Tips for shed hunting

[boonerbucks]

Just looking for some tips from successful she hunters. I have found sheds in the past but have since moved and finding it difficult to nail down a new area. Any tips would be greatly appreciated, I now live in the Okanagan so you have an idea what the terrain is.

[TheObserver]

Just looking for some tips from successful she hunters. I have found sheds in the past but have since moved and finding it difficult to nail down a new area. Any tips would be greatly appreciated, I now live in the Okanagan so you have an idea what the terrain is.

Not sure what your targeting if any specific species. I have found lot's of Mulie sheds since I was young, some Whitetail and Moose as well.

I find sheds every year where I know a lot of Mulie's winter. I pound the ground like a mad man and I am never looking for animals eyes are always on the ground and I use binocular's too. Looking for tines or the main beam depends on how they fall. Over deadfalls and fence lines or any where they jolt can be good found lots also on hill inclinations where they walked and probably shook them off, beds as well.

Criss crossing/zig zagging slopes cover as much of an area as possible which can be tedious and annoying and feel redundant but you can be surprised at what you can walk by within feet and miss from one angle, I just hike, hike, hike and hike some more to be honest, I mean a lot all day hikes 5 days straight but it produces. Found lots on south and south west facing slopes, but also found lots on benches and plateaus and in draws. Have found some at/near bases of trees and thick underbrush where it seems the Buck pried it off his head using brush/branches.

If you want to have a good chance at finding lots/having lots of action I always go to where I know lots of Mulie's winter and I will always find some and some dead heads. Idk if you have snow where you plan on going but that can give you a really good idea of Deer in the area and their movements which can be invaluable info for both shed hunting and hunting if they are there during season/late season.

Hope ya find some, I have already started looking for Blacktail sheds, tough task for sure.

[TheObserver]

These are all Mulie's, these are just the ones I had handy upstairs here these ones are nearly all from the same general area/country. Three matching sets in there might be 4

https://i.imgur.com/S6JisUg.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Z57xzwc.jpg

[HarryToolips]

Nice work Observer...like he said, focus on winter range, cover lots of ground, I usually find them on more south or west facing slopes but that's not always the case... I usually find them in areas that have good tree canopy, as the snow is less in these areas, and that's usually where the deer reside in winter to conserve more calories... also, the optimal time to go is early spring before leaves are established on the shrubbery, this gives better sight lines..

[TheObserver]

Also something to take into consideration is how soon you will start searching, obviously fresh snow can cover them up. Going to early and bumping Deer out of area can be counterproductive depending on whether there are residents, migrators, or usually a mix of them is how it is, too early and it can also limit the amount of sheds you are able to find as a lot may still have their headgear. But I want to be out there early if it is a spot that I know gets worked by other shed hunters especially if someone uses dogs, coyotes will also run off with sheds and eat/chew them, squirrels chew and sun fades so the sooner you go the browner/fresher and maybe potentially more you can find timing is pretty important depending on what your after. If there is a spot that no one goes too can not be a bad idea to wait as everything or nearly all antlers will be dropped.

[dapesche]

maybe just leave the animals alone until snow has really melted out of their wintering zone. Let me know shift higher up the mtn and then go a for a look.

until then, go for hikes and snowshoes.