woolys 2012-13 shed journal

[wooly]

I'm still amazed by all the dead bucks that you come across! There's a small nature preserve by my house... probably 15 acres or so and I have never come across one. A few does every year but mostly because they come out to feed on people's lawns and get hit by cars.

Pav, these dead bucks come over miles and miles of hiking as I'm sure Red can attest to.

I'd be very concerned if I was hauling them all out of one area. Some of my shedding spots are 30 miles apart, so it's kind of deceiving.

One day I may hike an area close to home, and the next day hit one of my other spots in a different county.

I've got one spot of 1000 acres that usually turns up quite a few skulls and dead bucks alone. I can spend the entire shed season in there and never have to look in the same spot twice.

[Pav2704]

Your time spent in the woods is definately evident! Do you have spots that produce year to year or is it much more random?

[wooly]

Yup, most spots produce a few every year. Some years I don't even make it to them all, so I'll hit those spots the following year and usually find a few antlers that have been there an extra season. You can never have too much land to roam, so I always try to to get access to new properties even if I don't plan on making a habit of getting to them.

[wooly]

Today I hit the dredded corn field since things were melting out nicely. I love this weather. I just wish I had more time today.

Two hours into my hike I spotted an antler ahead. #4 is a no-brow 3pt side!

No luck with the mate.

I didn't find anything in the corn, he dropped this one in the hedgerow beside the field.

Antlers- 4

Sets- 1

Dead bucks- 5

Dead doe/fawns- 2

[wooly]

1-13-13

I headed out this morning and got to my spot early. The weather today had me fired up and I hit the ground running!

45 minutes into my hike, I spotted my first antler! Nice little 2pt!

No luck with the mate, but I didn't spend a lot of time in the area looking too hard. I wanted to hit some other spots while I was here.

My fast pace eventually slowed a step or two after that find. Probably around hour six, all the hiking the last couple days caught up to me.

I did find another dead doe on my way home.

Heading home I needed to cross a crick that was roaring with the recent meltdown. I got to the edge of the bank and tested the depth with a stick. It was just about over my knees, which was ok because I was already soaked from crossing it earlier further upstream.

Soooo...........

I gingerly stepped in while holding onto a branch on the shore. Although only knee deep, the swift current took my foot downstream before it ever hit bottom. I had already commited and let go of the branch. Next thing I know, I'm laying on my back shooting down the crick like the log ride at Six Flags,lol!

Now I'm soaked head to toe, cameras water-logged, ciggys and lighter dripping wet, and still have a 2 mile hike before I get home! I hopped outta the woods at that point and took the road home, but I swear as soon as I hit the road, the temps dropped and the wind picked up to about 30mph!

Fortunately, my antler was stuffed safely in my pack and got away with only a bath! I love shed hunting!!!

Antlers- 5

Sets- 1

Dead bucks- 5

Dead doe/fawns- 3

[WNY Bowhunter]

I know how you feel. A flooded creek kept me from hitting up the spot that I wanted to check this morning...

[sampotter]

At least you don't have to take a shower when you get home...

[wooly]

Last year I went through the ice in this same crick! That REALLY sucked,lol

I need to hang zip line, or Tarzan rope,.... or shoot myself across out of a canon,.... or somethin'!

[sampotter]

If you can cut a stout sapling you can pole vault across- provided it isn't too wide and your stick doesn't break.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Yikes, that doesnt sound like much fun. Great finds btw. I saw 2 dead head bucks that melted out of the snow banks on my way to work this morning. No idea how I spotted them, they were deep in ditches, but Im gonna grab them if they are still there on the way home tonight. Didnt wanna mess up my work clothes and have a rotting deer head in the bed of my truck at my client's place today lol.

[wooly]

1-14-13

Hey, even that chilly ride down the rapids wasn't enough to cool off my hot streak! I had a little time at the end of the day to do a quick hike and discovered antler #6 today!

As I was hiking along, I decided to stop and pour myself a cup of java from my thermos. I saw a nice big tree ahead that looked like a great place to take a break and watch over the woods around me!

Apparently, at some point in time a buck had the same idea and left this little 2pt antler for me!

It's an oldie but a goodie!

I think my camera may have gotten a bit too wet yesterday. Pics look a little cloudy.

Anyhow.......

ATL

From above..

uncovered..

Antlers- 6

Sets- 1

Dead bucks- 5

Dead doe/fawns- 3

Edited January 14, 2013 by wooly

[Red]

very awsome finds you are definitely on a hot streak.

[wooly]

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

[Zag]

Damn your good!!

[wooly]

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

[bkln]

Dude, You are on fire !!!! Congrats...

[magnumhunt]

Crazy day I must say. Congrats. Where in Ny?

[wooly]

Thanks guys!

Southern Erie county finds.

[ny hunter]

Making it look so easy,great job.I have never fund an antler in the woods,always looking but never had any luck.Thanks for posting....

[erussell]

Nice finds!! I hit a couple of my crappy spots the other day with the hopes of finding one a wandering buck might have dropped but no beans. Saw a ton of doe though. I will hit some of the better spots later next month.

[sampotter]

Nice work Wooly. Too bad to find dead bucks like that though...

[WNY Bowhunter]

Dang, 10 hours is a LONG hike!!! I wonder where all of the fresh sheds are hiding at?

[wooly]

Dang, 10 hours is a LONG hike!!! I wonder where all of the fresh sheds are hiding at?

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!

[wooly]

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.

[sampotter]

I see what you're seeing Wooly. My vote is no- extremely closely related bucks but 2 things throw me off- the burrs and the smaller, similar mass on both of them possibly indicating deer of the same, younger age. You'd expect a bigger difference in mass if it were the same deer from one year to the next?