Blacktail Sheds

[AKBowman]

When do backtails typically start dropping antlers?

How many trips on average does it typically take everyone to find a shed?

Personally I've never found one but I've never really looked specifically for BT sheds until this yr. I'm hoping to find a couple of this yrs for a set of rattling antlers.

[jess]

I used to start realy looking for blacktail sheds around mid febuary... I found most of mine in 15-20 year old dog hair.. Lots of cover and food and that is where you find big bucks... Another good spot is the timber along a creek below a clearcut bucks like to bed there... But you got to put in the miles.... Blacktail sheds are hard to find...

[sirmissalot]

I have also never found one. The few people I know who have only found them by accident. My goal this year is to find a blacktail set.

[bobcat]

I've found several over the years, but have never gone looking for them. I think I am going to try it this year though. I've got a few spots in mind to look. I would mainly concentrate on areas with lots of feed. This time of year blackberry would be one of the main food sources to look for.

[muzbuster]

I have found a few BT sheds over the years but they have always been 1/2 chewed up.

[AKBowman]

Sounds like most people are in the same boat as myself, found none or very few but have never really specifically gone out looking for them.

I'm going to make a valid effort this year to did some between now and April. It'll be a good excuse to grt out there and ramp up the scouting. Finding shed zones in Jan/feb/march should tell a lot about what the bucks are doing/where they are hanging in late December.

[bobcat]

I really would like to find the sheds of the bucks that I have trail camera pictures of. I've still got a couple cameras out there, and have been keeping them baited with apples, but it seems the deer really are not moving like they were a month ago. At one spot I have pictures of seven different bucks since about the middle of October, and now in the last week or two all that's been around is one little spike.

[headshot5]

I've had the best luck in later February/March.  It is a bummer when you get out there too early and search all your best spots and then move on.  Then, you come back 6 months later and find some that are from that year but have been chewed on (you checked before the antlers came off).  I've found 3 sets so far, and 6 or 7 singles, although one set took me 3 years to complete, and the one side was in rough shape when I finally found it. 

After I find one shed, I can spend hundreds of hours looking for its match.  Every time I pass through the general area where I have found one shed,  I pay attention to the ground as much as I can.   

15-20 year old doghair has been the best for me as well.   

[lewy]

I bet I put on about 10miles per bt shed, have found most in or near beds (were a bt buck spends most his time) although I have also found em on game trails and in clearcuts. kind of are were you find em. I also like hiking long timbered ridges that animals use to get from higher elevations to lower elevations. cant wait to start here pretty soon!

[lewy]

Also as bobcat said blackberries are a huge winter food source for blackies and always have a ton of sign in/near them. Another thing ive noticed is that i have found alot of sheds in the salal, it can be tough to horn hunt because it really swallows up the sheds but for some reason the deer and elk like to hang out/bed in it

[blacktail luv]

I find about 60 blacktail sheds a year but I spend every spare minute in late febuary and march looking for them.  I found my first (well the dog did) on febuary 13th last year but I don't stat checking my good spots til march first when I know 99% of the horns are on the ground.  The dog really helps.  She was definitely worth the work I put into her.  She found 20-30 on her own last year and she was only 9 months old, I can't wait to see what she can do this year.  We also got a new pup that is 7 months old that shows a lot of promise with the training I've been doing with her. 

[Arteman]

The answer to your original question is that some can start dropping now.  My uncle is really into finding and making things with sheds and he's found fresh bloody drops this time of the year.  Of coarse we all know they are hard to find as it is already so finding one now would just be by chance with them few and far between.  Best advice I've ever been told was to look on south facing slopes and its obvious why with this being the warmest side and first to melt off.  I found a nice 3 pt last year on a heavy game trail just over a log it had to jump, now i realy look for things similar that may cause the animal to jolt it off, idk.  Good luck, im going Friday and Saturday.

[Turner89]

I bet I put on about 10miles per bt shed, have found most in or near beds (were a bt buck spends most his time) although I have also found em on game trails and in clearcuts. kind of are were you find em. I also like hiking long timbered ridges that animals use to get from higher elevations to lower elevations. cant wait to start here pretty soon!

 
  The first sheds i found was a set. Was out in Jan. scouting. I stopped to take a leak, and saw them laying about 10ft apart. Only set I have found.
  I have found about a dozen since then, in all the locations Lewy mentioned. I have the best luck in 10yr min old clearcuts on top of big moss covered rock out croppings. 

[wt]

what is 15-20 year dog hair? reprod.

[AKBowman]

 

I've heard that term before too but dont know what it is referring to