Big boys often drop early.
My biggest, one side of a 160 class buck, I found in a scrape in late December.

Highest liklihood of finding a fresh one in Southern New England has been late January to early February. Most of the sheds I find right now this time of year I find by following tracks in the snow. Very often I find them not far after they get up from a bed. I like to get out there after each big snow we get. Maybe it's that they bed down, take a big nap and let the testosterone leave their system? I dunno.