Best advice I can give is to gain access to as much land as you can, also walk, walk and walk some more and spend time doing it. That is the key to finding sheds. Deer herd up and move around during the winter here. What was a great shed hunting area last year might be a poor one this year on account of it. The more land you have access to the better off your are.

We key in on the basics of searching "winter" feeding areas, trails, bedding areas and staging areas by bedding areas. Forget where the deer were last fall from hunting, you need to know where they are spending their time in the winter. That is important to us as the deer herd up and move to different food sources then what was available last fall as those areas get used up or are buried by deep snow here.

In areas with deep snow, we run ridge lines or hilltops. The deer are using the path/trail of least resistance when going inbetween bedding and feeding areas in our area since we have deep snow. Mild winters find us searching side hills and low ground. The deer seem to perfer browsing in these areas on the way to feeding areas then they do hill tops. Conditions play a good part on how we search an area. Pay attention to deer sign as that will show you how they use an area and what specific areas should produce a few sheds.

Carry binocs with you. Very handy for picking out sheds and saves on the walking in open areas or fields.

Tim