A nice surprise that I found

[contender]

I was out Saturday working a small food plot on my property. I was tilling the ground a bit,, trying to prep it for later planting.
Sunday, I went to do some more work in the plot,, and I would walk around, picking up & removing any rocks, roots etc I may have turned up.

I went to pick up another small root, and found a small shed antler. I have seen this young deer on my cameras here often. He was a 3 point young buck. I found the one horn with the brow tine. The OAL of this horn is just 5-3/8" long. The moment I reached for it,, I realized it wasn't a root, but a shed. AND I recognized the horn.
In all my years of hunting, woods bumming etc,, this makes shed #4 for me, and by far the smallest. AND,, it wasn't there Saturday,, so he lost it between Saturday & Sunday.
Kinda fun to find such things, and watch the wildlife grow around here.

The guy who works for me,, and who also has spent his life in the woods has never found a shed. In fact,, just last week, he & I were discussing that very fact. So, yesterday,, I got to let him see my recent find. (And rub it in a little.)

 

[Mobuck]

Ty, I realize you're in some pretty rough terrain so finding sheds is much different than here. we used to look for them fairly frequently but less so now that I can't walk as well and the kids lost interest. We still find 2-3 dozen every spring(hopefully not with a $2K tractor tire). It's a bit scary just thinking about running over 80 acres of retired CRP that hasn't been farmed since 1985.

 

[contender]

You are correct. We have a lot of heavily wooded & brushy mountainous terrain. Not an easy place to hunt for sheds. Especially since during this time of year,, the deer prefer the denser thickets where there is mountain laurel, & other weather protective cover & food.

I went back in there a little today, briefly. I was hoping to find another shed,, but knew it wasn't very likely.

 

[Mobuck]

I found 2 left antlers today while doodling around cutting brush and checking fence (both were laying in open pasture/ hay field). The first is from a mature 120-130 class and the second is a young buck (judging by pedicle size) that has real potential in 2-3 years.

 

[tazbigdog]

When I was a Game Warden, tracking people in the woods, I would find sheds all the time. Sometimes like you, it wasn't there the day before. Usually Jan/Feb/March were the best months depending on temps.

 

[Mobuck]

A few years ago we left 3-4 acres of soybeans unharvested in the field because they'd been flooded and unsaleable. At times I counted up to 75 deer in that field through the winter. There was 40 acres of unused pasture on the hills above that field and come spring we filled the Ranger box with sheds off that grassland plus 10-12 found in the bean stubble.

 

[contender]

I know that finding sheds in farmland fields is often much easier than my area. We are heavily wooded, thick brush, and have mountains to deal with. The squirrels, rats, & mice get to chew them up mostly.
But you are correct in needing to remove them to prevent damage to machinery.

 

[TDF]

I've found a few sheds doodling around in the woods over the years. Had an old boxer mutt that would drag them up into the yard to chew on, so got a few that way also. I bought a small 35 acre farm a few years back and the first winter I was wandering around back in the trees with the afore mentioned boxer mutt, and I saw him stop to sniff something off the trail behind a bush, so I peeked over to see what caught his interest, and there was a shed from a 1.5 year old buck. I thought that was cool, and picked it up and went on my merry way. After about 50 yards I thought I should have looked around that area to see if I could find the other one, but then I thought, there is no way that second shed is there, but for whatever reason I went back just to make sure, and probably 10 feet away, but obscured by another bush is the matching shed. My very first and to this date only matched pair. Glad I went back.

 

[contender]

Nice find TDF. But you cheated,, you had help!

I was lucky enough to find a matched pair just once. I was in SC, on a metal detecting trip, on an old plantation. Working the edges of an area I found a set within 6 ft of each other. It helped my whole "hunting day" better. Especially since it was the first ones I'd ever found.

 

[collectormzornes]

Here is one side I found the other day while riding around our hunting farm, I wish I would have found both sides though he looked to be pretty nice

 

[Mobuck]

My luckiest find was a pair of sheds from a mature 10 point. They were lying at the base of a multiflora rose bush just as the ones pictured on top of the wood stove. Best guess is the buck felt the need to scratch and the rose bush snagged both antlers. It was as if someone had found them, carried them to that spot, and laid them down but failed to reclaim them.

 

[beentheredone]

In my area we find few sheds, and part of the reason is our soil. Our soil is very low in calcium, so rodents and other small animals consume antlers just about as soon as they hit the ground. Any that you find are well-gnawed, even when fairly fresh.

 

[wolfsong]

I've never found a shed in the Sierra Nevada mountains but I have found numerous skulls with both antlers intact. The biggest was a 21 inch 4 x 5...

 

[Ranger]

I had a couple hours free to go mushrooming hunting one day this spring. Found 20 mushrooms, half a shed (pretty gnawed up already) and a 10 point skull / complete skeleton. Pretty nice rack. Suspect neighbors shot it and lost its trail before it crossed to our land.