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2016 Shed Hunting Thread...

WNY Bowhunter

By WNY Bowhunter,
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beachpeaz Rookie

beachpeaz

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I should clarify; I average around 7 miles per shed in my lifetime. Last year it was over 9, this year under 3. I can usually log over 200 walking miles each spring though.

 

Awesome!  You are the gold standard for sure.  lol.

 

If you walked exclusively in NYS like the rest of us peasants, I think that average would be more like 50 miles per shed.  lol.

 

I only dream of being able to shed hunt in Iowa.  I think most of us are in the same boat.

 

I was reading some posts in a shed hunting thread on an Iowa deer forum and the one guy had found 140 already prior to the first week of February!  Ridiculous.  He had a matched set off a 195" deer and posted the comment "best set I have found in a couple years."  What?  A couple years?  That would be a lifetime achievement here in NYS.

 

I'm still proud of my 12 I have found so far this year.

 

Great job Sam Potter!  Seriously!!

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beachpeaz
beachpeaz

Funny / ironic story.  I would think that my fellow shed hunters would agree that finding a matched set is considerably harder than finding just a single side!  So, my brother-in-law was in town for t

genesee_mohican
genesee_mohican

Found 3 yesterday so here's my season total. Based on past years and this one I'm beginning to think my eyes just don't pick up the right side for some reason.    

WNY Bowhunter
WNY Bowhunter

Didn't see one so I thought I would start one... #1 on monday: #2 today:

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sampotter Newbie

sampotter

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Thanks Beachpeaz- I think there's some other members that would do pretty well if they had the same opportunity I did this year. The most I ever found in NY in one year was 18 and my previous personal best year overall was 35, so I'm kind of dumbfounded at my luck this year. I was able to get to IA earlier this year, so instead of finding boot and ATV tracks, I found sheds instead. I am proud of my last day in IA this year. I went to a farm I'd had good luck on in previous years. The farmer asked me if I was having any luck because 2 other guys had walked his farm at separate times so far this year and had come out empty handed. I made sure to stop and see him again on the way out and show him the 3 sheds I'd picked up despite being the 3rd guy to look...

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WNY Bowhunter Experienced

WNY Bowhunter

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I was bummed that I got rained out of today's planned shed hunt. We got a break in the rain around noon and I decided to go check some turkey cams. I parked the truck and headed down the hill through some thick pines on the side of the road and BOOM...there laid shed #13 and my biggest of the year. Looks like last year's...only 50 yds off the road...I've driven by it hundreds of times. It has some super mass and would have gone around 62" had the brow and G2 not been chewed on.

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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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 The farmer asked me if I was having any luck because 2 other guys had walked his farm at separate times so far this year and had come out empty handed. I made sure to stop and see him again on the way out and show him the 3 sheds I'd picked up despite being the 3rd guy to look...

 

Dang, that's luck!

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sampotter Newbie

sampotter

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Dang, that's luck!

The first one was in the wide open right along the field edge in short grass. I'm not sure how they missed it. Then there was a matched set in the middle of a 100+ acre combined corn field. Those I worked for. Grid walking corn fields sucks, but there can definitely be sheds there.

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beachpeaz Rookie

beachpeaz

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Thanks Beachpeaz- I think there's some other members that would do pretty well if they had the same opportunity I did this year. The most I ever found in NY in one year was 18 and my previous personal best year overall was 35, so I'm kind of dumbfounded at my luck this year. I was able to get to IA earlier this year, so instead of finding boot and ATV tracks, I found sheds instead. I am proud of my last day in IA this year. I went to a farm I'd had good luck on in previous years. The farmer asked me if I was having any luck because 2 other guys had walked his farm at separate times so far this year and had come out empty handed. I made sure to stop and see him again on the way out and show him the 3 sheds I'd picked up despite being the 3rd guy to look...

 

I'm up to 12 sheds, 1 broken off main beam and a deadhead for my year.  It is the best year I've had shed hunting in NY.  The strange part is its the worst year I've personally seen for bucks in general.  I had the worst hunting year and the lowest number of buck pictures on trail camera's.  Most people I have spoke with report the same thing.

 

Despite that, I found my #2 and #3 largest sheds ever.  I found 3 matched sets this year (technically a 4th also, but my brother-in-law poached them from under me...lol). 

 

I would agree with your mileage report.  I've never tracked it as far as miles, but more so in hours.  As I posted in another thread, I would guess my average is about 6-8 hours of walking per shed over the course of the years.  Equated to mileage, It is probably close to 5 miles a shed.  Maybe even higher than that (but I have never tracked distance).

 

It is absolutely, positively Results = Effort formula.  Walk more, find more.  There is no substitute or magic formula beyond that.

 

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kpkot Community Regular

kpkot

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5.75 miles logged today. I get out once a year to shed hunt my honey hole. Today ..ZIP. I have never been skunked here, at least I usually find an oldie. I most likely won't be out again, but I've been known to find them while I am hunting for some turkey.

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Nomad Grand Master

Nomad

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Just add water ! Seems all I can find are dinks this year, well one could say it's harder to find the small ones I guess ! Walked about 2 1/2 hours found these 3. All along hedgerows 2 maybe 20 feet apart .

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Edited by Larry302
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Deadhunter25 Newbie

Deadhunter25

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This is my season in a nutshell I will probably go out a few more times but I don't think I will find much. The top left picture isn't mine a friend found it and I was lucky enough to be with him because it is his first shed he has ever found. These are all Westchester County

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WNY Bowhunter Experienced

WNY Bowhunter

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The afternoon started off as a turkey scouting mission for the youth hunt. After a while my mind wandered off to sheds.I decided to follow some promising looking stuff along a creek that led into an open wet/marshy area boardered by fields. A local guy had found a really nice shed in one of these neighboring fields a few weeks back and I believed the other side was still nearby. Not too far into the marsh I found this guy. He would have been lower 130's had his brows not been busted...

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I didn't find the big shed or any others but had only walked the back edge, it was a great looking spot so I thought I would come back in a couple of days to look some more. I went back up the hill to check out a potential spot for the youth hunt. As I was cresting the hill a gobbler started hammering up above and there were a ton of tracks in the field too, just as I had hoped to see. On the way back through I walked through some thick "sheddy" looking brush at the upper end of the field to see if I could locate a shed or two. Almost to the end and Bingo!!! As I walked up it started looking bigger. To my surprise it was the other side of the big one the other guy picked up!!! There is a little squirrel damage but not too bad.

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This bad boy scores 64" with a 25" mainbeam...my new best 4-pt to date!!!

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The other guy's shed...

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Edited by WNY Bowhunter
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NFA-ADK Rookie

NFA-ADK

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Sampotter, did I mention how much I like your posts?  Buddy, pal, lol .  WOW very nice find!!!  I would be all over that spot this year!  Do you hunt that area and was this in NY?  If so I hope you get him this year!  Dam you put on some miles!!!

2 of the 3 dogs are supposed to be trained to find them (I was the trainer.) The youngest one doesn't even want to retrieve consistently, so until I get that straightened out, she's on hold. The big yellow one is a CRP expert. She specializes in pulling out old green antlers out of the deep, matted grass. She has picked up 6 so far this year. The black one has picked up 7 as well, but is more likely to pick up fresher ones. They generally work better alone- otherwise they just want to screw around and chase squirrels and rabbits.

 

As the great Wooly said- most serious shed hunters won't deface an antler they find. I'm still in the hoarding stage and I don't think I'll ever grow out of it. I have no problem cutting deadheads up to make knife handles, but I walk too many miles to find the sheds. (I average somewhere around 7 miles per...) I do intend to make display cases to put them in at some point. For now I just hang them on the wall but they are dust magnets.

 

Here's a set I found this year that gross scores a little over 160" with no spread credit:

 

 

attachicon.gifIMG_8449.JPG

 

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BizCT Grand Master

BizCT

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I was just out driving around looking for turkeys...pulled the truck over at one spot to glass a woodline and instantly spotted bone sticking up in the air!!! It was a soggy 200 yd walk in my sneakers to recover it...

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Nice 8!

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sampotter Newbie

sampotter

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Sampotter, did I mention how much I like your posts?  Buddy, pal, lol .  WOW very nice find!!!  I would be all over that spot this year!  Do you hunt that area and was this in NY?  If so I hope you get him this year!  Dam you put on some miles!!!

 

Big woods buck, found right in the heart of the Adirondacks...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not really. Iowa actually. I don't think I can get permission to hunt that particular farm, but pretty likely I can hunt directly across the road.

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sampotter Newbie

sampotter

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I got up to the Adirondacks last weekend for some more shed hunting. I found a nice 4 point right away. Maybe a mid 130s buck, but pretty good for that area. (#53, 4/15/16)

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Fleur saving me the trouble of having to pick it up myself...

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Fleur found this ancient 4 point buried in the leaves. It looked to be 8-10 years old, maybe even older. Hard to believe the porcupines didn't get it. (#54, 4/15/16)

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Fleur came through again deep in a spruce swamp... It happened so fast I wasn't able to get good pictures. (#55, 4/15/16)

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I managed to find one more for myself at the end of the day. (#56, 4/15/16)

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Group photo:

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