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  #91  
Old 02-21-2018, 04:01 PM
Bub Bub is offline
 
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Thank you to all who chimed in about elk shedding. All that was said coincides with my experience as well. Finally saw a couple of bulls on Monday (one was a spike with a cow).

Nice set, icecap!

I have not found anything yet. Found a couple of kill sites not far from the road at all but that is about it. One of the kills was the young moose I had fun watching a few times last season:



Another was a deer, even the bones were half-eaten. A fairly hard winter for the animals. Lots of snow; like Husky mentioned above, about a meter and even deeper in some places. I have been staying out and probably will be for a while. I thought I was joking when I said somewhere above that I will be staying out until mid-spring; it appears it might be true though
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  #92  
Old 02-23-2018, 11:27 AM
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The two good ones we have been watching are still packing.... (whitetails)
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  #93  
Old 02-23-2018, 04:44 PM
icecap icecap is offline
 
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Seeing how I got lucky and found a set from the truck the other day I decided to hit the field where they are feeding. Left the bedding area alone for now. Not as much snow as I expected out there but still plenty to be hiding some antlers.
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  #94  
Old 02-23-2018, 08:31 PM
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Wow icecap.. that second guy must have gotten into a nasty scrap.. bustin off a few tines.
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  #95  
Old 02-25-2018, 03:57 PM
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Finally on the board.


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  #96  
Old 02-25-2018, 04:12 PM
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We picked 5 today. Two of the dinkers are a match.



Went out yesterday to help a friend find the match to this guy. He spotted the right side from the road a week ago and very happily picked up the left side yesterday. 163-166” set is a great way to kick things off.


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  #97  
Old 02-25-2018, 04:46 PM
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I went out yesterday. Crazy amount of deer sign. Just no sheds. I had a small buck shead out already December 17th on cam earliest i have ever had one.

Some nice bucks made the end of hunting season including a very large WT I have never seen before in the area.

Of all the deer sign , it appears its all made by does. Have very little bucks on cam after mid january.

Its possible I will find some sheds after snow melt as the area i was in has over 2’ of snow on the ground
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  #98  
Old 02-25-2018, 08:45 PM
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That's and awesome set - nice colour!

I saw a muley yesterday with both sides of rack still...
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  #99  
Old 02-27-2018, 03:41 PM
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5 min walk in a field I’ve been keeping my eye on. Would have been 6 sheds, I had another one spotted by the road, while I was at the farm house asking permission another guy hopped the fence and got it! Mules are dropping early this winter in the south.



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  #100  
Old 03-02-2018, 04:17 PM
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Default Shed thread 2018

Found another 8 today, that’s 13 freshies for the year. This one taped at 84.5”




Had one more nice single with a big inline, he’s young, has great potential, it taped at 77.5.



This small set were right beside each other
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  #101  
Old 03-03-2018, 05:48 PM
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Been keeping an eye on a couple good mulies, a big 3x3 & a 4x5, snuck up on the big 3x3 to take his pic, rounded a big tree & he busted me @ 15 yds. Ran through an opening in the brush, watched the left antler sail off after he brushed the tree, shaking his head like crazy, must hurt, pretty soon the right antler flies off. Seen him 1/2 hr later, ears all flattened down like a po'd cat, must have still been stinging, nice matched set.
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  #102  
Old 03-03-2018, 08:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roper1 View Post
Been keeping an eye on a couple good mulies, a big 3x3 & a 4x5, snuck up on the big 3x3 to take his pic, rounded a big tree & he busted me @ 15 yds. Ran through an opening in the brush, watched the left antler sail off after he brushed the tree, shaking his head like crazy, must hurt, pretty soon the right antler flies off. Seen him 1/2 hr later, ears all flattened down like a po'd cat, must have still been stinging, nice matched set.


Right on! I’m always hoping I can see one drop.


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  #103  
Old 03-04-2018, 09:19 AM
icecap icecap is offline
 
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Quote:
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Right on! I’m always hoping I can see one drop.


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Got out last week before the snow. Managed a few more.


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  #104  
Old 03-04-2018, 10:50 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roper1 View Post
Been keeping an eye on a couple good mulies, a big 3x3 & a 4x5, snuck up on the big 3x3 to take his pic, rounded a big tree & he busted me @ 15 yds. Ran through an opening in the brush, watched the left antler sail off after he brushed the tree, shaking his head like crazy, must hurt, pretty soon the right antler flies off. Seen him 1/2 hr later, ears all flattened down like a po'd cat, must have still been stinging, nice matched set.
So you were taking pictures of him, and you dont even post a picture of the deer or antlers that he dropped? lol.. lets see the goods!!



Icecap.. I have yet to find a Hanger like that last one.. wonder how many I miss as I am not looking high enough in bushes! Nice finds!
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  #105  
Old 03-04-2018, 01:15 PM
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Default Hanger

Ya I'm not sure how common 'hangers' are. I've picked up about 300 sheds. That's my second one.
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  #106  
Old 03-04-2018, 03:16 PM
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  #107  
Old 03-04-2018, 07:49 PM
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Thanks Mr. Plow!


Found 4 today from the truck!
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  #108  
Old 03-06-2018, 04:31 PM
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Poor year so far. nothing except these two. A very sad thing is finding big buck being killed.


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  #109  
Old 03-08-2018, 09:57 AM
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  #110  
Old 03-09-2018, 05:18 AM
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Can't wait to get out, but still wayyy too much snow happening up North. Any thoughts on when the Northern bucks (Peace River area) start dropping their spikes? I have a few spots I've been seeing lots of does over the past few months but not a lot of bucks.
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  #111  
Old 03-17-2018, 11:30 PM
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LIFE IS TO SHORT TO HAVE AN UGLY LOOKIN DOG .....GET A LAB
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  #112  
Old 03-19-2018, 10:39 PM
fishnguy fishnguy is offline
 
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I did not want to create a new thread for my question and this one seemed like the most appropriate one to post it in.

I have permission to walk these several adjacent fields (all different owners) to look for sheds. These few fields usually have a very high number of mule deer visiting them, probably one of the highest I have ever seen. There are some big bucks and a of couple giants among those visitors as well. They have always been there for the previous couple of years year-round (not much or hardly any snow in those couple of winters). This year, with a deep snow cover, the fields are empty, with hardly any deer tracks. A couple or a few fields have bales on them. I am not exactly an expert, but the bales are definitely different cuts since they are different in colour (none of them are straw though). One field has them stacked in one corner of the property, about 40 bales if not more, and elk has been coming to chew on them dozens at a time pretty much daily, a couple of times I saw definitely over a hundred elk. That same elk chew on bales on the other fields that were left where they were in the fall, spread out all over the place. The mule deer that is always around, on the other hand, are gone. So my question is where did they go? Since December, I have seen three deer there, all females; hardly any tracks or droppings. I was really looking forward to picking a few sheds there and was confident that those bales would be winners for that, especially with all the snow, but it seems I was wrong. Anyone has any thoughts on it? I would greatly appreciate any insights.
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  #113  
Old 03-20-2018, 07:26 AM
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Depending where you are but, In fields I have seen deer year after year during the winter were empty this year. Too much snow and not enough shelter from the elements. Instead all the deer are in a river bottom feeding on willow and sheltering out of the elements. Find the shelter and you likely find your deer,when the snow is deep and the winter harsh they wont expend the energy to travel to feed. Other thing here is the elk heard easily could have pushed them off the fields and into a different location. Happens all the time in my hunting area.
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  #114  
Old 03-20-2018, 02:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The moose View Post
Depending where you are but, In fields I have seen deer year after year during the winter were empty this year. Too much snow and not enough shelter from the elements. Instead all the deer are in a river bottom feeding on willow and sheltering out of the elements. Find the shelter and you likely find your deer,when the snow is deep and the winter harsh they wont expend the energy to travel to feed. Other thing here is the elk heard easily could have pushed them off the fields and into a different location. Happens all the time in my hunting area.
I agree that it is a good possibility the elk may have pushed them out. Like mentioned, the mule deer are more likely to feed in the bush than whitetail when needed. But With this being said try to expand your area, there is likely another food source somewhere in the general area. I think you will be surprised how far the deer will travel for good food. Either way I would be checking those bales in the next few weeks, sound like you may find some elk sheds!!

Good luck
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  #115  
Old 03-20-2018, 04:37 PM
snowman160 snowman160 is offline
 
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I’ve got a spot I’ve checked once with mule deer and elk and picked up one mulie shed.my buddy at another spot picked up a cranker set of elk sheds but it’s the only bull that’s dropped out of the group.soon..very soon.
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  #116  
Old 03-20-2018, 06:52 PM
fishnguy fishnguy is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The moose View Post
Depending where you are but, In fields I have seen deer year after year during the winter were empty this year. Too much snow and not enough shelter from the elements. Instead all the deer are in a river bottom feeding on willow and sheltering out of the elements. Find the shelter and you likely find your deer,when the snow is deep and the winter harsh they wont expend the energy to travel to feed. Other thing here is the elk heard easily could have pushed them off the fields and into a different location. Happens all the time in my hunting area.
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Originally Posted by bigbuck View Post
I agree that it is a good possibility the elk may have pushed them out. Like mentioned, the mule deer are more likely to feed in the bush than whitetail when needed. But With this being said try to expand your area, there is likely another food source somewhere in the general area. I think you will be surprised how far the deer will travel for good food. Either way I would be checking those bales in the next few weeks, sound like you may find some elk sheds!!

Good luck
Thank you for the responses, guys. I really appreciate it. It does make sense. Also, half of the fields border the river valley, quite steep all the way down to the river. Others are just a quarter or two away from it. I guess I will have to wait until more snow melts and it dries up a little to go down and see what I can find. So far in the past couple of years I had only found an old moose shed there and that is it. I am not that great at it though and have only done it a couple of years now, so the fields was my easy way out

As for the other food sources, I drove around to look for them and there a few grain bins here and there. I saw some deer tracks there and a couple of mulies. Other than that, all fields are just cover with untouched snow and practically no deer sign for miles.

I hope to find some elk sheds there, but I doubt that is going to happen because it is mostly cows that are feeding on the bales with a few spikes. I actually have not seen a bull there since mid- or end of October, spikes excluded.

If someone who knows what they are doing in terms of shed hunting in Peace River area wants to take me out and teach me a thing or two about it, I would not mind tagging along at all
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  #117  
Old 03-20-2018, 09:45 PM
snowman160 snowman160 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fishnguy View Post
Thank you for the responses, guys. I really appreciate it. It does make sense. Also, half of the fields border the river valley, quite steep all the way down to the river. Others are just a quarter or two away from it. I guess I will have to wait until more snow melts and it dries up a little to go down and see what I can find. So far in the past couple of years I had only found an old moose shed there and that is it. I am not that great at it though and have only done it a couple of years now, so the fields was my easy way out

As for the other food sources, I drove around to look for them and there a few grain bins here and there. I saw some deer tracks there and a couple of mulies. Other than that, all fields are just cover with untouched snow and practically no deer sign for miles.

I hope to find some elk sheds there, but I doubt that is going to happen because it is mostly cows that are feeding on the bales with a few spikes. I actually have not seen a bull there since mid- or end of October, spikes excluded.

If someone who knows what they are doing in terms of shed hunting in Peace River area wants to take me out and teach me a thing or two about it, I would not mind tagging along at all
Sounds like you don’t need anyone to take you out,your on good spots already just need to keep tabs on em!sheds are fairly easy to find if you just look in the right spots!where critters have been hanging out and feeding for the last few months an you will be rewarded!lots of boot leather burnt once the snow melts on frwsh trails an you’ll be laughin!
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  #118  
Old 03-21-2018, 07:46 PM
fishnguy fishnguy is offline
 
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The problem is I just can't see them in the bush, unless I quite literally almost step on one. There is gotta be a trick
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  #119  
Old 03-21-2018, 08:10 PM
Barry D Barry D is offline
 
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Here's one trick I learned years ago. Don't burn yourself out until you actually have a good chance of finding antlers. Unless you know for sure the bucks are there in drop season, don't lose all your enthusiasm and keeness before the good hunting actually starts. I wait until conditions are perfect, (almost no snow) and then I am a hound dog on high alert.
Just take out a body that has just about wore himself out looking with little success, and he will walk right by antlers that you pick up, because he is not in hound dog mode. You'll look like and antler whisperer, and he will either resent you, or start to whimper.
I'm zero for the year, but my son and I will end up with around a hundred, like we do every year.
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  #120  
Old 03-22-2018, 11:59 PM
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Too much snow still here in the Peace River area, especially fields and farmed quarters. Wait until the snows gone and they will be easier to come across. Work smart, not hard.

If you would like a partner in shed hunting feel free to pm me fishnguy, I'll be out in 2 weeks or so to try again and hopefully the snow isn't so deep.
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