I went out shed hunting this weekend. I was out walking different sections of Loch Raven Saturday with a friend of mine, we saw a good number of deer, and lots of sign from last year's rut. I also would like to once again point out something my friend and I were talking about, this is an amazing time of year to be scouting. Between the fact that you can easily see old rubs and scrapes from last season, and the simple fact that finding trails and that are used daily is very easy, but you also have the advantage of little or no cover to be able to see deer rise from bedding areas while scouting. Good chance if they are bedding there now, they probably bed there on a regular basis when they are not pressured.
The title of this post is antlers are off, see the picture below, it is one buck, most likely the six point that had come out several times a few weeks back. The other deer behind him appears like it too could be buck that shed his antlers as well, but hard for me to tell in a nighttime photo. I also was thinking that the 3rd deer could also be a buck but you cannot see his head well, thus meaning this could be a little bachelor group traveling together.
So, I searched one section of Loch Raven Saturday with one friend of mine, to see deer and lots of sign and trails, but in the end did not find any sheds. Today, I headed back out with another friend of mine to walk a different section of Loch Raven, beautiful day for shed hunting. My friend came across several skulls, one of a doe that probably died sometime early last fall and the other of a buck who had shed his antlers and then died. We guessed judging by the skull he died sometime last winter after shedding his antlers. I would like to note it was pretty cool to see a skull of a deer whom had shed his antlers, he had the base for where the antlers grow from, but where they would of protruded from his skull they were rounded off nubs. This is how we could tell they were not cut off, but shed. You never know what you may find out in the woods that is interesting even if it's not what you are looking for.
We never did find any antlers which was the point of our trip to the woods, but it was a nice day and being in the woods always beats sitting at home or even worse working!
Looks like it could be another slow year for shed hunting, but I'll keep trying over the next couple weeks in hopes of maybe finding one that either someone else overlooked or maybe that deer that just hasn't dropped their antlers yet. I ran into a gentleman while walking this afternoon and he said a family member has seen a good size deer with his antlers still on. So this why I said in the title some of the deer have shed their antlers.
Anyone been out shed hunting and found anything? At this point I am just wondering if the deer are shedding their antlers yet here in the Mid-Atlantic, seems crazy late for them to not have dropped them.
If you have been out shed hunting and found something we would love to hear from you or see a photo!
