antlers

[Ross Braastad]

Does anyone ever use their cameras to help find out when the deer in their area shed their antlers? ###If so do you ever find any of these antlers? ###Where do you normally find them, ###by a rub or is it usually closer to their bed or feeding area? ###I can never seem to find them. ###I look all over but just don't seem to find them. ###Someone once told me he put some bait into a small 1 foot pit and put logs over it just wide enough to fit a deers head and the ###logs nocked loose the antlers and he found a few sheds right by the bait. ###I was wondering if anyone ever tried this and if it works?

[gizz]

A little off topic but since you mentioned game cameras we'll let it go. You might want to post this over in BIG GAME or CAMPFIRE sections to get more response.
I'm not sure how a game camera can be of much help other than to find where the deer are travelling and direction of travel. Usually in the winter food is a bit harder to find for the deer so if you can locate a definate feeding area you may want to focus your efforts there. It's also helpful to know approximately when the deer in your area start to shed antlers so your not spending days looking for something that probably won't be there. I usually get on a heavily used trail and just ###w a l k..sometimes several miles keeping my eyes to the ground. I found 3 this way last year but I started a little late and the snow had melted. It's a good way to kill off some time during the long winter months while giving you some good excercise.

[Brian]

I found five different sheds in West Texas but the terrain is different. ###Deer in this area seem to loose their antlers when they cross fences or jump creeks. ###Subtle terrain changes also cause them to loose antlers. ###If they exit a wheat field and their is a drop off at the edge they sometimes go down the drop off and jar them loose at the bottom of the drop off.

If you have features in your area like fences and drop offs they are a good place to start.


Brian

[Ross Braastad]

Does anyone ever use their cameras to help find out when the deer in their area shed their antlers? ###If so do you ever find any of these antlers? ###Where do you normally find them, ###by a rub or is it usually closer to their bed or feeding area? ###I can never seem to find them. ###I look all over but just don't seem to find them. ###Someone once told me he put some bait into a small 1 foot pit and put logs over it just wide enough to fit a deers head and the ###logs nocked loose the antlers and he found a few sheds right by the bait. ###I was wondering if anyone ever tried this and if it works?

[Ross Braastad]

Does anyone ever use their cameras to help find out when the deer in their area shed their antlers? ###If so do you ever find any of these antlers? ###Where do you normally find them, ###by a rub or is it usually closer to their bed or feeding area? ###I can never seem to find them. ###I look all over but just don't seem to find them. ###Someone once told me he put some bait into a small 1 foot pit and put logs over it just wide enough to fit a deers head and the ###logs nocked loose the antlers and he found a few sheds right by the bait. ###I was wondering if anyone ever tried this and if it works?

[Jackalope]

I can definitely say that there is no definite place that you will find sheds. ###Antlers fall when antlers fall. ###This year my wife was lucky enough to find a SET of non-typical 4 point sheds together near a bed. ###That doesn't happen very often from what I've seen. ###Usually one will fall off at a different time than the other. ###I've seen plenty of bucks walking around with one antler. ###I found a 5 point elk shed in June this year and then found the match to it about 75 yards away during my October deer hunt. ###My cousin, Stryder, has that one now. ###You never know....

Mike

[Ross Braastad]

When do antlers normally fall off? ###is it in thespring summer winter? ###Thanks for all the help

[Ross Braastad]

Does anyone know when the antlers come off? ###Is it the fall winter summer or spring and in what months does it normall happen? ###Thanks for all the help.

[bmulley]

Ross, I see from your profile you are from Minnisota. ###From what I've read, spring time in that area is the best for shed hunting, just as the snow is melting. ###As far as when deer lose their antlers, it is also depending on what climate they are in and how hard of a rut they had. ###In general though, it's mid January-end of february. ###Bedding, feeding and transition areas are where to look. ###you can set up a feed area with chicken wire mounted in some fasion in the center of the feed during this shedding time and may luck out a little. ###The guys I know that go out and look spend many hours in the woods checkerboarding areas they have spotted bucks. ###It's time consuming but I bet gratifying as well.

[BuckSnort]

It depends on the geographic location.The further south,the longer the antlers stay on.For the most part muleys shed in Feb-March.

[Curtiss]

Just for the fun of it, get a tracking collar, and place it on the horns. Durning the spring, turn the receiver on and you can locate them.
### ###A lot of things will eat the horns, before you find them. Other animals, ants, and insects find the antlers and will get rid of them. I have found some that are in the woods, but not many. I hope that you find the answer. I would like to find some of them that are on are club.
### ###Take care friend, and have a ###Happy New Year!!!!!!!

[younghunter]

Here are a few pics of some sheds I've found. ###Sorry about the photo quality on some, I took them with my digital camera. ###The trick to successful shed hunting is watching the bucks/bulls from after christmas till when they are shedding. ###When I go in a area I like to sit and glass for sheds. ###Then I will walk around the area second. ###These are a few pics of some of my sheds(but not even close to all of them LOL).

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/002/U4/o1/OE/A993031.jpg

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/039/gK/T7/Ti/rT93905.jpg

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/039/jC/f6/OR/PV85371.jpg

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/041/EN/zt/f0/PO55770.jpg

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/041/v6/GJ/Ut/t320392.jpg

The bit 4 pt mule deer and 6 pt elk shed were intact when I found them but my spare tire broke them.

[monsterbuck]

it takes a little time and you will get better each year. ###Its really tough and you can look on different deer trails, well basically you have to look every whare on the land if you want any luck. ###Tell me how it works out for you. ###

[Sporty]

I have also heard of the bait pile method and that it works like a charm.
Good Luck,
Sporty

[d91]

Seems last year there were a few posts of one antlered deer. I have a pretty solid trail baited heavily now that the deer season is over. Hoping to get a good idea what's left. My world is hunted HARD... but I'm not very good at it...

We should have a congratulatory thread for those deer who managed to survive the season.

[TmKarren]

I might be wrong, but I think they loose there horns around spring. ###When It starts getting warmer. ###It's hard to tell if one is gone from a shed, or just broke in a fight, or something. ###Unless you have more pictures of the same deer. ###or can get a closeup.

[knobby]

(Edited by knobby at 8:14 pm on Feb. 17, 2002)

[ToddP]

Horns have been dropping left and right here, PA. ###I know of a couple deer that were shot during the late muzzleloader season that were bucks that had dropped their horns.

ToddP

[TmKarren]

I took a picture of a buck last week with them still on. ###Unless he is one of the few.

http://home.earthlink.net/~tmcmkarren/_uimages/river1-12a-1buck.jpg

(Edited by TmKarren at 10:30 am on Jan. 16, 2002)


(Edited by TmKarren at 10:33 am on Jan. 16, 2002)

[woodseye]

Well d91 up here in Maine the horns are dropping right now. theres been some nice ones found so far,mainly by people who feed em. They dropem where they spend a lot of time. drive 3 stakes in the ground where your feeding in the shape of an A stretch some chicken wire in shape of a V and put your feed along fence. They will bump along wire feeding and sometimes lose a horn. its hard up here to look for horns till spring the snow is 20-30 inches.One friend of mine uses a dog and he seems to find horns better than we do. Now if he can just drag one of those 60-80 inchers home!!
If you get any pics I'd like to see.

### ###woodseye

[TmKarren]

That would be great to find some. ###I have yet to ###found any. ###Anyone have some pictures of ones they have found??

[quackmaster]

I built a camera for my taxidermist in exchange for a shoulder mount. He said he has gotten some pictures of bucks that have dropped here in Arkansas. I haven't seen the pictures yet but he said they appear to be younger bucks. Still seeing bigger bucks with headgear attached.

[Stever]

Not sure if they are dropping left and right here or both at the same time. LOL I love this site!

[sven]

Here is a picture of a shed I found last spring. ###Just a little guy as you can tell by the 12ga 2-3/4" slug sitting next to it. ###I saw the owner of it once last year during bow season. ###Unfortunately it was in the moonlight well before shooting light. ###I've seen him a few time since then, just not in a hunting situtation. ###I'm pretty sure he's still around, so one of these days...

http://members.home.net/svensett/Shed-1.JPG

(Edited by sven at 11:57 am on Jan. 16, 2002)

[gizz]

I agree ToddP. I know of one that was killed in Muzzleloader with both antlers dropped. There is also a neighbor who's been feeding a particular buck for 3 years know (it's a dandy!). She rattles a can of corn and it'll come out of the woods to eat what she throws on the ground. It is AFRAID of everyone else but not this little old lady. Anyways she informed me that it's still coming in but the FIRST week of rifle buck season it had NO antlers.
Seems really early this year.

(Edited by gizz at 5:15 pm on Jan. 16, 2002)

[homer]

I picked up one half of an 8 pointer a couple weeks ago near my feed pile out back. Other then that nothing.I've seen a few deer around that are still holding there horns, so I'm going to wait another month before I go out looking, as long as the snows not too deep.

[LW]

I got this half rack six point week before last, unfortunately found his head and hide in a ditch last weekend.

http://www.hunting-pictures.com/members/LW/image413b

[ONESHOT]

Just before peak rut this year, I found just the tip of an antler, about 3" long about 30 yards from my camera. ###I was checking out the ground because the leaves were all stirred up by what appeared to be a spot where two bucks were fighting. ###Would have been cool to have pics of that! ###I kept the tip with hopes of matching it to the rack after I arrowed the buck...never happened.

Sheds should start dropping in Illinois any time now. ###I'll going out to "hunt" for them this weekend.

I found my first pair of sheds (very nice rack) last year while turkey hunting in mid April. ###The sheds were lying about 10 feet apart, but had been there a while...squirrels had chewed off a couple of points.

[junctionturkeymisser]

im trying to find antlers to help me figure out whats on my place its about 250 acres so i cant search it all over, is there any place in particular that i might have luck, ponds, thick timber, pipelines, small brush. ###Most will already be gone because of predators but i may have some luck

[Speckmisser]

Welcome to the list, JJM. ###

I believe a couple of the guys here are serious shed hunters, so they may have better advice than me. ###But for what it's worth... I like to find them still on the deer, but I understand the value of finding them after they fall off, too.

Most of the sheds I've found have been around heavily used trails, especially if they're going into thick bedding areas. ###Picture what it's like for a buck to move through the woods with those antlers on his head. ###What would be likely to catch them when they're loose, and pull them off? ###That's a good place to start.

Might also check around rub lines, especially those close to bedding areas.

Of course, I've also found shed antlers just laying in the middle of the trail. ###Never know.

You're right, though, odds are that by now the squirrels, moles, and mice have pretty well cleaned up any dropped antlers. ###Never know what you may find, though. ###And scouting for sheds can find you some good hunting spots, even if you never see a horn.

[junctionhunter]

I dont know but you might try searching by the catfish pond.

[junctionturkeymisser]

thanks junction i never looked there, gosh i am a fool

[bradj]

I saw this in a magazine somwhere. Just before bucks start dropping their antlers Put up a woven wire fence in the shape of a W in a place where you know deer frequent then throw corn around it the bucks will knock off their antlers on the wire then.

[miked]

I just saw a device at a local sporting goods store that is put around a feeder that will aid in pulling the antlers off when its shedding time.

[Gus]

When I look for sheds I always find them in the thickest brush around. ###Look for a place that has low hanging limbs, or maybe a hole in a fence. ###You might get lucky and find one in the open, but more than likely the critters will have got there first. ###

[D Letho]

I know of a devise that will collect the antlers for you as they feed. This is out of the Sprtmans guid. I am not sure how to put a link on here but, will try for you. If not the URL would be <font color="Red">www.sportsmansguide.com</font> here goes the link ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### CLICK HERE (http://www.sportsmansguide.com). ### The # for the item is ### ### ### ### ###GX2D-64672 ###Deer feeder/ shed collector ### 49.97.
If anyone has this let me know how it works so I can get one also.
### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ###Don

(Edited by D Letho at 6:34 pm on Aug. 5, 2002)