sampotter's 2013-14 Shed Journal

[sampotter]

3/13/14

After a few unsuccessful hikes here in NY during January and February, I was sick of all the snow and headed south to my friend’s property in Southern Ohio. I had a couple of bucks in mind that I really wanted to find the sheds from. One was a buck that I call “The Challenger” (TC), which was a name he earned last fall when he tried to challenge the dead buck I had shot to a fight. (You may be familiar with the story and video I took). I have his matched from 2 years ago when he was probably 2 years old. The other buck was the “Wild Dog 10”, whom I almost had a chance at during the fall of 2012 but a pack of feral dogs chased him away before I could close the deal. I was lucky to find his fresh matched set last spring.

The weather was pretty decent and I was sure happy to not be tromping around in snow.

We arrived Thursday afternoon and it took us a little while, but we got the ball rolling…

#4: Fleur found the 1st shed right next to a scrape (her 1st of the year):

Same antler:

#5 I spotted this one down the hillside a little later:

#6 The next morning Fleur found this beauty on the south slope of a hill! From the Wild Dog 10! At 65.5”, it is the biggest in my collection.

Another shot:

A close up:

[sampotter]

#7 It took a lot of careful searching but I spotted the other side on the opposite side of the same hill from about 70 yards away!

Close up:

Together:

[sampotter]

#8 Later the same day the dogs were getting thirsty and they dropped down into one of the hollows for a drink. Because they often find dead deer in these same hollows, I always take a peak down into the bottom to see what caught their interest. While watching them, a glint of white caught my eye…

I wish I had found this one sooner… It probably was a 60” 4 point before the squirrels mauled it.

We only found 3 on day 2 after covering close to 9 steep miles, but they were all nice ones:

It didn’t take long for the pooches to crash…

Day 3 started with another mylar balloon to remove from the woods:

It was definitely one of the weirder ones I’ve found.

#9 I spotted this one on a heavy trail at the head of one of the hollows. It is a match to #5:

[sampotter]

#10 Another small antler on a trail at the head of a different hollow:

Hey! Another wonderful balloon!

#11 Who knows how long this one had been sitting there…

#12 Another well-chewed oldie…

Closer inspection revealed a very interesting bit of damage at the base of the G2. Sure, the squirrels had their way with this antler, but this damage is different. It was clearly done after the antler had hardened and the bone was shattered away by some fast moving object…. No, no a bullet, either the tine would be missing or there would have been more damage. There is a clear, thin line running through the center of the site. There is only one conclusion I came to: a hunter shot at this deer with a bow (or crossbow, this was in Ohio) and the arrow (bolt) struck the antler! A very unique find indeed. Another antler I wish I found a couple of years ago when it was still fresh…

A box turtle shell:

[sampotter]

#13 A small freshie:

Deadhead button buck:

Big deer pellets always get my hopes up:

The girls obviously not hunting for sheds:

#14 At this point I had walked over 20 miles in 2.5 days, my feet were sore, I was bleeding from a lot of pricker scratches, and the whole time I was trying to figure out where The Challenger might have been hanging out. I had remembered a spot where I had seen a lot of bid deer pellets the previous spring and I made my way there during the last hour of day 3. I stood in a small gas well clearing trying to figure out where to go next when I glanced down and there not 5 feet away was TC’s right side! I was more than a little excited!

A shameless selfie:

[sampotter]

At the end of the 3rd day we had found 11 sheds and that ended up being it for the trip. We searched the same area I found TC’s right side for 2 hours the last morning but came up empty handed. We did come across this young 10pt deadhead:

While flagging a property line I spotted this bedded fawn. It had an injured left hind leg, but was able to run away reasonable well (fast enough that I couldn’t catch it). The wind was blowing fairly hard and I think it was asleep until Fleur nudged it with her nose. I wish I had snapped a photo of the look on that poor fawn’s face!

End of trip:

The Wild Dog 10’s antlers from the past 2 years, he added a ton of mass:

The Challenger’s right sides from 2012 and 2014:

Stats as of 2/23/14:

Miles: 82.7

Sheds: 14

-----WT: 13

---------NY: 1

---------IA: 1

---------OH: 11 (Sam 9, Fleur 2)

-----Moose: 1

Antler pieces: 1

Dead Bucks: 5

Dead antlerless: 4

Mylar balloons: 5

[WNY Bowhunter]

Congrats Sam, sounds like an awesome trip.!!! Gotta love it when you can find the sheds off of deer that you have history with!!! I've got a few local bucks whose antlers I'll be looking for over the next few weeks after the snow is all gone. I haven't hit any woods/brush yet, just a few fields...

 

Good luck here in NY.

 

[mbucks27]

Man that's a great trip. i have thought about traveling out to Ohio to shed hunt on State land but not sure how the pressure is out there.  Good luck next time out here in NY.

 

John

[wooly]

Dang- I'd of been happy with just the turtle shell and balloons the way this seasons going,lol!

Real good take home from the Ohio trip Sam. Nice score catching up with a couple target bucks. Those guys are impressive, and I can't decide which one I like more!

Hope you can grind out a few more back on home turf soon!

[ny hunter]

Great pics!!!  The puppy's are very pretty..

[sampotter]

Congrats Sam, sounds like an awesome trip.!!! Gotta love it when you can find the sheds off of deer that you have history with!!! I've got a few local bucks whose antlers I'll be looking for over the next few weeks after the snow is all gone. I haven't hit any woods/brush yet, just a few fields...

 

Good luck here in NY.

Thanks! It's a whole new level of shed hunting when you are looking for specific antlers instead of any old one. Frustration turns to elation with that last fateful step...

 

 

Man that's a great trip. i have thought about traveling out to Ohio to shed hunt on State land but not sure how the pressure is out there.  Good luck next time out here in NY.

 

John

 

I would encourage you to do so, especially when you're waiting for the snow to melt up here. I can't tell you about the public land pressure but there is a fair amount of it. It's always fun tromping new ground too.

 

Dang- I'd of been happy with just the turtle shell and balloons the way this seasons going,lol!

Real good take home from the Ohio trip Sam. Nice score catching up with a couple target bucks. Those guys are impressive, and I can't decide which one I like more!

Hope you can grind out a few more back on home turf soon!

Thanks Wooly! I have a hard time deciding but the fact that I have 2 consecutive years of matched sets from the one I call the Wild Dog 10 makes me partial to him. I also think he's a year older than the other buck. That one seems to have used up all of his calcium allowance in his brow tines as the antler kind of petered out towards the tip.  

 

Great pics!!!  The puppy's are very pretty..

Thanks! They make it even more fun out there.

[sampotter]

Here’s my idea for those that don’t want to write on your sheds but want to record details: copper trap tags and a metal stamp kit!

I think they are a little classier than a hand written paper tag…

[chiefbkt]

Those are some great finds!  Nice work.

[sampotter]

It's been awhile since I posted but I have been having a pretty good season...

Another balloon, this one in NY:

A quick weekend trip to Massachusetts in early April and started out with a balloon:

I took my friend’s grandson (he is really excited about hunting) out on the 1st day along with his friend (the big kid). Somehow the friend was the only one of us to find a shed (forkhorn) even though he didn’t seem all that into it.

I never found any sheds that trip but the girls seemed to enjoy themselves:

A pretty nice red oak the beavers had girdled:

Lots of balloons in Massachusetts:

It appears that the celebrated graduate may have been the 1st for this family:

A week later after an overnight drive we were in the sacred shed hunting ground of Iowa! Things were a little slow at 1st, but we managed to stack them up.

4/12/14: Day 1, 12.4 miles, 1 shed

This small buck died in the late summer, possible EHD:

[sampotter]

An old deadhead that had dropped one antler before he died and the squirrels took care of the other:

A lot of hair where a deer apparently didn’t cleanly clear a barbed wire fence:

A nice rub:

A sugar maple that appeared to be charred from a distance, but it turned out to be the work of a sapsucker:

Balloon:

It’s a boy!

Another old deadhead with one side shed and the other side chewed off:

[sampotter]

4/13/14: Day2, 8.2 miles. got rained out towards the end but still managed to find 2 sheds

Another old dead, already shed buck to start the day:

It’s not much but I snatched it as the 1st shed of the day!

I think there are some big bucks in town…

My 1st fence post rub:

Long lost in the CRP…now found.

4/14/14: Day3, 9.6 miles (didn’t head out until after lunch)

Monday morning didn’t start out so hot. Fortunately, Bonnie and I already had business to attend to in town, so this was the perfect morning to get snow. This was also the morning that we took Fleur to the vet because she was vomiting up pieces of blanket she’d eaten on the ride to Iowa…

Another possible EHD victim. Note the velvet still on the antlers:

Despite the snow the cows were calving:

Not fresh, but I claimed it as my only shed of the day:

Edited April 30, 2014 by sampotter

[sampotter]

4/15/14: Day 4, 7.3 miles.

I took Fleur to a different vet on this morning to get a more thorough examination as she hadn’t really eaten much of anything in days. He was skeptical because she was still playful and energetic. He suggested keeping her there overnight. By 5 pm he was frantically trying to get a hold of me because she still had a bunch of blanket in her stomach that needed to be surgically removed. $1400 later she was on the road to recovery. This is what he pulled from her stomach.

Fleur was safe at the vet office, so it was up to Ruby and me to make up time. We didn’t get out until almost 2 pm and also didn’t find any sheds.

I did find this old wry-nosed buck skull. It appears he was born this way because he also has mismatched #s of molars, 4 on one side and 6 on the other. Apparently it didn’t bother him too much because he still lived to maturity.

4/16/14: Day 5, 13.7 miles.

With Fleur recovering at the vet clinic, Ruby and I walked a new farm. The landowner suggested I park and start looking near a small corn food plot he had. Just inside the woods and still within sight of my truck we hit paydirt! Finally a shed with some size. 7 points!

Ruby “found” it and brought it to me:

About 30 yards up the draw I spotted another shed.

It proved to be match to the 1st one and also had 7 points! We were pretty excited after having such a slow start to the trip.

More Balloons:

The buck that made this must have been angry:

[sampotter]

I don’t think I’ll ever buy a balloon in my life. These things are everywhere!

Another dead, shed buck:

Big rubs always catch my eye!

We walked all day and were coming up the opposite side of the draw that led to the food plot and my truck was in sight when I spotted this one.

Less than 5 minutes later I thought I saw something out of place on the edge of some CRP.

About 20 yards away I saw this, but I couldn’t figure out what I was looking at; some kind of sea creature? Nope, just the most unusual shed I’ve found to date and a match to the small 4pt from a few minutes before.

It was a good day, but we were pretty tired.

4/17/14: Day 6, 13.8 miles

Bonnie and her mom ended up picking up Fleur this day, but she had to spend the rest of the trip recuperating with a cone on her head. So, Ruby and I were at it again.

Right off the bat I saw this nice, heavy 4pt on a berm.

Ruby bringing it to me:

[sampotter]

Not much farther down the field edge I saw a glint of white and I confirmed it as an antler with my binoculars. If you have good eyes you’ll see it….

When I got closer I realized the other side was there too- an 8pt set!

This one I spotted out of the corner of my eye. I could tell it was old and chewed but I don’t discriminate…

p

Wait a minute… It was certainly chewed, but actually a fresh one from this year. It would have been a solid 4pt. I’ve found fresh sheds that the squirrels had chewed, but nothing as bad as this one. The landowner has been cultivating the black walnuts on this property, so there is an artificially high squirrel population…

A typical Iowa bluff country pasture.

4/18/14: Day 7, 11.3 miles.

I don’t know if it is a good omen or a bad one to start the day off with a balloon?

A little deadhead that had been there a few years.

Hey! There’s the 1st of the day!

Another piece of a balloon.

[sampotter]

I saw the glint of an antler in a dry creek bed from quite a ways away. I could tell it was a dead buck, but it appeared to have some nontypical growth…. Once I got closer I realized it was actually a set of locked bucks! I never thought I’d ever come across something like this. Jake Linley and I walked right past these last spring when the snow was so deep...

You’d think the racks would need to be bigger for these guys to get locked, but they did and these 2 wannabe 10 pointers paid the ultimate price.

A few miles later I spotted this shed on a steep hillside above me.

A nice one with 7pts (there’s another point on the G2 that can’t been seen in this angle). A younger buck that could be pretty cool this year.

I was standing at a 5’ high barbed wire fence that had some deer hair stuck in the top strands when I spotted the 3rd and final shed of the day. (Trained eyes will see it.)

A close up. As sun bleached as it was, it was actually fresh from this year.

This was the top strand of the high barbed wire fence. Looks like those bucks were cutting it kind of close…

Edited April 30, 2014 by sampotter

[sampotter]

4/19/14: Day8, 9.3 miles. We didn’t find any sheds this final day but I thought for sure we were going to. We were on the opposite side of the pasture that we found the 3 sheds in the day before and I kept on finding BIG winter deer pellets. If didn’t know better I’d swear there was a moose on the loose.

The last interesting thing we found on the trip was a dead coyote- that appeared to have been eaten by another coyote?

The end of trip picture. 16 sheds (3 matched sets) and one cone-headed dog…

I didn’t take pictures of them but I did find >15 dead does and fawns in one particular valley. The winter was harsh everywhere this year.

4/25/14: Back in NY on my day off a few days after we returned from Iowa I took the girls out for an 8.1 mile hike. It was 10 days after Fleur’s surgery and she still had a dozen staples in her belly, but I could tell she was raring to go.

We started the day off with the customary balloon…

We were poking around on a small island in a wetland on public land when I saw Fleur coming in my direction with an old shed in her mouth! She’s back in the saddle!

It was an old 6pt side (the only one in my possession) that must have laid there for 10 years or so. I would’ve loved to have picked this one up when it was fresh.

Not far away I saw evidence that this spot was still a favourite for big bucks.

I spied a small forkhorn along the edge of a field on the way back to the truck.

It wasn’t a surprise to find one more balloon to close the day out.

Stats as of 4/30/14:

Miles: 188.9

Sheds: 32

-----WT: 31

---------NY: 3 (Sam 2, Fleur 1)

---------IA: 17

---------OH: 11 (Sam 9, Fleur 2)

-----Moose: 1

Antler pieces: 1

Dead Bucks: 14

Dead antlerless: 24

Mylar balloons: 16

[wooly]

Great update Sam!

Fleur has certainly taken "carpet munching" to a whole new level,lmao! Glad he pulled through ok.

The Iowa trip looks like it was a huge success with plenty of sweet antlers to bring home! Nice photo recap of everything from the shed woods!

Congrats on a great season, and hopefully tack on a few more back here on home turf before we get too green.

[WNY Bowhunter]

Congrats Sam!!! I'd love to find a locked set of bucks some day...

[sampotter]

Thanks guys- the ups and downs of shed hunting, eh? Isn't it funny how you can walk all day, finding nothing, and then you come around a rock or bush or rock and everything changes? Gotta love it!

[ny hunter]

Great pics and glad to hear the puppy ok.....Thanks for posting.