phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
I would describe myself as a die hard shed hunter. The first time I purposely went shed hunting was in 2003....I didn't find my first shed until 2004. it was small fork horn from a buck i had some trail cam pics of...I was hooked.
I now look forward to "shed season" as much and maybe just a little bit more than i do hunting season. I scout sheds just as diligently as i scout bucks to hunt. I have managed to get myself permission on quite a bit of private ground to walk every year....so much so that in most years i end up having properties that i don't get to by the time full on green up swallows up the bones. In fact most time i'm in the woods or fields, my eyes and brain are at very least subconsciously scanning for tines, beams, and bases. Quite often during turkey season i find myself getting up from the dawn set up and shed hunting my way out or to another spot.
I don't put up staggering numbers of sheds every year, but that is more a function of state of the buck segment of the population in my neck of the woods. Although we have antler restrictions here in PA, we still manage to kill a lot of our racked bucks in a season....so there just aren't that many bucks alive come shed season. I put a lot of miles in per shed. I am pretty confident that i don't walk by too many based on the number of small sheds i have in my collection...after all they are the toughest ones to spot. Any one can spot the giants!
I thought i would share some pics of my shed hunting adventures. I like to take "as they lay" pics (ATL's), basically snapping a pic or 10 of the sheds as they laid when i spotted them. This also helps me remember exact locations and serves as warm ups for my eyes in the months leading up to shed season.
I now look forward to "shed season" as much and maybe just a little bit more than i do hunting season. I scout sheds just as diligently as i scout bucks to hunt. I have managed to get myself permission on quite a bit of private ground to walk every year....so much so that in most years i end up having properties that i don't get to by the time full on green up swallows up the bones. In fact most time i'm in the woods or fields, my eyes and brain are at very least subconsciously scanning for tines, beams, and bases. Quite often during turkey season i find myself getting up from the dawn set up and shed hunting my way out or to another spot.
I don't put up staggering numbers of sheds every year, but that is more a function of state of the buck segment of the population in my neck of the woods. Although we have antler restrictions here in PA, we still manage to kill a lot of our racked bucks in a season....so there just aren't that many bucks alive come shed season. I put a lot of miles in per shed. I am pretty confident that i don't walk by too many based on the number of small sheds i have in my collection...after all they are the toughest ones to spot. Any one can spot the giants!
I thought i would share some pics of my shed hunting adventures. I like to take "as they lay" pics (ATL's), basically snapping a pic or 10 of the sheds as they laid when i spotted them. This also helps me remember exact locations and serves as warm ups for my eyes in the months leading up to shed season.
