It’s often referred to as finding a needle in a haystack. After all, locating shed antlers here in Pennsylvania was once considered a rarity. However that’s not the case anymore. Fact is, the number of hunters and non-hunters alike looking for shed deer antlers has been growing over the past several decades. And with good reason, today the carryover bucks from hunting season are often of trophy proportions. That provides for some great shed hunting opportunities.
Antler restrictions were put into place over a decade ago by the PA Game Commission. Restricting hunters to harvesting bucks with three points, four points or better in specific Wildlife Management Units allowed lesser bucks to advance into the next year’s age class and to potentially grow better antlers the following year. The management process has contributed to seeing quality bucks. It has also improved the chances of finding some great shed antlers following the close of deer season.
In early December snow cover, and plenty it, remained on the ground primarily over the higher elevations.
Within our group of hunters, one harvested a buck that had shed one side of its rack. Then the other side came off in his hand as he handled the deer.
As the season progressed, snow remained on the ground shielding them from being seen. However with the recent January thaw eliminating the snow, now the hunt can begin. And competition for sheds will be fierce.
Some of the first to locate shed antlers will be rodents such as mice. Also porcupines are continually on the lookout for sheds. Rodents are attracted to shed antlers due to their chemical makeup of calcium and phosphorus. Rodents will shave the shed with their sharp teeth in their effort to consume the hard bone.
This year a larger percentage of bucks went into the winter months in good health. This allowed the carryover bucks to drop their racks in the snow. These two factors should dramatically increase your chances of finding shed racks when the snow cover diminishes. That incentive should put more hunters in the woods during late winter and early spring than ever before.
So where do you start when hunting for shed antlers? The answer is simple. First try looking over your favorite hunting area along with those places where you saw sub legal bucks late in the hunting season. Carefully scan the ground in those areas where deer feed and bed.
The best time to start your search is as soon as the snow cover begins to melt. In my collection of antlers is a pair of sheds found in late winter. Here was a case of being lucky since both sides were found. However I wasn’t the first to find them. Both sides of the rack bear the tooth marks of possibly a porcupine. The tooth marks are testimony that if the rack had not been picked up, it would have made a great meal.
Antler hunting is fun, and the find offers a great trophy. It also provides a good excuse to get back out in the woods again doing some hiking and seeing firsthand how many deer remain. In some cases this type of post season “hunt” will provide clues as to where the deer have been traveling and where they might be found in the future. Or you might learn how and why that big buck you were after gave you the slip.
As point of information regarding the casting of antlers, yes, one of our hunters took a buck that had shed half its rack by the opening day of buck season. Was this something out of the ordinary? Early casting or a buck dropping its rack early is not uncommon.
Duane Diefenbach, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Wildlife Ecology Leader, PA Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit addressed antler casting.
Diefenbach noted, “This year I have answered more questions than usual about what seems like more bucks than normal without antlers. Every year more than thirty deer aging teams gather data on the annual deer harvest. My team ages about 900 deer heads a year, and I have been doing this for 15 years. That adds up to over 13,000 deer heads.
Over that span of time and deer examined provides Diefenbach with consistent and in-depth knowledge of the whitetail deer resource.
So what are Diefenbach’s thoughts relating to the question of early casting of antlers this year?
Diefenbach noted, “With the spike in questions regarding shed antler bucks during the rifle season we aged, I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. From 2102-2017, the number of shed antler bucks aged by the aging teams waffled between 3 and 4 percent.”
How does that compare with 2018? Diefenbach’s reply, “Nothing out of the ordinary. This year was no different from years’ past. For 2018 we were 4 percent.”
Keep in mind that there may have been specific areas where there may have been contributing factors in early casting. But overall, statewide, early casting was on par with years’ past.
As shed hunters take to the field, there is another good reason to be afield and that is to listen for gobblers.
With the second month of the year close at hand, it won’t be long until turkeys will be gobbling.
In the past it’s been almost like clockwork hearing gobblers sound off the last week of February. Even if I don’t find any antlers, just hearing a turkey gobble this time of year is worth the price of admission.
Charlie Burchfield is a past president of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association and an active member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association. To contact Gateway Outdoors the e-mail address is GWOutdoors@comcast.net
