Shed Hunting for Blacktail

[RustyNail]

I am looking for advice on shed hunting. I have only found one shed horn a nice 3 point near a creek. where are the key places to look?

[Buckhunter24]

Between size, color and cover they are certainly the toughest to find with regularity. Theres a few things I would do to increase odds.

Know theres good bucks in the area, trail cameras could help a lot with that.

Give it time - if you've got limited amounts of days to get out I would wait until March 15 or so. Ive seen bucks drop in December but also seen them with horns attached in early March.

Bedding areas and water sources are great, as well as trails between the two. Fencelines are good too. Ive never spotted a blacktail shed more than 10 feet from my feet. I would look hard in a small radius and move pretty slow. Its a lot deifferent than whitetail in open pine country thats for sure!

[444Marlin]

I'm starting to think folks are shed hunting too much and too early.  We're pressuring deer and elk areas during the end of winter when they are most vulnerable. 

I like finding a shed as much as the next guy, but I think the increase interest in sheds and shed hunting is having an impact on or dwindling herds.  It might be counter productive for all of us.

[Buckhunter24]

I dont think its an issue for westside blacktail. No different than a guy out hiking or cruising timber. I feel a lot different about the places with harsher winters. But that could be its own thread...

[HellsBelle]

My Mom has a catahoula leopard dog, seems to be a natural, at finding sheds... randomly hops off our horse riding trail, and brings back antlers! If it were my interest, I would buy this breed of dog , and work with antlers I already had, and a reward system for bringing them to me ...

[cougforester]

When I worked on the west side, I started to notice a trend of where I found antlers. I would find a thicket of salmonberry that had deer trails through it, then follow those towards pockets of overstory conifers or hardwoods. If these are surrounded by vine maple, the bucks will sneak through that salmonberry and duck under that vine maple.

I've found several really nice sheds right at the entrance of that bedding cover where they misjudge their jump and knock their antlers off.

[fishnfur]

Nice advice there.   

Depending on how much energy you have, high bluffy areas in winter, where bucks bed and can see downhill are always a favorite spot of shed hunters.  If you're looking in the lowlands, it just takes some luck in that the deer needs to shed the bone in an area where it is easily seen.  Likely locations have already been mentioned.  In large areas of closed out reprod with no understory vegetation (15 - 20 y/o), the forest floor provides a nice background that allows easy ID of sheds.   (lots of fern and brush, etc. - not so much so)

[haftard]

Grid grid grid. My old man runs tree planting crews and they find alot of sheds. But the thing is you gotta grid that sum bitch