SHED HUNTING 2023
February 15, 2023
By: Brennen Nading (@nadingbr)
The snow and cold has worn out its welcome and it is time to get out of the house and start stacking the miles on the boots in search of shed antlers. Late February and the entire month of March is a special time of the year for a shed nut like myself and I will run you through why that is, and what my game plan is over the next month and a half.
When the calendar flips to March, you can bet that nearly 80% of whitetail bucks have shed their antlers in the midwest. The further north you go, typically the higher that percentage climbs and vice versus the further south you go. I’m certainly not going to be sitting idle until March however, in fact I have been walking for sheds since the early part of January. That said, my strategies and locations have been changing as the time has been passing.
As I mentioned, I began walking for sheds back in the early part of January. Although I am aware that most bucks were still carrying antlers in January, I am also aware that there are typically bucks that drop early each year. On private land in most instances, I will ONLY walk areas that I know I am not disturbing or bumping nearby deer. Generally, this means sticking to the food sources and the outskirts of those food sources. Yes, the antlers that I find on private ground in January would likely still be laying there in March but I like to find them as early as possible in an attempt to preserve their natural color before they get sun bleached.
On public land, my approach is very different. If I know there is a good chance of other people walking a spot, I will walk it multiple times between January and April, sometimes weekly if the deer sign is really good. I will also push deeper into the public land, well beyond just hitting the food sources. With the popularity of shed hunting growing over the last decade, these areas are bound to get traffic and I want to give myself ample opportunities to pick up the fresh antlers before someone else does even if it means getting into the bedding areas and bumping bucks that are still carrying their antlers.
Any private lands that I have exclusive permission to shed hunt, aside from the food sources, have been sitting idle and I will continue to let them soak until the time is right. Once most of the bucks have shed, and the snow has completely melted away, I like to comb these farms thoroughly and move onto the next one. Best case scenario, the weather lines up where all the snow is gone in early March and I walk a farm on a cloudy day. Antlers are much easier to see on a cloudy day when they stand out against the dull color of the ground vs. all the shadows and glares that sunny days bring. I have far and away more confidence of covering an area thoroughly when there is cloud cover. This gives me peace of mind that hitting a farm just once at the right time, with the right conditions is all that I need before moving onto the next one.
There ya have it, my plans for the next month and a half. Walk, walk, and walk some more. Evaluate the spots I’m walking as I go to determine how much time I want to dedicate to each, and continue to check spots off of my list as the time passes. If I feel the need to hit a spot multiple times, whether it be because the conditions were poor (snow cover or sunny), or because I am looking for particular antler(s) that haven’t been turned up, I will do so until I feel like I have covered it entirely. Whether you’re planning on stacking up the miles, or just hitting your hunting ground on a nice warm day, good luck and have fun!