It's Shed Hunting Time!

[KQ]

My favorite time of year! Just noticed the big 4 point buck who likes to hang out in my backyard is sans antlers. Once the herd moves off later this afternoon I'm going to have to go out and have a look around.

The old buck is standing outside my kitchen window watching me right now. Hope he left them somewhere easy to find. I've never found a matched pair.

Found this nice one a couple years ago:

[Phall]

Nice! Shed hunting is actually getting pretty insane out here in Utah, you have to take an online course, and there is a "season" where you need the certificate. Colorado shut down shedhunting west of I25 until April 30th. Here in Utah it is wild to see how many people will be actively shed hunting on weekends. I worry that this is actually damaging to wildlife in a lot of wintering areas and would support longer shed closures. Someone said it best, we don't regulate thewildlife any more, we regulate humans.

[that dude who did that thing]

Years and years of hiking in deer and elk country, and I've never found a shed. Then again, I tend to stick to the trails.

[KQ]

Nice! Shed hunting is actually getting pretty insane out here in Utah, you have to take an online course, and there is a "season" where you need the certificate. Colorado shut down shedhunting west of I25 until April 30th. Here in Utah it is wild to see how many people will be actively shed hunting on weekends. I worry that this is actually damaging to wildlife in a lot of wintering areas and would support longer shed closures. Someone said it best, we don't regulate thewildlife any more, we regulate humans.

I stick to my 110 acres but I have found the occasional one on the side of the road when I'm in the truck (sitting up higher than the Subaru). I know there are people who come onto my land and hunt down by the river. Kinda pisses me off but it's hard for me to control as the house is set back a half a mile. I can see them with binoculars but I'm not always in the mood to hop in the side-by-side and chase them off besides, they are usually families that live up or down the river out for a walk and shed hunting as they go so it's not as bad as total random people.

Years and years of hiking in deer and elk country, and I've never found a shed. Then again, I tend to stick to the trails.

Honestly they can be so hard to see. I've been right on top of them before and not seen them until I pass back by a spot. I have found several along wildlife trails that cross my property and one in the driveway. What's really awful is finding them out in the wheat field with the tractor tire.

[sb]

I have been lucky enough to find a few sheds over the years and even luckier to find a set of 8 point sheds that a friend used to make a wall pocket basket with.

Pro tip, if you look around a rub or scrape you will have a better chance of finding some.

[MakersTeleMark]

They actually train dogs these days to find sheds.

[capulin overdrive]

Not good when you find them with a 4k tractor tire.

[refried]

Not good when you find them with a 4k tractor tire.

I've hit more than a few with the mower.
I usually find singles, only once have I found a pair.

[Shredhead]

Only one I’ve found.

[rideit]

Kiddo went on a Boy Scout shed hunt on the Elk Refuge, he found 17 in an hour. He got downright bored it was so easy.
No one else is allowed to shed hunt there besides the Boy Scouts, for one day a year, for four hours.

[iceman]

What do people do with them? There's so many deer around here sheds must be all over the place.

[KQ]

What do people do with them? There's so many deer around here sheds must be all over the place.

They get made into things like pipes, key chains, dog chew toys and lamps as well as objets d'art. Mine hang out around the house.

[SkiBall]

Antler chandeliers are pretty cool if it fits the motif.
Good dog bones too.

[sb]

I've hit more than a few with the mower.
I usually find singles, only once have I found a pair.

Technically that would not be a shed set since they seem to still be attached to the skull but very kewl looking with the growth.

[sb]

They are also food for rodents mostly. Sometimes one can find old shed with chew marks on them.

[Phall]

They can fetch some $ especially if you are a buyer of antlers and sell them to asia where there is a market for kitschy western americana items. I have a few ive found, and will probably go for a training hike through some areas once this recent snow melts to look.

[yeahman]

I've stumbled across a couple nice elk sheds over the years, always while hunting for an actual elk.


Last year I floated the Middle Fork Salmon River in April with some buddies who are serious shed hunters. I hiked many miles looking but found zilch. My friend Mark found a bunch though. Some people really have the knack for spotting them.

[wicked_sick]

And here i thought you were in search of a shed for your back yard. For lawn mowers n stuff. I was going to say those prefab cedar ones are pretty nice if you have the cash, but this really isn't the thread for that.

Learn something new every day.

[iceman]

I thought it was like a duck blind or something for a minute. A hunting shed.

[lifelinksplit]

Hiking through black canyon of the Yellowstone in the park has a ridiculous amount of elk sheds as it is a migratory route. There are a couple of huge ones that stick out of both sides of large tree trunks. Just don't try and sneak some out because the park randomly puts transmitters in them as it is illegal to shed hunt in the national park. Have always wanted to find a moose shed.

[TacocaT]

I set timber sale boundaries for a few years and I would find sheds all them time. I have left more than a few large elk antlers behind after I got tired of dragging them in the brush. A few years back I would run tree planting projects with inmate crews in Colorado. They were areas that that burned 1-4 years before with hardly any brush. We found tons of sheds and the guys could not take them back to prison. So I ended up with probably 3 dozen antlers. I gave most away. They make great dog chew toys. I think they look cool but hate furniture made with them. Have probably 6 of the best matching sets one huge elk pair in my yard. Squirrels are currently working there way through them now.

[KQ]

Last year I floated the Middle Fork Salmon River in April with some buddies who are serious shed hunters. I hiked many miles looking but found zilch. My friend Mark found a bunch though. Some people really have the knack for spotting them.

Once I spot one on the ground and get that visual in my mind I can usually find more.

A few years back I would run tree planting projects with inmate crews in Colorado. They were areas that that burned 1-4 years before with hardly any brush. We found tons of sheds and the guys could not take them back to prison.

Yeah - they'd make nice shivs.


____________________


Initial look-see for Big Daddy's antlers came up empty. It amazes me that for all the time those bucks (usually have 5 or 6) spend sleeping and grazing in the immediate area around my house I never find any close-in. Most of the ones I find are down at the river or along trails they travel.

[yeahman]

Once I spot one on the ground and get that visual in my mind I can usually find more.



Yeah - they'd make nice shivs.


____________________


Initial look-see for Big Daddy's antlers came up empty. It amazes me that for all the time those bucks (usually have 5 or 6) spend sleeping and grazing in the immediate area around my house I never find any close-in. Most of the ones I find are down at the river or along trails they travel.

Look for white was the advice I got.

I have 6-8 decent-size bucks living in the vicinity and yet I can't find their sheds in the hills behind the house where I know they hide out. I might find a couple small ones but the big boys are a mystery. I kind of like that. But still. Where ARE they?!

[isisis]

Horns vs antlers...

[2FUNKY]

They can fetch some $ especially if you are a buyer of antlers and sell them to asia where there is a market for kitschy western americana items. I have a few ive found, and will probably go for a training hike through some areas once this recent snow melts to look.

Yep. I used to hunt them for 3 months hardcore when I lived in Cody, WY. I made a lot of money in those three months. We hunted mainly Elk sheds. My best season I made 18k in 3 1/2 months. Found several Elk dead heads and a couple sheep dead heads.
If a guy wants to see some amazing sheds and dead heads, you must go to the Jackson Antler auction. We would sell most of our stuff to a certain buyer locally but would take some stuff there as well.
I also got into making lamps from deer and elk sheds. Those things sold for a ton of money.