Shed hunting advice

[jnevs23]

The only time I find sheds is when i am not looking for them.  I have a spot here in Spokane where I always see bucks but never find any sheds when im out looking.  Here is what i look for, fence lines where they might drop them jumping, trails where there are over hanging branches that may knock them and feeding areas when there is snow.....no snow in spokane right now.  Anything im missing?

[boneaddict]

I'm about to write up a whole tutorial I think.  I get asked a lot.  I need to wait for the Mrs to go to work first though

[Grizzly95]

I have found that looking down at the ground rather than high in the trees works best 
Seriously, I am with you man. I have only found like 2. One was in Wenatchee, I was sitting in a spot up on a little knob looking over a stubble field. I was sitting in the same spot for like 2 hours before I noticed a shed not 5 feet from me. On the other hand I have a buddy that would see a spike shed in a slash pile from 50 feet.

[boneaddict]

What does it take to find a shed.........I am going to use deer as an example in this but it applies to most critters.   Antlers fall off sometime between the middle of December and the first of march (later for elk) on average.  (Of course there are exceptions).  That means that whenever, wherever that animal could be during that three month period you could find an antler.  THATS JUST how random it is. 
The way to improve your shed hunting is to work on that RANDOM.  What factors effect the randomness of where that antler is going to fall off.  Time is one of the biggest.  Where does the deer spend the most time in that period...either eating, sleeping, or in between.  Sooooo, there is your first step.  Snowpack helps concentrate them and they travel less.  IF THIS IS your first year shed hunting, you'll be discouraged.  As I said earlier, the deer are absolutely scattered and can and have been going EVERYWHERE.  Alot of talk goes into watching fencelines, etc for bones.  Yes I have found them along them, but also find them in the woods when they jump over a log, next to or in the road when they jump off the road bank.  Again, totally random.  What I'd pay more attention to are the crossing or the trails up to the fencelines....again, TIME spent, by the animal.  If he saunters by ever time he goes to eat, versus walking by once in those three months, what has the best probabliity of the randomness of that antler falling off. 
What other factors help improve odds............time spent or walking in the woods.  Simply put, the more miles you log, the more likely you are to randomly encounter a shed.  I went out yesterday NOT shed hunting but trying to photogaph bucks, and I found 5 sheds.  I was in a local where bucks were and I knew they were there (that helps as it takes bucks to be there for their antlers to fall off)

[boneaddict]

so when you ask for help and they tell you to wear out a pair of boots, they aren't being evasive or mean, its the best advice they can give you.   What else does it take....the antler has to be there to be picked up, meaning if someone else has walked it, and have picked it up, there won't be bones there.  That being said, I have been travelling right behind shed hunters and have found countless bones.  Just yesterday I was in one of my favorite areas for shedding.  Mostly checking snowpack and seeing if the animals were there, and I stepped out of the truck, walked 10 feet and seen a shed I HAD WALKED BY TWICE last year, withing 5 feet and didn't see it.  It must have been buried in snow.  My truck is parked in the pic in the same place I always park.  I also rattled in a buck right here this fall.  I plan on checking th epics to see if the antler is in it..

[boneaddict]

So the next advice is to be able to spot tine.  You can walk all day and never see a bone.  You have to stay focused.  Its pretty easy to get lost in your mind about family issues, football games, pretty girls, bills to pay etc.   I remember a few years ago I was bone hunting with Fletch and was standing there and he said are you going to pic up that antler or what.  I was STANDING on it.   I can also remember tripping over one LITERALLY.  When I got up off the ground, I looked to see what I tripped on.    Another story is perspective.....You have to choose constantly, do I go left or right.  If you go left and don't find anything, maybe you should have went right.   If you go right and find a big one, maybe you should have gone left and found a bigger one.   ITS THAT RANDOM.   I was circling looking for a match to an awesome shed when I tripped and landed on my face (yeah I fall alot) It knocked my air out and as I was peeling myself off the ground, I looked down under a bush next to me and there was the match.  I'd have never found it standing. 

[Lowedog]

Good advice Bone.  I would also add to use your binos a lot.  I probably have found more sheds using my binos to scan around me than by walking up on them. 

[NWBREW]

All good advice. When I'm shed hunting I usually walk a zig zap pattern ...a lot like when I'm bird hunting' Like bone said....you never know if you just walked past one that is only five feet away..........or five miles.  . I find lots of deer sheds.....I just need to work on finding elk sheds....haven't found a single one. 

[boneaddict]

It helps if there are bucks in the area.   Remember just because you are seeing a lot of sign it doesn't mean its an area to find sheds.  There were three bucks together in this brush pile.  A HUGE one, and two smaller ones.  All three had shed.  This isn't an area I have ever found a shed.

[shoot-em-dead]

I found this broken piece last year and all I could see was about a half inch of pearl white. Something just didn't look right and I almost kept going but decided to kick it. Must have broke off during a fight.

[7mmfan]

Having an eye for them is spot on too. My girlfriend has the eye, just wish she was willing to use it more. She'll spot deer or elk a mile way while driving down the freeway that I missed with my face glued to the window. I used to find a lot of sheds where we elk hunt, during elk season, but since i started actually shed hunting there in the spring, I haven't found a single bone. Weird...

[wastickslinger]

Lots of time spent out hiking is #1. Get your eyes trained for white tips and other horn charactoristics. Most of the time alot of luck. Alot that I find I practically step on. I was proud of this spot the other day. Over looked by many for a few years I am sure.

[NWBREW]

WOW....I've never found one hanging in a tree. That's cool.

[buckmaster_wa]

WOW....I've never found one hanging in a tree. That's cool.

Actually I have found quite a few hanging in pieces of sage brush or in buck brush. They can either stick out like a soar thumb or blend in really well. The best advice I can give is to use your optics. If your in steep terrain you can cover a lot of ground with your binos.  Good luck.

[boneaddict]

They fall where they want.