A shed is just about as beneficial as a photo.. Jeff. If you look at it with 2 dimensions.

All they will ever prove is that a buck (or other deer) were once there at some moment in time.. right! Again pretty standard 2 dimensional thinking!

Let's look at it through a 3 dimensional point of view. When shed hunting you will learn so much more about the deers location during the colder months as well as his survival, age estimate, potential, and true size (photos can really trick you). The third dimension is this.. walking through countless miles of woods looking for sheds in February and March is as close as you can get to what the woods look like in late October and early November (depending on where you reside of course). You will see so much sign you did not before. You will learn new trails the deer are using, clearly define bedding areas easier, see scrapes you have never seen before, kick up deer out of strange areas, and all just while looking for sheds. Now when finding a shed I will admit many are found with no rhyme or reason. But many are found that will teach you something about a particular deer. Something a photo cannot. His true whereabouts and perhaps his favorite bedding spot.

Now, by no means you couldn't do and witness all this with a camera.. because you could. But who walks miles and miles, for hours and hours, for many weeks through woods finding all this and then hangs a camera. I certainly don't.