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Halfway through Feb and no shed thread. You guys finding any good ones?

Nothing yet. Been watching them every day and still nothing letting them go...

I've seen lots of bucks that have dropped, some as early as late Dec. but no sheds yet I am always anxious to start looking but want to have the best chance by waiting later. I saw a big buck with both sides last week and a buck with one antler hit by a car. The latest I've seen a buck carrying both sides here was April 11th, and have found fresh drops before Christmas. Go figure.

Snow and ice a problem here. Been out on snowshoes hunting, but no luck. We had a two day January thaw. The spring thaw is probably the earliest I will be finding the sheds.

still a little early here, usually now is good, but I'm still seeing bucks with headgear. it's a good sign the later they carry them.

Took a stroll today, nothing fresh but found a dead 6 point skeleton and a year old 4pt on one side that had been chewed pretty good. Ran into a game warden and he said they are shedding right now.

Way early here, all bucks still have antlers.

Sometimes the spikes and such loose em towards end of January.

Pretty common for ours not to drop until mid march.

Have seen all 3 though, in mid to end of April, that is velvet stubs, no antlers, and hard antlers. Kinda weird seeing a bachelor group looking like that.

We had a poor acorn crop this past year. Not sure if that's why but most of the bucks I saw lost antlers before the end of Dec. Do you have any tips on finding them? Sure seems like looking for a needle in a haystack. I guess I have never found any sheds because I have never gone looking for them. I have an idea, the wife wants to go walking....

I find the most of them along trails or where they feed at night. there's no real formula to it, they can fall at any time really. I always thought along fences would be good because when they jump them it would jar the antlers loose right? nope, least not in my experience. they can be anywhere. I have noticed I find big sets in a on a high point or ridge. not with enough consistency to seek those spots first here where I live now, but in other areas, yeah. I'm really thinking of training my dog to hunt for sheds, I guess it's pretty easy.

Several years ago I invited a fanatical shed hunter to speak at my hunter education class and he said the greatest probability of discovery were he hunts sheds in the drifless area of Wisconsin were ranked as follows:

1) A bucks winter bedding area. (He explained it was generally different terrain than warm weather bedding area with wind being the deciding factor.) In addition, he has witnessed deer standing up from their bed and shake their body like a dog,

2) Runways through thickets.

3) Fencelines.

My personal experience is I am most likely to find a shed in #2. Here in the hilly farm country the woodlots are becoming infested with Multi-flora rose bushes. That is some nasty stuff. I have found at least a dozen sheds hanging in those bushes.

I would love to get out but here in Pennsylvania we are buried in snow with more coming. Maybe by mid March if the weather changes, they are predicting a warm up later this upcoming week.

We don't have a winter bedding area. Hell we don't have winter.

All the locals are bitching this year since we have had a bit of ice 3 times already... Whoopee...

But I digress, since our deer live the same areas year round, of course just follow deer trails, look in feeding areas and yes, we find quite a few around fence lines where they crawl or jump.

Some folks setup cattle panels around protein feeders to try to knock em loose.

One of the best places to find them is in the tire on teh tractor.. unfortunately its also one of the worst places to find them.

I've actually found more antlers in lower spots on our places than on higher spots. Dunno why though.

Took a look again today, nothing here in eastern NC.

i saw bucks in late december that had already shed.also saw some in late january that hadn't shed. i guess lack of mass crop has them all screwed up. i'm guessing that with no food the tree rats were following the deer around waiting for them to drop.i bet most are chewed up by now.this 20in of snow may save a few.

Found these on Monday. First time I've ever found a matched pair. These were literally laying together - right by one of his scrapes and a rub line from this past year. I didn't hunt that area last year, looks like I should have.............

Note the blood on the burr. We had rain/snow over the weekend so guessing he dropped Sunday or Monday AM.

I found a single side as big as these last week. There's a few big ones made it through the season.

NICE!

Actually saw this antler fall off of the buck's head. The other side was already off. Big, heavy three point.

Very nice, Pat. Go find the other one, then send them to me...

Cool Antler Pat!

Good mass with a wicked curve. I've never seen one like that.

Is it a 3/4 year old or a freak older deer?