As a shed hunter I find anywhere from a dozen or so a year to as many as 40 to 50. In this region thats ok numbers for a guy with no time. Some years they seem to shed in a small window of time, other years they shed over a couple months time, and that means those antlers could wind up anywhere. I find sheds easier to find then bucks during the season, sometimes those sheds are hard to miss once you get the hang of it. Honestly, I hear all the stories of sheds near fence, etc, but I feel youll find the antlers where you improve theodds. A buck spends a couple hours walking and feeding, and many hours bedded. So, I opt for bedding areas to increase my odds. As a person who respects the animal, I absolutely cant stand finding wire and chicken wire out there as silly shed traps. Ive found deer wrapped up in fence dead in the past just from regular fences, so those things rub me wrong. Id rather see someone do it with a few well placed branches instead of wire. Antlers dont become "loose" before shedding anyway, so the timing would need to be near perfect to shed on one. I raise deer and am a taxidermist, so I know what it feels like to have an antler shed off, its almost like a exact fit that breaks away.

As for which is like which, I would love to shoot a big whitetail any day, but finding a whopper shed and knowing the buck might still be out there is thrilling too. But is it like hunting deer? I tell you what, Ill climb up a tree in a good bottleneck, and if a shed walks by ME, THEN its like deer hunting! Just funnin'...shed hunting and deer hunting are two different things...in two different places. Where we often find sheds isnt where we were deer hunting earlier.