The Best Time to Shed Hunt

For me here in Iowa, Super Bowl weekend is usually my target timeframe to start shed hunting. Of course, I monitor the cameras I still have out in the field, but in general, this is the timeframe when I usually start trying to get out and walk my properties looking for sheds. I’ll start by looking at some of the better bedding areas near good topography, focusing on south or southeast facing slopes.

Let’s talk a little bit more about timing. You need to consider the property itself and where you’re going. Is it a property that is prone to trespassing? Is it a shared property? Is it public land? How much shed hunting competition and pressure are you going to have? If the odds of any other shed hunting pressure are low, you can afford to wait a little bit longer and not risk going in too early and bumping bucks off the property. But in cases where I do feel like I need to get in a little bit earlier, I’m not going to cover the entire property. I’ll strategically start on one side and not go all the way through, knowing that if I do bump some deer, they’re likely not going to leave the property. They might relocate to the other side, but I’m not running them completely off.

Something else you need to consider is rodent pressure, such as squirrels chewing up antlers that have been sitting on the ground for a long time. In my experience, typically, I see antlers getting chewed on more quickly when there is snow cover. If there is no snow cover and squirrels and rodents can get to other things, I think they are less likely to chew on antlers. But if everything is snow covered and you’ve got tines or beams sticking up above the snow, that’s when I see the early chewing. An antler doesn’t have to be on the ground very long to start getting damaged pretty quickly when there’s nothing else easily available for the squirrels.

Another big consideration when it comes to the best time to shed hunt is now many bucks in your area have actually lost their antlers. My buddy and I have a theory, and it’s just a general rule of thumb that obviously might not apply to the entire country, but at least here where we’re at in Iowa, it’s been pretty dang accurate. Our theory is the number of days past January 1^st has a pretty close correlation to the percentage of antlers that have dropped. So, for example, if it’s January 30^th, then 30% of the bucks have shed. When you get around Super Bowl weekend, roughly 40% have dropped. Now this is just a general rule of thumb for the general deer population in our area. Typically, we see bigger antlers are going to be some of the earlier ones to fall. Again, not always, I’ve seen 150+ inch deer hold their antlers until March. But in general, bigger antlers fall first, and the smaller antlered, younger deer shed a little later.

If you can really pick your shed hunting days without fear of additional shed hunting pressure, another thing to consider is the weather. There are certain conditions where you’re just going to find more sheds simply because you’ll miss fewer of them. First, you’ll want a cloudy day because that will eliminate the shadows. Shadows, especially in the timber, make it tougher to spot antlers. A perfect scenario would be after or even during a rain. You’ve got the cloudiness, and you also have the rain basically leveling the forest floor. It pressed down all the leaves, making antlers stick out a lot more.

One last note on timing: Don’t be afraid to circle back to some of the spots that you’ve already hit once. People tend to hit a spot, hope they picked up the easy ones, and then never circle back or even hit the rest of the property. Go back a few weeks later and take another walk. More bucks might have dropped their antlers, or you might find something you missed the first time around.

It’s about prime time for shed hunting, so get out there and find some antlers!

-- Jared Mills