's raining or the ground is wet at least because if
you have a dark background the leaves most of these sheds are gonna stand out
a lot better I mean they're kind of a light-colored some of them even look
white and if you've got that dark background that's gonna help you a lot.
You know when it's really sunny out you get a lot of contrast in the woods and
like things just totally vanish as far as antlers, branches, leaves - it all kind
of blends together but when you've got that overcast, just uniform gray light it
really does seem to help the antlers stand out. Now the third thing we're
gonna talk about is where specifically to look for these sheds. And I would say
personally most of the sheds that I found have come from three places -
it's either food sources, bedding areas, or the trails in-between. And this time
of year late season the deer are usually congregating together there's big herds
a lot of the Bucks are all traveling together they're back in their bachelor
groups so it's gonna be pretty easy to see where deer are feeding. You know even
cruising around the local backroads you're gonna see a lot of deer out in
fields so if you know where there's a good field, food plot, places where you've
got late season food that's where they're gonna all congregate. It's gonna be
the first place that I would start looking for sheds. Now when we're talking
about food sources don't forget about acorns. You know if we have a mass deer
here in Pennsylvania big oak ridge is an awesome place to look for sheds
so think about inside the woods as well as your fields.
And then bedding areas - usually the thicker the better here in Pennsylvania
especially if you've got mature bucks. If you're looking for antlers, they're gonna
be in some of the nastiest places you can find. Super thick swamps sometimes,
you know briars - you name it. Thorns - the nastier the better. You know, check out
those south-facing slopes places where they're gonna get a little more sun. Any
kind of thermal cover wind breaks, you know thick brush rows, places where
there's pines - those are all gonna be hot spots for the beds. One thing I'd
mention too though is - a lot of times the beds this time of year won't be very
far from the food sources. Those deer they don't want to travel very far you
know like they would in the summertime so thick areas near the food - those are
gonna be hot spots. And then finally just the trails in-between. Usually the trails
this time of year very visible. You're gonna be able to see them. You know cover
those main trails back and forth between the food sources in the bedding areas.
And I think those three main areas are gonna help you key in and find a lot of
sheds. The fourth tip we have for you is to always wear your binoculars when your
shed hunting. And I know a lot of folks out there may not think about that but
it can save you a ton of walking because when you're out there cruising around
looking for sheds you're always seeing things that look a little bit like a
shed. You're not sure - it might be a tine sticking up through some grass, but to be
able to just throw the glass up check it out real quick saves you from actually
having to walk over and look at that. You know nine times out of ten it's just
gonna be a stick or a branch. But you know every now and then it's gonna be an
antler and you're gonna want to know that. And especially if you're cruising
these green fields and places with low ground cover, you know you can glass all
these fields from a high area and in any large sheds you're gonna see them right
off the bat. So I would say always, always carry your binoculars. The fifth tip we
have for you and it's a pretty simple one - it's just get out there spend as
much time as you possibly can in the woods. Put the boots on the ground and
cover the miles. You know the more ground you cover, the more chance you're gonna
find sheds. And every year I see guys that find a ton of sheds and they're the
ones that are spending the most time in the woods - and that's no coincidence. So,
even if you're not finding sheds right away - don't get discouraged. It's gonna
take more than one or two tries. So if you're out there and you're not
finding much, you're still out there the best time in the year for scouting. I
mean, hands down - you can see deer sign this time of year better than any other
time. Last year's rut sign is very visible, you know all the deer trails are
heavy, the scrapes are still on the ground, rub lines are very visible. So pay
attention to what you're seeing around you as far as deer sign in general and
spending all that time in the woods this time of year - it's gonna make you a
better shed hunter and it's gonna make you a better hunter overall. Lastly we
just want to say to everybody have fun when your shed hunting - you know involve
your friends and family. It's a great time to get the kiddos involved. You can
see I'm a new dad here this is Emma. And she's a little small to be hiking around
on her own, but I'm probably gonna put her in the pack and she can go out and
look for some sheds with me. It's a nice time of year to introduce
kids, you know you don't have to worry about being noisy, you're quiet or
anything. Just get them involved and have a blast. You know it's a it's a good time
to cure the cabin fever, she's excited, I'm excited. So good luck to everybody
shed hunting and good luck next hunting season.