Shed Hunting- What is their real value?
Shed Hunting- What is their real value?
By Travis Long
Once the hunting season comes to a
close each year I quickly change gears to another kind of hunting, shed hunting! Oh yes, it can be just as addictive as getting out and pursuing those ever elusive bucks and bulls in the fall. Scouting and glassing are just as valuable during those late winter, early spring months if you want to find shed antlers and applying those tactics can be very as rewarding.
Over the past decade shed hunting has become a very popular past-time for many outdoorsmen, women and their families. It is a great way to spend some extra time in the field getting to know the patterns and habitats of the deer and elk we pursue during the hunting seasons.
Deer generally start shedding their antlers in late January, early February. Elk typically shed their antlers in late March, early April. Many factors play a role in when deer and elk shed their antlers including winter range conditions like snow levels and food sources that equate to stress, the overall health of the deer or elk, testosterone levels, daylight, and other theories that we as shed hunters observe.
Some may say that we’ re crazy to get out there in the cold temperatures, enduring the wet muddy hikes just in hopes of finding“ brown gold”. Maybe we are, but there are a number of great benefits in this past-time we call shed hunting.
One benefit I already mentioned is the ongoing study of the deer and elk and their habits. Understanding when and where they migrate is all part of the scouting process. Finding sheds in a given area can tell a hunter about the quality of deer or elk in that hunting unit.
Another benefit of shed hunting comes in the color green! That’ s right, as many know, shed antlers are worth money! For myself, I just like to pick up sheds because I have an antler addiction, or at least that’ s what my wife Amanda tells me. I just can’ t seem to part with the sheds I find each year, although it has crossed my mind since I seem to be running out of room in the garage for all the sheds I’ ve found over the years.
Many shed hunters hit the hills each winter and spring to collect a few sheds in hopes of paying for the gas out there or maybe to pay for that next hunting trip in the fall. For that reason alone it can be worth putting in the time and effort to find out where those bucks and bulls are wintering.
Who buys the antlers, you ask? Antler artists, as I call them, seem to be the biggest procurers of the“ brown gold”. These artists make antler furniture, antler chandeliers, and many other useful and decorative items.
Yet another benefit of shed hunting is staying in shape in the off-season. What better way could a guy think of to stay in shape than to get into the hills and hike around? I can’ t think of any. That also means that you have to get off those four-wheeled vehicles and use the quads God gave you! But that’ s a whole other article for
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