What is shed hunting season

In southwest Montana, we have four species of the Cervidae family: elk, moose, whitetail deer, and mule deer. The male specimens of these species grow and cast their antlers annually. When antlers are in the velvet phase, they can grow up to an inch a day, making antlers one of the fastest-growing animal tissues in the world. What are sheds good for? Humans use their antler finds for a variety of uses: knife handles, chandeliers, mantlepieces, dog chews—the only limit is your imagination.

In some Eastern cultures, ground antler is regarded as a powerful libido booster—bone for the boner, if you will. In nature, rodents often gnaw on sheds because of the high levels of calcium and other essential minerals.

But the best time to start hunting sheds is as soon as the snow begins to recede, or earlier if you happen to have knowledge of an area where animals frequently congregate. Pay close attention to the critters in your antler-hunting area. There are a lot of factors that cause antlers to pop off—nutrition, age, injury, etc. When the days get longer, male Cervidae ramp up their production of testosterone, which spurs antler growth.

During the spring months, keep an eye out for elk, deer, or moose with scabby-looking patches where the antlers should be; if these patches look like a freshly skinned knee, or an elbow with road rash, chances are there's a prize set of sheds in the area.

Where: Large private ranches owned by media tycoons are prime antler hunting spots, second only to Yellowstone National Park. For a list of these closures, visit fwp. Some state wildlife agencies and certain public areas now have shed antler seasons.

They are trying to minimize stress on wildlife. Plus, if you go too early, you may push bucks out of their refuge. Hunt shed antlers with wildlife in mind. Try to plan your trips during warmer, spring days to give animals time to recover from winter rigors.

Even then, if you do encounter wildlife, leave the area or circle wide to avoid having them sense your presence. Going too late does have three main negative points against it. First, others may find the antlers before you do. Second, rodents in many areas can gnaw an antler to a nub in a matter of weeks. Finally, spring vegetation growth can hide antlers in the new flora. Nevertheless, put wildlife first. During your forays, you may also stumble across deer that succumbed to winter stress, predation, and even auto collisions.

These make great trophies but check with your state wildlife agency on the legality of collecting antlers from a dead deer. However, if the snow and cold come early it tends to concentrate deer into yards, making shed hunting easier. The first big meltdown in February, after it rains, is a great time to go as previously hidden sheds are revealed.

Shed antlers are found in three main areas related to wildlife habitat:. Bedding areas are typically areas consisting of thick cover where animals will spend a large portion of their day resting and hiding from predators. As it relates to deer and big game, they tend to bed in tall grasses, brushy thickets and heavily wooded pockets of timber. When winter hits, these types of animals tend to prefer south-facing slopes to expose themselves to the longest amount of sunlight to increase their external body heat and preserve energy.

In general, shedding begins a month or two after the rut, about the same time that bucks, depleted from the rigors of the rut, are seeking out concentrated food sources. It only makes sense then to start your search in and around feeding areas. These include agricultural fields, food plots, cutovers, orchards and oak ridges or bottoms with late-producing mast trees. In and around feeding areas, you should also look for edges with dips, depressions, heads of ravines and low spots shielded from prevailing winds - bedding areas - as these are often reliable big shed producers.

Travel corridors are typically referred to as the trails leading away from feeding and toward dense bedding areas. While looking for sheds in these areas, look for anyplace where a deer has to jump across or over something, like a fence, which may jar antlers loose. Through scouting, you can locate these hotspots and be on track to pick up the majority of the antlers on a property.

Looking for antlers in bedding cover is best done late in the day when deer vacate known bedding cover to visit food sources. Follow trails into thick cover and constantly scan for beds and areas deer seek for refuge from winter weather.

South-facing slopes and dense cover attract deer equally for winter relief. If you own or manage your own property you could also provide supplemental feed to local deer.

Keeping them close to a specific food source increases the odds they may drop antlers in easy-to-find locations. Check your state rules on feeding wildlife and create a program that not only provides the best in deer nutrition but spans the entire winter. Hay bales, mineral supplements, and balanced deer food should all be included in your strategy.

Supplemental feeding should never take the place of an overall balanced diet, but minerals like calcium and phosphorous can aid future antler growth in addition to helping does preparing to feed newborn fawns. While targeting feeding fields, try to get high on a hill, climb into a tree stand or even use the top of your truck to gain elevation to scan down.

Glass the field using an 8- or power binocular looking for antler tips or shiny spots of white. Binoculars also come in handy while walking the woods to inspect "suspect" antlers from afar without trekking over to investigate.

For those of you with ATVs, you can add shed antler hunting to the list of reasons justifying your purchase. If landowners allow, your ATV can motor you across harvested fields to cover more areas at a quicker pace. A hunting app such as ScoutLook Weather allows you to grid an area and add notes to Google Earth images when you do find a hotspot.

Do you want to find even more shed antlers than the typical dozen most gather during the spring? Outfit yourself with the best in boots, clothing and a hunting-style backpack. Then go deep. Even though the majority of antlers are found in the three aforementioned hotspots, deer wander, roam and are even pushed to other locations.

Whether chased by a coyote or simply looking for a better sanctuary to ride out a storm, deer oftentimes go out of bounds. Follow trails through briar thickets, willow stands and into cattail swamps. Many shed hunters avoid pushing into these horrid environments, especially when the vegetation bites back. Nevertheless, these areas oftentimes give up the best antlers because savvy, mature bucks retire to such locations to avoid human contact.

Mature bucks never follow the rules of the pack. If you do leave the beaten path swing by any fences and chasms you run across. As the days near closer to a buck losing his antlers, they loosen up. This occurs quickly, but any jarring can jettison them on the spot. Jumping fences, spanning gullies and bounding over any obstacle could jolt an antler loose. This is especially true for western shed hunting for mule deer or elk antlers as they traverse rocky, mountainous terrain.

Does Mr. Ed occupy space at your abode? Horses can also be a huge help and not only in the obvious transportation category. Using a horse saves you miles on your legs and can help add more miles to your day without exhaustion. Better yet, a good horse elevates you so you can look down into grass and brush for a birds-eye perspective. You can lash antlers to the saddle as well to avoid a backpacking backache at the end of the day.

Dogs already have an instinctive nature to sniff out interesting objects like bones. Since antler is bone using a dog to find additional shed antlers just makes sense. Your dog may already be up to the task, but keep these aspects in mind.

A small lap dog may not have the stamina to keep up during a daylong hike. The best results for any shed hunting dog come from planning and specific training that begins at an early age. Begin by researching the best dog breeds for a shed antler hunting dog. I used to bring my dog just for companionship but he soon developed a knack for finding sheds. Dogs can cover far more ground, are a lot more willing to go into those dense tangles that you avoid, and they have a much greater sense of smell and yes, sheds do have an odor.

Some dogs have a natural instinct for it while others can be trained. In fact, training dogs to hunt for sheds has become quite popular. Popular hunting breeds such as Labradors and golden retrievers have noses, enthusiasm and endurance to support your shed antler hunting goals. These breeds lead the pack today for shed hunting duties, but hunting breeds such as German shorthairs, Weimaraners, English pointers and others can easily transition into shed antler hunting with targeted training.

Some tracking dogs also pick up the activity due to their excellent senses. These breeds include beagles and even bloodhounds. If you do not have an opportunity to go out West during the February and March timeframe, make some calls to local, state and federal employees. Talk to biologists, game wardens, forest service personnel, sporting good store owners and anyone who is willing to give you some information.

Ask good questions that give you an idea of snow levels, elk wintering habitat and any elevations that they are near during February and March. Be appreciative of the tips they give you and be sure to take good notes. When you call the next person, tell them some of the information you already know in hope that they give you different information.

After a few different people, you should have enough information about herd size, wintering grounds, access points and more. Compile this information and finalize your scouting with a plan of attack. The best way to find elk sheds is understanding where they were, — or at least what approximate elevation they were at you can even use the elevation bands on goHUNT Maps to your advantage for shed hunting — during February and March.

You can do this by driving around if you are lucky enough to live out West or by calling around. Then, plan to put a lot of miles on your boots and time behind the glass in order to be successful. If you are going to plan a shed hunting trip and if the state has a shed hunting season, then plan on being there during the first days of the season. You want a chance to find the easy sheds as well as the difficult ones before everyone else goes out.

After a few weeks, there have been a lot of people on the mountains, especially in well-known areas with high elk populations. Concentrate on southern facing lower elevations slopes inside their wintering range and you will find some sheds; it is only a matter of time and miles. Overall, shed hunting has taken over the minds of the western hunters and for good reason.

When it comes to e-scouting and shed hunting, it is better to start off with a little information than no information at all.