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Whether they’re in food plots, last year’s agricultural crops, or deep
hidden meadows, deer and elk are going to spend a lot of time
feeding in the winter and early spring. Finding where the animals
are spending the majority of their time will certainly go a long way
towards helping you find where they’re losing their head gear. Bucks
and bulls will spend a significant amount of time moving around,
shaking loose their antlers and dropping them where they’re easy to
pick up while feeding.
Find the sun
Not so unlike humans, deer and elk are creatures of comfort when
they can be. During the cooler months, they will often spend a good
amount of time soaking up the sun on south facing exposures. Track
down these sunny openings and you’re very likely to find where these
animals are spending their time and hopefully dropping their antlers.
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Find the food
Find where they're crossing
Fence and creek crossings are where I find a good amount of my
sheds early in the season. Bucks who have antlers starting to loosen
up will often shake or jar their antlers loose when they jump over low
spots in fences or where they’re crossing creeks.
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Slow down
When I first started shed hunting, I was so eager to start finding
antlers that I went through the woods like a man on fire. I figured
the more ground I covered quickly, the more likely I was to find bone
before anyone else. While shed hunting is definitely an equation of
time spent in the field plus miles spent hiking, if you’re not taking your
time, you’re more likely to miss antlers that you would otherwise be
strapping to your pack.