wooly

Oh well, still a groovy find,lol I can sit and examine every detail of my antlers for hours on end. Kinda funny, when a bunch of us got together this fall and got our sheds mixed into a pile... nobody had any problem identifying which antlers were theirs at the end of the day. We're a weird bunch of dudes when it comes to that kinda stuff,lol

Nice easy one out in the open! There wouldn't be many for us to find if they were all that obvious! Good job scooping that one up before it grew legs. Looks like it's got some cool grooves running dow the beam.

I was in an area like that today Pav. You would think the antlers would be piled up on top of one another in there, but I got skunked too,lol. It doesn't hurt to go back through an area like that closer to spring. Every year some oldies pop up.., maybe late drops, or relocated horns, or as much as I hate to admit it..... sometimes we miss a horn or two!

Why not? The smaller they are, the harder they are to find. If you're finding the litle ones, you know you're doing a good job shedding. Save the antler restrictions for hunting season if you wish. Right now, they're all fair game! One of the most impressive antlers in my collection is a 2 3/4 inch nubbin' horn. It's tiny, but I hope to one day find a smaller one. Here's a pic of the little rascal..

2-5-13 I decided to do a hike today to try to get me a good snow ATL! I got into my spot around noon so I had about 3 hours to look around before I had to start heading home so I could make it before dark. Well, I got my snow ATL, but it turned out to be another oldie. It's still a pretty nice horn so I decided to take it home to show it where I live! The g2 is broke off right where it joins the g3. It has a striking resemblence to the big fresh palmated 4pt I found last season. I think this horn may be the year prior but I can't say for sure. Anyhow, here's #14! Antlers- 14 Sets- 2 Dead bucks- 8 Dead doe/fawns- 5

Call Turtle Man! LIVE ACTION,lol!!!

Dang man, that's no kinda fun. Glad you're alright. I suppose when you spend as much time afield as we do, bad things are bound to happen at some point. We kinda take for granted the generally mellow terrain in NY compared to running around other states where the land is more extreme, and less forgiving to simple mishaps. Not much you can do about it before hand other than use caution and good judgement, but it sure doesn't hurt to be at least lightly prepared just in case.., with at least a basic survival pouch and first aid kit. Especially you guys that roam around at night predator hunting in the dark. One bad spill that finds you spending the night in single digit temps alone could get real ugly, real quick. If you don't have the necessities to get ya through a couple hours till you can get out on your own, or wait for the rescue wagon, you can find yourself in deep doo-doo before help arrives just from the elements alone. I hate like anybody else to haul around a heavy pack full of crap I doubt I'll need, but I've had enough close calls to warrant carrying it all, just in case on all my hikes. Be safe out there, and be prepared for the unexpected should you find yourself in a situation.

Man, I wish we grew them like that around here. I might take this shed hunting a little more serious if we did,lol! What do the bases on those horns measure... or at least on the latest one you have you in posession?

This is starting to sound like a shed journal now! You've been putting in some serious hiking time lately. Things should start picking up this month with a good batch of fresh antlers hitting the ground. Good luck in the new area crappyice!

Sabres did a good job moving the puck and had some amazingly accurate assists! Vanek was on fire! Still too many inconsistancies for them to be considered a really "good team" once you get passed their first line, but hey.., it's good to have hockey back! End of the day, it was GREAT to see them beat the pants off them Bean-town boys! I heard of one guy that named his dog after Lucic... bet ya he's taking this pretty hard,lol

I was having a hard time seeing a difference in a year between them as well. I think I was trying to make myself believe somehow just to be able to chalk up another accomplishment,lol

You may be right, but when kiddos get frightened, they quickly remember what their parents or authoritive figures tell them to do in a situation. (ex. stranger danger, calling 911 in emergencies, fire evacuation drills.etc.) You would probably have a harder time convincing adults to do the wise thing even though they understand the consequences of doing otherwise. Without a rehearsed plan, they're just sitting ducks.

I was sitting here admiring my horns as I often do, and get a load of this... could this be consecutive seasons oldies found in the same day..??? That would be another 1'st for me and a pretty rare occurance if they are. These were finds #1 and #4 yesterday. Maybe the color and bases are throwing me off a bit. I'm not sure, but they are almost identical otherwise.

I'd tell my kids to take cover and play possum untill the gunfire stops in a situation like that. A random firing mass shooter isn't gonna be paying attention to who's already been shot and who hasn't.

I've found a few old skulls someone else had hung in the trees before. One time I actually found where someone had hung a nice 4pt shed about 6ft up right off a footpath in the park! I guess antler hoarding isn't for everyone,lol I'll take 'em any way I can find 'em!

That's actually a really good question! Many of the dead bucks I'm finding have already shed, which leads me to believe these are post hunting season casualties. The recent arctic blast really seems to have taken it's toll on any bucks that decided to stay here and rough it at the higher elevation. The snow piled up so fast, it may have caught many of them off-gaurd and locked them into this area with a poor chance of escaping or surviving on woodland browse, opposed to the farm land down below. Very few bucks have stuck around, and the majority that haven't succumbed to the elements already have headed to wintering grounds down in the valley 5-10 miles away. It happens every year here when we get any kind of "actual winter pattern" that lasts for any prolonged period of time. The deer trails heading out of town are impressive to say the least. It looks more like a mass migration of caribou have passed through the area. You could drive a truck down these paths they are so defined and well packed over miles and miles! It's really something to see that doesn't happen across the state that everyone can relate to. So looks like I'll be heading to the land down under me for any fresh antlers this year!

We need that every now and then... glad you found an escape! Distractions like this is what keeps me sane some days. ... but walking around out there today in this wipping wind and bitter wind chills is plain CRAZY,lol

One things for sure Sam.... you wont get to last years total of 28 antlers by skipping #3 this year! Nice find there and good practice round for the dogs before you get them on some freshies! Do you take the skulls home or leave them lay?

Thanks guys! Southern Erie county finds.

Part 2 1-30-13 ....By now it was close to 3pm, and I was pretty sure I'd found all I was gonna find for the day. I was wrong again. My next find was a very sad one. A very fresh dead buck dead in his bed with his antlers tangled in the brush. My guess is he got caught up in here and couldn't get free. He died from exposure most likely. I like this rack so much I will cap it and mount the antlers for inside display! He's the first split brow buck I've found. It probably took me 10-15 minutes to get him out of this mess. I chopped his head of with my new hatchet and bagged him up. Now I would start heading towards home. BUT WAIT... what's that ahead...? A fatty club horn and antler #7 for the day! My pack was officialy FULL of antlers, a skull, and all my other crap. I hoped I didn't find anything that wouldn't fit in my pocket,lol I shouldn't have thought that! Up ahead I spotted the infamous goldenrod buck skull teepee! I couldn't wait to see what it was. It sure appeared to be a nice one! GOLLLLLY... it sure was a nice one! So that's what I packed into a 10hr hike today,lol. Also found 2 dead doe along the way. Here's the haul for the day! Antlers- 13 Sets- 2 Dead bucks- 8 Dead doe/fawns- 5

Thanks Shawn! Todays installment is going to be a 2 parter. Todays hike was full of pics. More than the site will allow me to post in one shot so here's the first portion. 1-30-13 Well folks, today I had my most productive day shedding in 20yrs. I hit the woods at first light and got home just before dark. Got stuck in another rain storm but it actually felt good! I needed to get cooled off the way I was running around. I'll get right to it with the first round of pics. What a great day hiking! My first find of the day was this submarine 3pt two hrs into my hike with it's parascope up from the depths! My second antler of the day came shortly after, around 10:30am. A nice fatty 4 pt! Now I was rolling, but the rain was coming down in buckets. I took shelter under a big fir tree for a bit untill it let up some. Once I got moving again, it only took about 15 minutes to find my 3'rd antler of the day. Another oldie 3pt! I was happy with 3 horns for the day, but I had a lot of time left, so away I go once again! As I cut across a goldenrod field from one woodlot to another, I spotted my 4'th antler of the day! A sun bleached 3pt! Shortly after that horn I heard the fire department whistle blow. I had 4 horns by noon! I hiked around the goldenrod some more but only found this dead shed head. I did a quick search for his horns but didn't find them. A little further through the field I spotted another dead buck who had shed already. I started looking for his antlers when I spotted one. My 5'th antler was his spike he dropped close by! That's him in the background. I didn't see the other side so I did a big circle around the field before returning back to him from the other direction. What do ya know... there layed the mate and my 6'th antler for the day! This is the first match set spikers I've ever found, and the first sheds I've ever found next to the fresh dead buck! .......to be continued

Oh man, there wouldn't be any crumbs left when I got done with that crumb cake! Looks delicious!

I used to have a St. Bernard I named "Magnum"... for obvious reasons.

Thanks Pav! I try to get as close as possible to any animals I'm after. My equipment isn't top of the line, so it has it's limitations. The muskrat was floating by in the pine needles only about 4ft away from me when I shimmied out on a beaver hut and waited. The deer, I do best when they're within 20yds. The ones I posted here have been living in the creekbottom across the road from me since they were just spotted fawns. They became real tolerant of my intrusions even through gun season. To this day they don't pay much attention to me and let me get within 10ft of them at times. That's pretty cool to me how they've accepted me,lol. The chickadee kept coming back and forth to a feeder I put out for them in the goldenrod to attract a variety of birds. Those birds will get too close sometimes landing on me or my gear. That guy was right around 5ft when I shot him. I guess it all depends on how much time I have to waste, as to how long I'll sit and wait for a closer shot. Some days ya just gotta take what they give ya and try to do your part right with the settings behind the lens.

Thanks for having a look and all the approvals! Such a kind audience you've all been! I'll be on the look out for more critters and scenes as winter drags on.....and on...and on..