Tactics
By Alex Comstock
As we’ve entered into the month of March, for most of the midwest, it’s peak shed season. I would venture to say that March is the most “popular” shed hunting month for most avid antler seekers. By now, most bucks have dropped their antlers and March is typically a great time to walk for antlers because the woods haven’t come close to greening up yet, and in a lot of places there’s little to no snow.
Excitement is surging throughout your body. You are about to embark on a journey. A long, long walk that might take up the better part of the day. As you head into the timber, you've got one thing on your mind...sheds. You don't know what the walk might entail, odds are you'll end up full of briers and stickers, scratched and tattered, and you may not even locate a single antler. But guess what? It's worth it, because you are that much closer to finding your next shed.
Throughout the late winter and spring months, deer hunters across the country hit the woods in search of shed antlers. It can be an addicting facet that plays into a deer hunters yearly regime. Antlers are a fascinating part of a whitetail buck, and there is an abundance of information you can learn from time spent shed hunting.
As I sit here and write this article, wondering why I didn't find any sheds this weekend, I started thinking about possible mistakes I made, and mistakes I know I've made many times in my life. I don't think I'm alone in having the train of thought that shed hunting at times can be glorious, but at other times can seem hopeless. Why is it that you can seem to go shed hunting countless times, yet have nothing, or little to show for it? Here are five mistakes that I think can hinder many folks, myself included.
This year, I've enjoyed my best shed season thus far. In fact, I haven't gone shed hunting a day this year and not found a shed yet. By no means am I trying to brag, this isn't an article to talk about how good of a shed hunter I am, because I am light years away from what you would consider an expert. But, I do think there are a couple key reasons I've been finding more bone this year, and I thought I would lay them out for you, and maybe help you find a couple more antlers as well.
In many areas around the country, bucks are just starting to shed their antlers. If you are planning on putting on some miles this spring in search of some bone, there are a couple things you can ask yourself before hand. These are three things I usually struggle with, so I'm going to guess a few others do as well.
