I know a lot of guys are about done shed hunting for the year. As some of you know, in the winter I live 500 miles from my camp and shed hunting grounds. Well, on April 1 I left for camp to begin construction on a new rental cabin and was hoping to do a little shed hunting while I was up there......wrong, almost.
The winter in the north country won't let go. When I got to camp there was still snow everywhere, like it was February. We started building and I was silently praying to myself for some warm weather to melt the white stuff. The sun came melted some on the south sides, but the nights were still too cold. In my free time I had to do a little ice fishing instead, until the last day I was there, Friday.
We finally decided that there was too much snow, but we were going to go have a look anyways. I've been dreaming about finding a shed from a particular buck since last spring. He's not big, but I've been looking forward to seeing how he developed.....or if he even survived.
We got off the atvs and were a little disappointed to see as much snow in this area as there was. We walked up the hill through knee deep snow, just to get to where the sun had been pounding the tops and south sides of the rocks. We got to a spot where I found 7 fresh sheds in 10 minutes last spring. The snow had melted quite a bit, but wasn't gone and probably still burrying any bone.
We decided to just take a walk back to the quads and go drive around and look for new areas to shed hunt. On the way back, I had to check the snow depth in one particular spot. When I crested the hill I saw a very familiar sight and one I long to see all winter.....the disctinct shape and color of antler. There it was, just sticking through the snow, waiting for me. I snapped a few pics and called my brother in law over, beforeI picked it up.
When I finally pulled it from its winter resting spot I immedately knew where it came from, I felt the connection. I had been waiting for that exact moment since last spring, to know HE was still alive and growing. He put on a little tine and beam length and some mass. But, it didn't really matter to me how big he was, just that it was him.
That was the only shed I found that day, but it was enough. I long for the snow to melt, so I can find the other side and place it next to the others. Until then, dreams will have to do.
Just getting started....
