Or when you’re shed hunting and a friend finds an antler, ask them not to touch it until you walk up and try to spot it yourself. What You Need: an antler shed! ... but antlers of respectable size can be easy to spot. Jump a fence, lose an antler. What made it interesting was that the antler was laying in a spot where rubs were literally everywhere. 7. Treat your shed hunts like your spot-n-stalk elk hunts. 5. Many western states have seasons for shed hunting on state and federally owned land. Sometime in early spring, velvet-covered antlers begin to protrude from the pedicles. Looking for antler sheds is perhaps one of the most rewarding things I enjoy doing outdoors. There is hope, however. Close. Train your dog. Additionally, a great spot to go shed hunting is near water. Ideally, it’s best to go when the snow is mostly melted and grass growth hasn’t kicked into high gear. Because sheds can be harder to spot than most hunters think, training dogs to find sheds is growing in popularity. Archived. In their natural state, they are used to create rustic chandeliers, lamps, and table centerpieces, or simply as wall decor.As a raw material, they can be turned into knife handles, jewelry, decorative carvings, key fobs, and a variety of other items. I shoved the antler into my back pocket, ckopped my handkerchief to mark the spot, and continued observing Bonnie. 2. You do not need a specific breed to find sheds. But I'll admit that they aren't easy to find. Time Your Search: Like it or not, you will be competing for deer shed antlers with other shed hunters. When, Where, and How to Search for Antler Sheds. All of these considerations can make it harder to find a shed antler than it is to find the buck that grew it. ; Plenty of open space: You need plenty of room to work with and ensure your dog can find the antlers. All deer need to drink, so whatever water source is the prominent one in the area is a good start. Again, it takes four very similar sheds to do this, and you still may have to shave off the tips of the tines to get the table to sit level. *Where They Jump. Additionally, sheds are just a neat thing to find and have around. Wet, rain-sodden ground compresses old leaf litter, making it easier to spot your targets. Whitetail deer antler sheds have a wide variety of uses and are becoming more popular as a crafting material and for home decor. Trail Troubles. Many of the key principles that apply to whitetail, and mule deer shed antler hunting are also important when looking for elk sheds. 7. Instead, hide the antler out of the dog’s sight, return to your dog, and give the command, “Find the shed!” You’ll soon notice a focus level your dog won’t display during normal play … Fence gaps and jumps can be dynamite spots for finding sheds as well. Dogs can make excellent shed hunting partners when properly trained. Posted by 6 months ago. Use a permanent marker to identify each antler at multiple spots on the antler (e.g.base side) in case one area gets chewed … Start looking for sheds at preferred food sources early in the year. This will allow you to see what calls attract them and which ones make them turn and run. Try looking on Etsy and at flea markets (the one in Dresden had TONS if you’re ever in Germany). A few people have trained their dogs to find antler sheds and that may speed the process up. It isn’t an easy project, but dang does it look cool when it’s finished. In this video, we talk about the best place that we discovered to find sheds! Now I could look for the other antler… South slopes experience earlier snowmelt, allowing the shed hunter a chance to go picking when snow is still covering other areas. Elk shed hunting is not that unlike finding shed antlers of whitetails. It helps to know a little about the habits of deer to know where to look. I didn't know that was a thing, but it sounds neat. The antler wasn’t anything special. Some shed hunters search for sheds with the intention of selling them, while others use sheds to help plan hunts for the following year. Vernon has followed this advice and is working with his labradors with some early success. Overlap is when above-average bucks in a younger age class have the same antler size as below-average bucks in older age classes. There comes a time in the off-season when whitetail deer hunters all over the country become obsessed with collecting deer antlers. Finding Deer Antler Sheds. Growth peaks in late August throughout most of the whitetail range. Look Where Deer Jump: Sudden movements caused by jumping or running can knock an antler loose. The first place you need to look for sheds is in the food source itself. An antler may be on top of the leaf litter, below the leaf litter, bleached, or stained. Practice throwing old antlers into the woods and coming back later trying to spot them. How to Clean and Display Antler Sheds. Training your dog to find antler sheds doesn't require a lot of supplies. In order to find shed elk antlers there must be elk in the areas you are looking in, specifically bull elk that have dropped their antlers. It gives you an idea of where antlers may be and what to look for. It was a small 4-point that fell tines up in the frozen leaves. You need to visualize all of these scenarios and think about how you would spot them in … More people are looking for sheds, so you may be competing with them. Antler prices over the last five years have been averaging about $13.00 per pound. Shed antler ‘poaching’ has become a major problem in many areas, especially where trophy bucks and bulls roam. Most bucks shed their velvet between mid-August and mid-September. Saw that this is a good time to go looking for shed antlers. Another tip is to practice spotting sheds. Advice on training a range of breeds to locate sheds, professional trainers, and trained dogs for sale can all be found on the Internet. If you want to test your luck with nature and try to find some antler sheds on your own, here are a few words of advice. Once bucks go antler-less in your images, start hunting. Practice knocking them together when you're in the tree stand and you spot a deer you don't want to shoot. Another idea is to look at photos online of sheds where they lay, and practice picking out the shed. The antler-growing process begins almost as soon as the antlers are dropped. ; Treats: To reward your dog when he gets it right. Binoculars are an … If nothing else, bring an antler with you and toss it on the ground, then go find it. A lot of this stuff is common sense if you relate to the animal rather than trying to think like it. Another spot for shed hunting is on the borderline of forests and fields. If I’m walking with a partner and one of us finds a shed, the other person walks over and tries to spot it before the finder even touches it. The more they move, the more they are likely to drop an antler. 8. Don’t play fetch with real sheds. While there are some breeds that come with some innate hunting and sniffing abilities, almost any dog can learn how to hunt for elk sheds. Fields of winter wheat or fall canola are probably the easiest places to find sheds. When you're hunting for deer antler sheds and you spot one side, look nearby to see if the other side of antlers is around. Antler scores by age class form a bell-shaped curve on a graph. Shed hunting is the search for antlers that have been shed by cervids, or members of the deer family, such as deer, elk and moose. Skill Level: Easy Peasy. The multi-antler shed hunting dog training process is the same, but instead of one antler you hide two or three antlers. Michigan hosts many animals in … This occurs quickly, but any jarring can jettison them on the spot. A good, prospective shed white-tailed deer antler hunting location — the edge of a zero-till cornfield abutting woodland habitat. Bucks often walk only 100 to 300 yards and lie down out of the wind on the first east- or south-facing hillside. Hunting breeds can also be taught to find deer sheds, and sometimes, man’s best friend may be better at it than we are. You might find sheds on or just off a trail, or on the bedding slope. If you prefer to buy sheds to make handcrafted items rather than find them yourself, you’ll need a Hide/Antler permit ($34). Be sure to drop a like on the video and subscribe for more content! Any spot along a deer trail where a buck must jump, bound or leap such things as fences, creeks, ditches, depressions and dips are all possibilities to discover shed antlers. Time: 1 hour active, 2-3 hours drying time. Through practice. Check all trails that enter and leave a feed field. Then, antler tines will make contact with the floor. One bad bounce can poke the dog and make it fear sheds. If you are new to deer hunting and are eager to collect your first deer antlers, you are probably wondering when do deer shed their antlers. 4. The antlers found in the wild can be used for everything from pure collecting purposes to dog chews to making crafts … If you go too late, you might find sheds already damaged from other animals. Where to Look for Elk Sheds . 7. You could spin 360 degrees and see… Read The Full Article Here Most people secure the antler base to the underside of the slab. In most cases, you should only need: Several antler sheds: You will need these for scent training your dog to recognize the smell of shed antlers. The fifth spot seems obvious at first; the deer bed and the deer feed, so look to the trails where these areas connect. A rainy day is great—sheds shine and catch your eye. Therefore shed hunters need to get permission from private landowners to access their property and pick up sheds. If you have a hunting dog or are thinking of getting one, consider having it trained to smell out deer sheds so you can use it as a guide. This obsession corresponds with the time of the year when deer shed their antlers. Later, when Bonnie stopped actively feeding and started looking for a rest­ ing spot to chew her cud, I gently led her back to the pen. Shed antler hunting is one of the fastest growing outdoors activities. Small groups of males tend to congregate, including during shed times, increasing the chance to find antlers if you spot a group. You often can’t spot them until you’re standing right over them. Once an antler falls off it legally becomes the property of the landowner. That means that for any age class, there’s a common average, but there are also uncommon bucks with below- and above-average antlers for their age. Get some really good optics. Finding deer antler sheds has become a very popular hobby for hunters and non-hunters alike. Find the food, find the sheds. Jumping fences, spanning gullies and bounding over any obstacle could jolt an antler loose. These are sheds from the same whitetail buck from one year to the next. Good spot for antler sheds? The rewards of a shed antler hunt are many. stepped on a shed antler. Good spot for antler sheds? Draw or take a picture of the antler and save it for comparison later. Check deer trails where they cross fences, ditches or other obstacles. Photo by Greg Wagner. Now, as you walk through the woods picture how these features would appear lying in the vegetation. 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