Five Shed Hunting Strategies

Over frozen land from January through April men, women and children fan out to hunt the elusive shed – treasures left behind by wild animals such as elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer.  “Early in the year is the best time to find sheds,” said shed hunting enthusiast, Christine Schuette of United Country Real Estate | Ozarks Country Living Real Estate in Mountain Grove, Missouri. “This is your best opportunity before other animals get to them or they get overgrown with grass,” Schuette said.

As with anything, if you want to be successful you’re going to have to work at it and hone your skills. Here are five points to improve your shed hunting strategy:

Look for the food source

If you want to find sheds, you have to know where bucks have been, which means you have to find the food.  Hunting sheds takes some leg work, but the advantage you have this time of year is that deer are fairly predictable. If they find a consistent food source, they don’t travel far and that increases your chances of picking up their shed antlers.

If you’ve done your homework all summer and during the season, you know what bucks are in your area and where to hunt them. So, once the season’s over, you should know where to find them and their sheds.

Map the melt

Although identifying their food source is crucial, whitetails actually spend more time bedded up than they do moving in the winter months. Many believe that if they discover the food source that they are going to find the sheds right there. Although a good number of sheds are found in the food plots, the actual number tends to be fairly low.

In many locations snow melts and then snows and then melts again several times each winter. After the snow starts melting, go out and mark on maps which ridges near winter food plots start melting off first. This is where you’ll find the deer. If you have a new farm or a new place to shed hunt, wait for a warm day and go out with a map and mark those ridges that melt off first. Those are the places that are key not only for hunting, but shed hunting as well.

What goes up, must come down

According to Christine Schuette of UCRE | Ozarks Country Living Real Estate, antlers frequently drop at places where they have to jump.  “Search fence crossings, ditches or any other change in elevation and you’ll have a good chance of finding shed,” Schuette advised.

Bring your binoculars

Binoculars allow shed-hunters to cover more ground which can help you find a few sheds that you may have not investigated otherwise. This can help you differentiate a bone colored branch reflecting in the sun 20 yards away. With this method you might miss a few small sheds, but antlers of respectable size will be easy to spot.

Seek the sunshine

Check southern exposures. Deer like to lay on the south side of ridges and wood edges to soak up the sun. When looking for sheds in wooded areas and big timber, focus on openings along south-facing slopes. That’s where deer in winter love to warm up by sunbathing and soaking up sunshine.

If you hit the food sources, the bedding areas and the trails leading to and from them you’ll be able to recover a number of the sheds.

Lastly, be sure to know your states regulations or restrictions to shed hunting. Do your homework and comply with requirements before and during your trip.

If you’re interested in discovering property for shed hunting contact an agent with United Country Hunting Properties today. You can view all the available listings and find someone near you by visiting www.UCHuntingProperties.com.