Once upon a time, my uncle and dad decided to take me out and look for antlers. I was just a young kid when I found my first ever matching set with my childhood dog on a main trail. After that, I never had luck for years. In 2020, I started to walk more seriously and had little to no success, only finding a few sheds. I would get highly discouraged and constantly think that I was doing enough to find sheds, walking in the thickest places I could get to. But why wasn’t I finding them?
I realized that if I wanted to get better at shed hunting, something had to change. So I began to walk more and more, and then one day I finally found one. Then that one turned into 23.
What I would look for are thickets with openings. These tend to be my honey hole. I love them. When I go in there, I know there are deer that bed in there, and I could find an antler at any moment. The problem is whether the deer bedding in these prime areas is a buck or doe.
I also used to look where oaks and other trees were, but it is very seldom that I found them in that open habitat, whether it be that they just aren’t eating there that time of year or the squirrels get to them before I do. I tend to also look in field edges and sometimes in fields, but I tend to be very lucky when finding them in a field, especially without my shed dog.
Having a dog can make all the difference and simply just switch the angle by which you look at things. I personally enjoy walking with a good dog. It makes my shed hunting way more enjoyable.
So back to the moral of the story. Does shed hunting help with hunting? I believe it does. I have put hundreds, even thousands, of miles on in pursuit of finding antlers. I think that it taught me so much about bedding, habitat, food, and just the lay of the land. This is such a simple and fun way to learn more about deer. You can find out why they bed where they do and what type of wind they may have had that made them bed where they bed.
I believe shed hunting has taught me so much, not only how to find where deer go and their habits, but also shows me a greater appreciation for these animals. Without shed hunting, I believe I wouldn’t have had nearly as much success. It has taken so much time and energy. The amount of information and relaxation I get from every single walk makes it all worth it.
A tip for success could be to go scout and keep your eye out for antlers. This will lead you to not being discouraged and make the walks better. Shed hunting is definitely something I would recommend for hunters or even someone just wanting to get interested in the outdoors.
Author: Nate Mellott (Mellott Outdoors)
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