Sheds

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AndyS509
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2012/01/26 17:21:59 (permalink)

Sheds

Has anyone in SW PA noticed any bucks losing antlers yet? I'm getting pretty eager to start looking but I haven't noticed any bucks that have dropped em yet.
#1

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    dpms
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/26 17:29:03 (permalink)
    One of my places I never start looking until March as many of the bucks hold very late. Another farm, some have dropped already as is usually the case. We found a matched set in Muzzleloader while doing a drive.

    My rifle is a black rifle
    #2
    S-10
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/26 17:47:39 (permalink)
    I've seen five bucks in the last 7 days in the NW. Two were dropped horns and three were still carrying. The ones in the SW tend to carry theirs a bit longer than ours. I would suggest waiting a few weeks.
    #3
    Eman89so
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/27 01:39:18 (permalink)
    been getting bucks on cam with their horns. Seen one with no horns but majority have horns. Ed
    #4
    akitadog
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/27 07:37:07 (permalink)
    i have a shed from a big 10 point from the second week of gun season. havent found any others. i really dont look. i find them while checking trap. i know a guy that shot a really big buck the first week of gun mistaken it as a doe as it already lost both sides.
    #5
    flip stick
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/27 08:47:35 (permalink)
    I seen two in ML season that lost there horns and seen one two days ago with horns.
    #6
    Cold
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/27 08:57:14 (permalink)
    You guys basically just walk around in the woods looking for them or is there a method to it?

    I stumbled across a fresh shed a few years back while rabbit hunting on the day after Christmas. It was laying on top of the fresh snow we'd gotten the night before and still had hair and a bit of wet blood at the base. Later in the day, we talked to a few muzzleloader hunters that had seen a half-rack that day.
    #7
    wilbur_83
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/27 09:30:08 (permalink)
    Cold - You can check "usual" bedding areas...and south facing slopes...

    There "is" a method to it...The guys that find them on a regular basis get them in the same places year after year...

    That being said...The ones I've found have been when I was grouse or rabbit hunting hunting in thick cover...

    Arrowheads are my nemesis...have only found 1
    #8
    Cold
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/27 09:38:12 (permalink)
    Gotcha. I just figured it was just a fluke discovery, but apparently some go actively seeking them out.
    #9
    wilbur_83
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/27 09:44:19 (permalink)
    Ya - When I've found them its been pretty much a fluke...ha ha...The nicest one I found was while grouse hunting - trying to make my way thru a big thicket...right in the center there was an open spot and it was lying there like it was meant for me to find it...

    There is some guys on HPA that are really in to it...they know what/when/where...There's probably a thread going on there right now...

    Some even use dogs...that sounds really cool to me...

    #10
    BloodyHand
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/27 09:47:43 (permalink)
    I usually find the sheds in very dense cover and bedding areas. Last couple of years I've been finding more whole carcuses by scouring the thickets. As this is where wounded animals like to go to die. I go in March usually, when the snow melts.

    BH
    #11
    S-10
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/27 09:56:59 (permalink)
    You can improve your odds greatly by making some brush piles near feeding or bedding areas and entangle some wide gap wire or cable in them. Throw a few ears of corn in them evey few days and as the bucks feed their antlers will meet the resistance of the wire or limbs and if loose will come off right there.
    #12
    akitadog
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/27 12:09:20 (permalink)
    i also heard of guys training dogs to find them. as pups they use antlers as chew toys and throw them for the dog to fetch.
    #13
    Big Tuna
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    RE: Sheds 2012/01/29 11:05:20 (permalink)
    I hunted almost every day of the flint season,I saw two half racks,both small one a spike,the other a 2pt.
    #14
    Big Tuna
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    RE: Sheds 2012/02/20 19:17:15 (permalink)
    I've been feeding the deer and set the cam's up.This last week the bucks are dropping their horns,so to the guys the hunt sheds you might want to start looking. All the bucks that shed where on the small side 4 pt 5 pt 6pt. Just thought I'd let you know.
    #15
    draketrutta
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    RE: Sheds 2012/02/20 21:33:15 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: BloodyHand

    I go in March usually, when the snow melts.

    BH


    Please send some snow my way - I could certainly use the help trackin critters...


    SR Glass Hole - Where Fragile, See-Through Ego's get BROKEN.
    #16
    S-10
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    RE: Sheds 2012/02/20 21:47:56 (permalink)
    Was out yesterday, tracks of 2 reds, 2 yotes, and 3 fisher, those little suckers were everywhere and into everything. They do cover their area throughly. No antlers but I agree it is almost time. What snow we have will be gone tomorrow.
    #17
    draketrutta
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    RE: Sheds 2012/02/20 22:44:49 (permalink)
    one day Wiley E walks& stalks through a dusting of snow cover:


    next day:

    hairy brown turds is all I could find on a brown Mother Earth:



    crazy winter 4 sure !!




    SR Glass Hole - Where Fragile, See-Through Ego's get BROKEN.
    #18
    Esox_Hunter
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    RE: Sheds 2012/02/21 12:16:20 (permalink)
    Bucks are still holding onto their racks tight in my area based on my last trail cam check.  My guess is that within two more weeks most bucks will have dropped.  Then I can go out and fail miserably shed hunting like I usually do
    #19
    DarDys
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    RE: Sheds 2012/02/21 12:35:50 (permalink)
    I saw one yesterday that was sprouting this years antlers -- they were about 3/4 of an ear long.

    The poster formally known as Duncsdad

    Everything I say can be fully substantiated by my own opinion.
    #20
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