The most accurate way is to use trail cameras for shed hunting. Weather, snow depth, altitude and particularly food availability and nutritional value can influence when antler loss takes place. Below are a few tips to help shorten your elk shed hunting learning curve and to get you on the fast track to finding brown gold! We anticipate that between 100 to 200 vehicles, many with horse trailers, will be looking for a place to park as close to the Elk Refuge Road as possible in order to access the National Forest, said Police Chief Todd Smith. Its no secret that quality destination food sources are an ace in the hole for piling up sheds on hunting property. . Chalk costs between $1 to $3 per pound and strong whites have an average cost between $8 to $11. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. If you focus on the areas above, you should come out ahead when it comes to the search for shed antlers. Look for deer rubs. But elk have been known to migrate up to 125 miles to seek these places to endure the winter. Subscribe to our newsletter and receive The Colorado Beginner Elk Hunting Guide for FREE. Wait until mid-April or May to begin your search. Elk herds tend to range in the same general, often-open, areas, on a . As you hike, veer over and hit every east- and south-facing exposure, especially weedy fields and hillsides that are open to plenty of sunlight. It can be really intimidating if you own a very large property or look primarily on vast public lands; where do you even begin to search for something so small in an area so big? 1. When the snow gets deep, food can be hard to find, but the tops of hills provide areas where the snow is blown off and the food is easier to access. Work from a distance, and get to know where they are hanging out. Elk shed hunting itself starts with glass, too, says Schaufler. These agencies maynotify CPW if they catch violators and coordinate with CPW officers to take enforcement action.. If it's steep country there's usually more snow and glassing is a good strategy. And, if youre lucky enough to spot one, mark the antlers location using OnX. Once considered a fun, recreational activity for families or the source of a unique medium for artisans, shed collection is now a major business. But when you said Bears get a source of calcium from them, I have to call BS. You might want to bag the hunting boots and wear sneakers or soft-soled trail runners so you can feel those big sticks you step on. Well, its more of a slightly faded, brownish gold. Identifying and recording which of these areas you find a shed will help you formulate your fall hunting strategy. Theres a match out there, and now its your job to find it. The best places to find shed antlers are areas that hold deer during certain parts of their daily routine, which increases the likelihood of you finding antlers. While there are no guarantees in shed hunting, those spots are about as close as you can get. Thats typically what runs through my mind when I see a buddy walking towards one of those spots while shed hunting. The act of shed antler hunting, as well as the illegal possession of each shed antler, are now viewed as separate offenses subject to individual fines. As more people enjoy each season that Colorado has to offer, and new forms of recreation continue to emerge, it will be very important for CPW staff to work with recreation organizations, land-use management agencies and local communities to get the word out. These trails are very easy to notice in the winter, whether there is snow on the ground or not. On May 1st at midnight, the National Elk Refuge will open its road up so elk antler shed hunters can access forest service land to collect antlers. In winter, many bucks feel comfortable feeding and hiding in these gnarly spots, and drop their antlers there. Think smart and travel to areas with less hunting pressure where deers migrate to survive and drop their antlers. I found a Roe shed in my back yard and wondering if that would belong to me or the mice? To avoid re-walking an area, do a walk-stop-and-circle search instead: Stop every 50 yards or so and do a 360-degree look around, to take advantage of new viewpoints. Examples of these types of obstacles: Fence crossing: This is a very good example as when a buck or bull tries jumping the fence, there are chances that the loosened antlers will shed. Ask a local wildlife biologist or game warden for help. Bucks will leave shed antlers pretty much anywhere. For more information on these temporary No Parking zones and public parking locations please contact the Jackson Police Department at (307) 733-1430 or visit the Town of Jacksons website at http://www.townofjackson.com. Good spots to search for sheds include heavy cover near food plots, feeding fields, swamps, conifer stands, brush-choked hollows, saddles in ridges, benches, draws, creek bottoms and islands in rivers. The best places to find shed antlers are areas that hold deer during certain parts of their daily routine, which increases the likelihood of you finding antlers. Well never be able to go on a simple stroll through perfect shed hunting land and scoop antlers up left and right. No, Im not making a 420 reference here; Im talking elevation. May have a chip or slight broken tine. We where going at 70mph so we couldnt stop. Use a good pair of binoculars to scan fields and woods for antlers that normally would have had to been walked up upon. He dug through the leaves and uncovered a 5-point shed that scored 75 inches. The CPW Commission chose not to include private lands in its decision to enact a shed antler collection closure in Colorado. Some shed collectors use OHVs and snowmobiles in their search. Other studies of captive deer show that bucks usually shed both antlers within three days of each other. Learn a bit about deer, and it's easier than you think. Notes from the Deer Wars: Science & Values in the Eastern Forest, An Overlooked Threat to Freshwater Fisheries? The pace picks up. these trails are obvious on a hillside. Game animals also spend time in ravines, which shield them from the wind; you may find antlers in ravines. Whether covered in grass or mixed shrubs and tree cover, the south side of ridges can create dynamite winter bedding areas for bucks. I cant tell you how many sheds Ive found that I walked right by days and weeks before, he says. Before bombing over to retrieve it, keep glassing from that vantage point. In much of the Midwest, corn and soybean fields are king when it comes to deer nutrition. Scott Wait is a senior biologist with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. COLORADO. For instance, Wyoming prohibits the collection of shed antlers and horns from January 1 through April 30 on public lands west of the Continental Divide. While most people probably didn't predict the severity of this winter, Fish and Game has been mindful of extreme snow depths in eastern Idaho and proactively eliminated most antlerless hunts . Look for places deer trails encounter such obstacles. Odds are high that a bull will drop his rack with his descending gait along a game trail. So when the weather starts warming and the snows start melting, its time to get into the woods and start shed hunting. Cover lots of ground in a slow, methodical manner and youll find twice as many sheds as you might have in the past. Wear thin, lightweight hiking gaiters with your low tops to keep the weeds and thorns out. This is where the deer will feed. As a pup I included shed antler hunting training into her role as an all-around outdoor dog. There are some changes this year from the way this has operated in years past and we wanted to get the word out to possible visitors to the area. Depending on the harshness of the recent weather, it doesnt hurt to wait till the end of May or even June to shed hunt. Older bulls will also shed before younger bulls. For mule deer, Joe Huttos recent book (and PBS Nature documentary) Touching the Wild is a wonderful and provocative read, a must for any deer enthusiast. The deer might be close, or hanging out a couple miles away. You need to find where the deer gather and feed from January until this time of year.. Its not only fun, but great exerciseespecially when youve been shut in for days. South-Facing Hillsides But finding those needles of bone in the haystack of the wild is just as exciting and. Finding shed antlers can happen anywhere in a deer's home range, usually encompassing hundreds, if not thousands of acres. An old-timer in Wyoming who finds more than 100 whitetail sheds on his river bottom ranch every year taught me this trick. For advice, I turned to Mike Eckley, conservation forester for The Nature Conservancy in Pennsylvania. Most people look right over antlers, says my friend and whitetail expert Terry Drury. Here are some tips to get you started. June 16, 2020 staciwarren. Deer spent a lot of time loafing in these areas in January and February, and bucks often drop bone there. Look in a wooded area that was recently grazed by a herd of cattle. The entire purpose of my blog is to document my findings as I embrace a new lifestyle in a much more extreme terrain and environment. They make up the majority of a deers diet during certain parts of the year, and are full of carbohydrates and protein, respectively. One of my favorite finds was a pair of antlers I found by a fence in the Flint Hills of Kansas. I spend as much time (if not more) in the woods during the spring as I do during hunting season. Check your state regulations for salvage requirements, and if its unclear, call a local game warden for advice. Antlers are hardest to pick out in full, harsh sunshine. Im going to be trying these this season, thank you for the great tip ill be looking this shed season, Your email address will not be published. Once youre allowed onto the land, get to where you watched a bull group shrink, and start looking. Diehard whitetail hunters pride themselves upon collecting the same bucks sheds, year after year. This means pion, juniper, mountain mahogany, bitterbrush, and sagebrush. As a general rule of thumb, the majority of mature bulls are going to be found at higher elevations than the smaller bulls and cows. In more northern regions outside of the farm belt, dense conifer stands offer a similar level of protection from winter, with some additional benefits. Big bull elk winter in bachelor groups, says Schaufler. Restoring any closed widgets or categories. Finding the most well-used areas for both activities will lead to antlers, and grassy buffer strips can offer the best of both worlds. Come back next March and search again. Finding Shed Antlers: Top 3 Locations. Just $1 per month , Read our guide and start finding more shed antlers, By I was aware that the little guys did chew on antler sheds but I am still having a very hard time believing that what sheds I can haul off would have any effect on any part of the ecosystem. Hes also a long-time mule deer chaser and shed hunter. Well never be able to go on a simple stroll through perfect shed hunting land and scoop antlers up left and right. My first set of matching Boone & Crockett sheds were found 200 yards apart; one on top of a windblown hill in soybean stubble and the other in . Tom Carpenter, Dont just casually walk through the area; you need to almost stalk and use your eyes to really scan the ground for any part of an antler. As you walk, look, think and get a feel for the lay of the land, says Kirsch, who is one of the most accomplished shed hunters I know. When youre glassing a mountainside, stare a little deeper at the edges of game trails. Conservation science, field reporting, and cool creatures. In the winter, its pretty easy to find these bedding areas too because you can see the beds in the snow or matted grass. Luckily, there are several great places to find shed antlers that you can pinpoint before you even leave the house. 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