Shed (antler) hunting and the sheds I have found//edit 28.5

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Shed (antler) hunting and the sheds I have found//edit 28.5

Post by Silverheart98 » Thu Apr 19, 2018 12:50 pm

"Shed hunt" is a term used for looking for the shed antlers of any animal that grows ones. The antlers are shed every year. White tailed deer, mule deer, elk, caribou and moose are most common animals who shed their antlers every year and this white gold, as shed hunters calls the antlers, gets loads of attention. Despite being beautiful, they are difficult to find!

In america, and other countries where shed hunting has made thousands of people interested in it, you might want to check if it's legal to shed hunt or collect antlers without an permission! I am lucky enough that in my country you don't need one, since people don't really shed hunt here. I do though. Also never go to private land collecting sheds! You don't want to get in trouble.

You can find loads of information and shed hunting photos and videos just by googling it or looking up on youtube. They make it seem so simple! But don't be fooled. I might find ONE shed in 15-20km in public, open land! And it takes more than 5h of my day. So this isn't easy hobby.

Also, where to look, when and what to expect?

Where to look:

Fields, forests, bedding areas, feeding places and common big paths. Go where the animals are, where they spend most of their time; either sleeping or eating. Bucks don't really like going in areas where is too much humans; in my opinion that is. The sheds I have found were all at a field in areas where they go to eat OFTEN. Look for scratch marks on trees, that tells you if there is bucks with antlers in the area. Follow their paths that they use alot, you will find bedding areas where they sleep. You will also find more feeding areas. Look carefully, don't rush it, walk slowly, look on your feet, then stop and look around. You must not shed hunt when you are busy.

When to look:

Depending on year and age, deer (white tailed & mule deer) shed from january to april. If you have much snow, don't bother, believe me, you won't see well enough to find sheds, that might be under the snow! Moose shed from december to january. Roe deer shed in november. And i think elks shed in march? Also I don't know about caribou. These animals do not live in my country, sorry ;-; I think you might find the shed times if you google it. In my expecrience, best time to look is when there is little to no snow.

What to expect:

When you start shed hunt, you either expect to immetiadely find something, or then never to find anything. I had both images in my mind. But what to expect for real: sheds are in hard to see or to find areas. They might have fallen in any position, and best is to expect to see part of the shed only, not full shed beautifully laid infront of you on a silver plate. On your first time, you might be still trying to find where the animals move, which might mean that you won't right away find the sheds. Slowly after finding their feeding areas and sleeping areas you will start finding the sheds. Do not give up if it takes you weeks, it took me weeks too. So if you expect easy, quick thing, you either have to have best luck in the world, or then you will end up in giving up right away.

Shed hunt should be fun experience where you get to walk in nature, in the paths of the animals and see new places and maybe return with shed or two! When taken too seriously you will end up with bad mood.

Now, the sheds I found:





EDIT: 28.5:

More sheds!

Updated video:

I have 13 sheds atm! One antlers photos are not in the video or photos because they are still only on my phone.
Last edited by Silverheart98 on Mon May 28, 2018 3:06 am, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: Shed hunting and the sheds I have found

Post by Koa » Thu Apr 19, 2018 1:02 pm

This is really cool. I didn’t know the term for this but it makes sense it’s a common practice! When I am home again I’ll be sure to do this provided it’s not too warm out. :)

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Re: Shed hunting and the sheds I have found

Post by Black Burn » Sat Apr 21, 2018 5:42 pm

I got a shed in the back yard! (Joking)
I've only found two pairs of sheds, lost one pair but the others sit in my bone bucket!
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Re: Shed hunting and the sheds I have found

Post by airbones » Sat Apr 21, 2018 6:56 pm

Aw man, this is so cool! I know when I was younger my dad and his buddies would do this (I didn't know the term at the time), and he offered to take me along but I wasn't interested back then. I might have to look into seeing if he'd help me out now because after looking at those photos, I can only imagine that it would be a really good feeling to find some. And even if you don't, it's still an interesting way to get out and explore a bit.
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Re: Shed hunting and the sheds I have found

Post by Silverheart98 » Mon Apr 23, 2018 9:05 am

Black Burn wrote:I got a shed in the back yard! (Joking)
I've only found two pairs of sheds, lost one pair but the others sit in my bone bucket!
Haha cool! Is there any way I could see your sheds? I'm curious to see what others have found x'3
AirBones wrote:Aw man, this is so cool! I know when I was younger my dad and his buddies would do this (I didn't know the term at the time), and he offered to take me along but I wasn't interested back then. I might have to look into seeing if he'd help me out now because after looking at those photos, I can only imagine that it would be a really good feeling to find some. And even if you don't, it's still an interesting way to get out and explore a bit.
It indeed is great feeling! Specially finding my first ones, I had the widest smile in my face! x3 Still, every time I find one, I get heartbeats and it's just great feeling to grab one and carry it home to collection cx I suggest trying by yourself, it's good if your dad had been doing it, he might know good areas!

Also: I found a new shed! yesterday I was looking a for a pair for the huge antler, didn't find it, but I passed a feeding area, saw a scratching tree by fallen down forest and went to it, soon nearly walking over a semi-good sized shed. 4 spiker, probably the deer had been scratching the tree and soon after shed the antler. I have plans of returning to the area for more before changing to other place!
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Re: Shed (antler) hunting and the sheds I have found

Post by SolitaryHowl » Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:35 am

This is interesting. I was wondering why shed antlers (for a dog) cost an arm and a leg...it is because they are difficult to come by.

At my local hunting store there is a training kit you can buy, it helps you train your dog to look for deer sheds. Probably for tracking purposes, but maybe that is something my German Shepherd and I can get into this autumn...
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Re: Shed (antler) hunting and the sheds I have found

Post by alethe » Fri Apr 27, 2018 6:51 am

I have one shed, but my uncle gave it to me. We don't live in an area with deer, so I can't get out and go hunting for sheds (along with bone and stuff, i really want to get into vulture culture in general) a lot. Maybe one day.

The shed i have is really cool tho. I currently have it on my dresser, resting on a rabbit pelt, with my prom corsage in the prongs.


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Re: Shed (antler) hunting and the sheds I have found

Post by Silverheart98 » Sun Apr 29, 2018 10:21 am

SolitaryHowl wrote:This is interesting. I was wondering why shed antlers (for a dog) cost an arm and a leg...it is because they are difficult to come by.

At my local hunting store there is a training kit you can buy, it helps you train your dog to look for deer sheds. Probably for tracking purposes, but maybe that is something my German Shepherd and I can get into this autumn...
Oh that's cool! Dog is recommended to be used while shed hunting, it can ease out things alot! Dog can scent the sheds and possibly save time and energy. My dog isn't really good to be used this way, she tends to go after living deer and not the sheds...x'D
alethe wrote:I have one shed, but my uncle gave it to me. We don't live in an area with deer, so I can't get out and go hunting for sheds (along with bone and stuff, i really want to get into vulture culture in general) a lot. Maybe one day.

The shed i have is really cool tho. I currently have it on my dresser, resting on a rabbit pelt, with my prom corsage in the prongs.
Nice! I have 5 sheds now, yet would like to see the sheds other ppl have! I am bone collector as well, currently I have 8 skulls and 4 jaws all of differend animals. x'3
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Re: Shed (antler) hunting and the sheds I have found

Post by alethe » Sun Apr 29, 2018 10:25 am

I'll put up a photo of my "collection" when I get the chance, haha. I actually want to rearrange my dresser to include my rock/gem collection as well. I would love to get into bone hunting, but that's a huge no from my parents. Besides, I don't have the resources to clean a skull right now, or other bones for that matter.


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Re: Shed (antler) hunting and the sheds I have found

Post by Silverheart98 » Tue May 01, 2018 3:34 am

alethe wrote:I'll put up a photo of my "collection" when I get the chance, haha. I actually want to rearrange my dresser to include my rock/gem collection as well. I would love to get into bone hunting, but that's a huge no from my parents. Besides, I don't have the resources to clean a skull right now, or other bones for that matter.
Aw, that's too bad. My parents were against my bone collecting at first too, but I showed them that after cleaning they are not dangerous at all. Also, it took quite much talking and trying but I managed to turn their heads, but now after filling legal age they don't have much to say as long as the bones will be kept in my room. I don't have much stuff to clean either, boiling water, brushes, soap, knifes, salt, disinfecting products. x'3 I hope that you can get into doing what you dream of too, bone hunt is pretty misunderstood, but I hope to get more ppl into it to show that it's not as gross as ppl think~
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Re: Shed (antler) hunting and the sheds I have found//edit 28.5

Post by krispycat9 » Sun Dec 23, 2018 4:26 pm

Wow those sure are some nice sheds! I have only ever found one shed in my entire life, and it was on the beach believe it or not. Where I live it's very common to see deer and foxes and coyotes (and I heard one guy even saw a bobcat) on the beach. Pretty sure those fellas are supposed to be in the forest but I'm happy to share the beach with them if that's where they want to be :). I'll have to start looking for sheds from now on, seems like an interesting hobby!

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Re: Shed (antler) hunting and the sheds I have found//edit 28.5

Post by DaniBeez » Fri Dec 28, 2018 7:34 pm

Looks like January is when I can begin looking for local whitetail sheds. I will have to ask my hunter friend where the best places to look are! I know there are deer in both the park and the mountain bike trails near my house.
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Re: Shed (antler) hunting and the sheds I have found//edit 28.5

Post by TheSeaWolf » Mon Jan 28, 2019 10:18 pm

This is such a cool idea!! I just looked it up and it's legal in my State. We have a lot of whitetail deer around these parts, so maybe I could go hiking somewhere and look for some. I've always adored antlers so I would love to collect them.
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Re: Shed (antler) hunting and the sheds I have found//edit 28.5

Post by DinoDogDude209 » Sat Feb 02, 2019 11:14 am

I've found a few sheds in the woods on my parents' property, I can't remember where my dad put them though.

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Re: Shed (antler) hunting and the sheds I have found//edit 28.5

Post by elkhunter123456 » Tue Mar 26, 2019 2:53 pm

there are white-tailed deer where i live but i have never seen sheds. Thanks for info on where to find them! ill be sure to be more observant!
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