Am I the only one?

[Barry D]

This years shed antler hunting has been the worst in my 30 years of searching. Obviously the warm winter had a lot to do with it, and maybe a bit of bad luck.
Heres my stats for the year.
I walked 13 different parcels of land. Most were on lands I have had success on in previous years.
My tracks App says I walked total of 84 km's.
I found a total of 16 antlers.
Thats 5.25 km's per antler of bush whacking. Thats my worst average per antler ever.
Only one fresh whitetail and two fresh elk.
I spent 6 hours walking an area where I have found 40-60 mule deer antlers in the past, and never found a single fresh one, and only one old spiker. Just crazy.
I would have never bet that the only fresh whitetail I found was on Dec 28th 2023.
My conclusion is that the last warm and almost snowless winter in central Alberta, had the animals spread across the landscape and therefore antlers hard to find. I also think I just had some bad luck with all the droppings I found, but no antlers. With no one else posting much for their shed hunting successes this year, I think it is the same for almost all shed hunters. This was defiantly not the year to be a rookie shed hunter.
My last outing was the best with finding four elk. two old small ones, and one big 6 X 6 matching set that would score about 275 on the head. It was a great way to end the season. I wee bit of redemption.

[dshaw]

I agree, Its been a very hard year for sure for all reasons you stated. I also think that the number of tags given out in some zones has populations and quality way down. Lots of areas that usually have mule deer for us to find after the season had nothing for quality or much quantity.

[DirtShooter]

Haven't found any this year either and last year the same quarter I walked out with 10 in one day.

[Battle Rat]

My last two years were like you described so I didn't spend much time looking this year.
The deer numbers are quite low indicating that all the extra doe tags has taken a toll.

[gman1978]

Loading up on elk sheds but the deer are down a bit especially the mature mule deer sheds.

[slough shark]

Not sure what zone you were in but the zone I hunt in east central Alberta I’d be very optimistic in saying the mule deer population was 25% what it was 15 years ago. It was probably a fair bit lower than that, the oldest buck I saw was probably 3 1/2 and I think 2 of them that old. I know the weather wasn’t the best and was fairly warm but I’ve hunted there for 20 years and had a lot of success, it was plain and simply dismal, the population was almost collapsed, entire sections of land where there historically had been dozens of deer every year had 0 or maybe a couple.

[Rvsask]

My sons and I do an absurd amount of walking each year for sheds. Although we picked up in excess of 300 antlers it was by a landslide our poorest year ever for fresh sheds. Deer numbers are way down, this winter had them so scattered it was hard to find a concentration of animals, many deer carried antlers into April. There’s always next year right?

[3blade]

Didn’t bother. The quarters where I usually see whitetails in winter had nothing by the end of January. Same for green up scouting, it went green everywhere and the deer are spread out.

I’m sure there will be plenty of fat twin fawns bouncing around though. Pretty much zero stress on them.

The mulie/CWD thing is sad to hear. Hope and pray someone comes up with a solution

[Battle Rat]

I know an antler buyer that travels through Saskatchewan then Alberta.
He said what he bought in Saskatchewan was mostly old cracked antler.
When you aren't seeing the new brown ones that indicates a lower population.
This low density might cover a large area.

[bonedogg]

same here, spent a total of about 15 days shed hunting and only ended up with a handful of browns and the rest were old. tough year for sure

[pikeslayer22]

Could be because the deer population is down at least 70%

[bonedogg]

Originally Posted by pikeslayer22

Could be because the deer population is down at least 70%

not everywhere...... west of CGY the deer had zero issues. East and East central got worked the winter before, yes 100%.

but West central and SW AB were unaffected it seems....

[Irina]

I hunt east of red deer. Whitetails non existant and only a few mulies kicking around. It was a horrible shed hunting year. Maybe the mass extermination that took place a few years ago wasn't such a smart thing like some of us figured.

[waldedw]

I would think that over the past couple years the huge increase in the coyote population has taken it's toll on the fawns also, they are fawn killing machines.

[Grizzly Adams1]

Originally Posted by pikeslayer22

Could be because the deer population is down at least 70%

When I first moved here in the 80s, you couldn't go for a drive without seeing a bunch of deer, times have changed.

[TBark]

Found 4 on our field yesterday.
Odd, they are all the left side.

TBark

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by TBark

Found 4 on our field yesterday.
Odd, they are all the left side.

TBark

Maybe the deer are telling us something.

We need to drop the Left.








(I'll see myself out...)

[Big Grey Wolf]

What is more important than shed finds. This data indicates a major drop in ungulate population in general. We may All need to buy more beef this coming winter, however will help farmers with low grain yields and prices.

[Smokinyotes]

I’ve been seeing a ton of white tails. Last years fawns are no longer with their mothers and I would imagine new ones are being born.

As far as sheds the best way to find them is get a tractor and baler. They usually show up in the tires.

[CDNOutdoorsman]

I believe this to be a calling... The Left need to be eradicated ASAP and for good!

Originally Posted by Stinky Buffalo

Maybe the deer are telling us something.

We need to drop the Left.








(I'll see myself out...)

[EagleEyes]

A mild winter spreading out the deer and numbers are down in my area. The last 2 years we are more likely to find elk sheds than deer. My kids and I had a couple 20 km+ days walking and didn't have much to show. Nothing over 140 for either deer species but some 300 plus elk.

[EagleEyes]

Originally Posted by Rvsask

My sons and I do an absurd amount of walking each year for sheds. Although we picked up in excess of 300 antlers it was by a landslide our poorest year ever for fresh sheds. Deer numbers are way down, this winter had them so scattered it was hard to find a concentration of animals, many deer carried antlers into April. There’s always next year right?

Wow Rv that's impressive!! I've had 100 plus years but have not heard of 300 plus years for ages. Congratulations that's deadly!

[Soab]

Originally Posted by EagleEyes

A mild winter spreading out the deer and numbers are down in my area. The last 2 years we are more likely to find elk sheds than deer. My kids and I had a couple 20 km+ days walking and didn't have much to show. Nothing over 140 for either deer species but some 300 plus elk.

Seems like mature mulies are few and far between, which is a shame. Put on lots of miles this spring , which really is the main goal after a long lazy winter.
To be honest the deer are just a warm up session to get hiking for elk sheds anyways lol. Love the miles with the pack and the great country covered. Appreciate all the landowners who let us stumble around their places. Honestly one of my favorite things to get out and do