Shed Hunting

Now is the perfect time to get out of the house and get some fresh air. If some of you die hard bow hunters are like me you are already thinking of the next season. Shed hunting helps to pass the time. You get some exercise, some insight to bedding areas, food sources, trails, and if your lucky you can find a few shed antlers. You can also include the whole family in this activity!

This time of year when there is snow on the ground is a perfect time to explore your hunting area. All the trails are marked for you! By this I mean unless the deer have been chased around by predators they will stick to there trails so they don't burn extra energy. When you head out take a map of your area, take along a couple pencils and your GPS, and make a map of where you are finding trails. Take some notes, the woods looks a lot different this time of year, plus you may forget what you wanted to remember. You will also be able to see where the deer feed in the winter months. These areas will have more wandering tracks while they are browsing. Any time you can get into the woods will help future hunts, you may just stumble across a rub line you didn't know existed. They will still appear fresh as the rub hasn't had a chance to dull. Mark all of it on your map. It will give you a better idea of deer movement in your area, and help in the seasons to come.

As a bonus to all this walking you may come across a few sheds. Any shed you find is a trophy in my mind. These usually will be found around bedding areas and also around food sources. I have heard reports that some people are starting to find sheds and others are still seeing deer with their headgear still attached. If you live in a area where shed hunting is popular, you will want to start getting out to look every chance you get. Even if you are covering the same ground, you never know when they will drop them. If you have your own land or a area where it isn't as popular to hunt for sheds, you could wait a bit before you get out!

Good Luck and have fun searching!

Another Season Done

The 2007 Mn bow season has come to a close. The season end found myself with a bad head cold that had me plugged up and on the couch. Not the way I wanted to finish the season! Although this wasn't my best season for deer on the ground it was a season filled with chances.

Part of my deer obsession is that I am always looking for bigger deer. Sometimes that does mean tags go unfilled. It was around Oct. 30th this year, I was set off of a field about 100 yards in a staging area. The sun was just starting to think about rising over the tree tops. I heard that unmistakable crunch, crunch, crunch, behind me. As I looked to my left I could make out the silhouette of a deer moving closer. When it was about 30 yards behind me I could make out that it was indeed a buck. I could make out there were at least 8 points, but he had his head down most of the time and his antlers blended in the the fallen leaves. Between my set up and the field were a set of train track. I heard the train approaching as the deer browsing behind me. I wondered what effect the train would have on this buck. The answer was no effect at all. He must have been use to the trains, as he continued to browse around my stand, and actually went closer to the train. At one point he stood broadside, 20 yrds, in front of my tree stand staring away from me watching the train go by! I chose to let him grow another year!

On another hunt later in Nov. I was set up in a funnel between a bedding area and a feeding area. I had just got set up for the afternoon hunt. The time was around 1:30. I heard something coming. Out in front of my stand to the left was a small 10 point headed directly in front of my position. He stopped at 15 yrds for a quick second to check a scrape, and then moved off to my right. He just wasn't the deer I was looking for either.

There were other close calls and almosts, and I am sure there are a lot of hunters who at the end of the season look back and wish they may have taken a deer or two that they saw during the season, but I feel pretty good knowing that these deer will have a chance to grow even bigger this next season. When I pulled my stands from the funnel, I saw that 10 pointer, so I know he made it threw the rifle season!

Now it's time to re-coup and re-group, but my thoughts are already thinking ahead to the 2008 season! I hope everyone has a Safe and Happy New Year!