wooly's 2015 shed season...

[wooly]

Long-tine no see fellers!

Hopefully everyone is ready for another exciting SHED SEASON!!!

 

Normally I like to think that when I find an antler it means that the buck survived another season and I have something to look forward to the following year.
That ain't gonna happen with this guy,lol.

On 12-9-14  this buck gave the ultimate sacrifice.

He gave me his fresh flesh to chew on, and as if that wasn't enough, he "threw me a bone" in the form of an antler!

I got caught up in the excitement of the kill and never snapped an ATL of the antler alone so I had to crop one of the field photos it was in where he dumped it.
I started getting this skull cleaned up today and I have plans to incorporate my opening day 8pt skull with this one in a different kind of euro..... we'll see how that works out.

I should probably wait until ML wraps up before I start hiking, but I'm gonna have a hard time not getting out there tomorrow to see what's laying around.

Well, here is horn #1 for 2015 for me!
Good luck to all the shed hunters this season, and keep those cameras handy for those unexpected encounters!

 

 

 

Antlers- 1
Sets- 0
Dead doe/fawns- 0
Dead bucks- 0

[Pav2704]

I'm subscribed!!

[rotorooter23]

I'm in on the adventure as well!

[Red]

I can't wait to see some pictures of some fresh bone ill bet you find one or two tomorrow. Good luck ill be following this thread it's one of my favorites each year.

[josephmrtn]

Go wooly!

[sampotter]

I don't know if that one counts Wooly.. Kind of like referring to the mother of your children a milf.. Lol

[wooly]

This season has got off to a slow start, but I've been content keeping my hikes short and close to home this early in the season.
I know of one nice buck that had broke off an antler before regular season ended, so that's the one I've been focusing on for now until a few start falling naturally.
I'm still seeing a ton of deer hanging out on this little piece of land which is encouraging as shed season progresses.

I ran into a group of doe with fawns last week and managed to get a shot off that I really liked before the lead doe realized I was there.

 

 

I had to get a hike in today with the weather so nice, so I shot up to my favorite goldenrod field. One edge is an old un-harvested Christmas tree farm that has grown over thick with briars. The deer literally have tunnels through this thicket that make it virtually impossible to walk through in an upright position. As I forced my way through I was noticing a pretty solid hair trail that meant there was a dead deer in the area. I secretly hoped to myself it had antlers for me, but when I finally followed it to the source it turned out to be a young doe and my first dead deer find of the season.

 

 

I hiked around some open green fields for a while and made a note of the incredible amount of sign on the ground. As long as this weather pattern holds for a while longer, I'm expecting to find a few antlers in that area. I made my way to another goldenrod field when I spotted a couple bucks running off with exactly what I was looking for. I watched them closely hoping to see one of those antlers fly off as they made their escape, but that never happened.

 

 

It's always good to see so many antlers still safe when I'm not finding anything. I decided to go out of my way and take the long way home around the other side of the fields about 3/4 mile out of my way. When I got into the timber I spotted a young fork horn watching me so I kept up the same pace and pretended not to see him. A flash of white off to my left caught my attention and I noticed two more bucks standing there watching me. When I spotted a nice rack, I stopped to grab a few shots. These were the same deer from the goldenrod field earlier in the day. I'm looking forward to putting on some mileage in the morning!

 

 

Antlers- 1
Sets- 0
Dead bucks- 0
Dead doe/fawns- 1

[philoshop]

Really nice stuff Wooly! Can't wait to see more.

Anything you really dislike about the 55-300 lens? Just curious.

[wooly]

Really nice stuff Wooly! Can't wait to see more.

Anything you really dislike about the 55-300 lens? Just curious.

 

Thanks!

I kind of wish I went with the 70-300 instead.

It's really no big deal, but my 55-300 is F/4.5 wide open, and that 70-300 is an F4.

In the timber that little extra light gathering ability would have been nice to have, but I'm not sure if it's worth the $200 difference.

I can shoot a pretty high ISO to make up for it and this camera handles the "noise" really well. All these were shot at ISO 1600 except for the dead one.

[stoneam2006]

I'll tell ya wooly you pics are fantastic. ..did I read somewhere on here you had a website?

[philoshop]

The link at the bottom of his post stoneam2006. Quite the portfolio for sure!

[stoneam2006]

Thank you and yes the pics are great

[SteveNY]

ohhhh yea, glad to see this thread! Bring home the bone wooly!

[Bible Andy]

I can't believe you missed that antler laying behind the buck in the last picture!

[Bible Andy]

Ha Ha! Made you look! Love the pics Wooly!

[kpkot]

Looking foward to seeing you find some headgear, good luck.

[Red]

Very nice pics and the buck that you got two pics of is pretty nice I hope you get their antlers when they hit the ground good luck

Edited December 29, 2014 by Red

[Fletch]

Wooly,

 

Love your pics. Look forward to seeing how your shed season goes and reading your updates.

[Fletch]

Wooly,

 

Love your pics! Looking forward to keeping up with your adventures!!

 

Good luck out there.

[rotorooter23]

Those horns look like they are gunna pop off any day!

[tenpointr]

Hey Wooly,

It's Tenpointr here, Ready to get started this year? Remember my story about "Crazy Horns"? I had his sheds mounted finally, I will post pics as soon as I get the chance.

Good luck this year!

[wooly]

Haha- what the hecks an Iowa-onian doing on a NY site.

You must have heard of our new antler restrictions for the upcoming season and wanted to get in on the action,lol

Good luck to you this season ten, and can't wait to see how ol' Crazy Horns turned out!

[wooly]

1-17-14

It's been awfully quiet in my neck of the woods. The snow piled up deep, and hiking is not much fun or productive when it gets like this but I had to get out there to have a look around anyhow.
Still haven't found any antlers, but I did find my first dead buck of the season.

He's the one I knew had a broken off side that I've been looking for from the start but I haven't located yet. I'm gonna keep this skull in one piece and see if that snapped off side turns up. He lost it at some point late during archery season, so I'm sure it's not far and I'll find it.

Off to a VERY slow start this year!

I could really use a meltdown right about now, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antlers- 1

Sets- 0

Dead doe- 1

Dead bucks- 1

Edited January 17, 2015 by wooly

[Red]

Once that snow melts you'll find a pile of antlers. Nice find on the dead buck I hope you find his broken antler

[landtracdeerhunter]

Looked in good shape, now a pile of question. The other antler is a key piece in the puzzle. You're find it!

 

I get a lump in my throat , and my heart sinks a little when I find deer like this.  Finding a shed is a natural, but something bothers, when they lay, bones only knowing their fate.