Shed Hunting Expertise | Finding Shed Antlers


ShedAntlers.com

Lee Murphy has shot many good bucks over the year. Several of those bucks are a result of the scouting and information he gained from shed antlers.

Lee Murphy with a big buck he shot on his farm. He hunts shed antlers all over the Midwest and he often finds his best bucks in the fall right near where he found their antlers the previous winter.

When looking for antlers, concentrate on those areas where you find large numbers of fresh droppings as these will be the areas where the deer are most concentrated during the winter.

Finding antlers is a lot of fun, but it is also a productive way to determine the best areas to hunt next fall.

Where you find antlers often reveals a buck’s winter range. This is also a good clue as to his fall range, which is where you find him during the hunting season.

Keep a set of binos with you when looking for sheds so you can cover open ground more efficiently.

Shed antlers are great prizes that you can hold onto even if you never shoot the buck. These antlers are off a buck that gave the bowhunter the slip for three years. The antlers are good way to keep those memories of the hunt fresh in mind.

Shed Hunting Expertise
Lee Murphy lives in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota and is one of the country’s most devoted shed antler hunters. Lee began looking for shed antlers in 1971 and he still spends at least 100 days each spring combing the hills and draws of many Midwestern states. Tens of thousands of hours spent dissecting prime whitetail habitat have taught Lee a few things about deer behavior that I will share with you in this column.

Finding Shed Antlers
Hunting shed antlers in areas where deer don’t migrate to traditional deer yards (much of the country) is little different from hunting the deer themselves. You have the best success finding antlers in the places where the deer spend the most time – the same philosophy that you must use when hunting during the fall. So, the first step in becoming a good antler hunter is to become a good deer hunter. Lee Murphy’s philosophies as a deer hunter and as an antler hunter have evolved together.

“I focus on the same things when I’m hunting antlers that I focus on when hunting deer,” said Lee, “the feeding and bedding areas and the trails and bottlenecks in between. The biggest difference between fall and winter is in where the deer bed. During the winter, deer tend to bed in more open cover where the sun hits them directly. I believe that’s why I don’t find many antlers in the thick stuff. They may be in those thick areas during the fall, but not much during the winter. Also, deer bed heavily on south facing slopes about 3/4 of the way to the top. The sun keeps them warmer and the slope protects them from any cold north winds. I find a lot of antlers in these places.

“Look for fresh deer droppings on the trails when you are scouting or antler hunting. Fresh droppings mean the deer are using the area right then and that is where you should spend your time whether you’re hunting the deer in the fall or their antlers in the winter and spring. If you are scouting or antler hunting in a new area, pay close attention to where you find the droppings. Slow down once you get in these areas. I find a lot of antlers along those trails that have the most droppings.”

Where deer spend the winter, in areas where they don’t migrate, is a good indication of where they actually live. Summer sightings can be deceiving. In the summer, you may see a nice buck on a bean field, but when the bachelor groups break up and the bucks disperse to their normal fall ranges he may end up on a nearby property that you can’t hunt.

Similarly, sightings during the rut can also fool you. Bucks tend to roam during the rut. You may see a nice buck in November in your hunting area and start hunting him. But, once again, he may actually spend most of his time a mile, or more, away. If you start hunting him based on one sighting during the rut, you could spend the rest of your life without seeing him again.

On the other hand, when you find a shed antler you have found a clue about where the buck wintered. You know a portion of the buck’s home range - one place where he is likely to spend time in the fall. That general area is a good place to hunt.

Lee Murphy as found at least one shed antler from eight of the bucks he has taken with a bow. In three more cases, he actually found prior year sheds from bucks after he shot them. Lee’s experience should be reason enough to take the location of shed antlers seriously.

“The last two years in Minnesota I’ve shot bucks that I had sheds from,” Lee said. “The last one I shot from a stand within sight of where I found the antler. When I find a shed from a nice buck in an area that I can hunt, I use it as a reference point for my fall hunting. I’ll keep that place in mind when deciding where to hang my stands.”

“When I’m shed antler hunting I’m also scouting,” Lee added. “Even if it’s a farm I can’t hunt, I’m always studying deer sign and terrain. When I find a great looking spot, I’ll start looking in the trees. Often, I’ll find a tree stand nearby.

“When I’m specifically scouting for stand locations, I’ll start by finding the feeding areas. Then, I learn as much as I can about the area. I don’t want to put up a stand until I know every trail and every crossing in the entire area. Many bowhunters make the mistake of focusing only on the small area around their potential stand site. I want to know everything. Deer can smell a person for a long ways. I want to know what’s downwind. If you spend your spring scouting time learning everything you can, rather than just putting up tree stands, you will be a lot more successful this fall.”

If you thought antler hunting had nothing to do with deer hunting, think again. If you hunt an area where the deer don’t migrate, the places where you find shed antlers should factor into where you actually hang your stands.