ndrhunt

i am in illinois. i went shed hunting yesterday out at a state park yesterday and came up empty, the only thing i found was part of a jaw bone from a deer some random bones and a complete skull from a racoon. i walked fence lines and i walked trail with my eyes on the ground. can anyone offer some tips on trying to find sheds. i have never been shed hunting before. thank you for any tips you can offer.

7remmag

fencelines, in and out of bedding areas, go where the deer go, look to the opposite side of a hill where the wind is usually blowing from.

oldshedhunter35

1st try food sources did you have a good acorn crop.Yall got alot of snow this year so they will bed very close to the food source.South faceing sopes,pipe line, power lines any place that gets sunlight and protection from wind and during snow fall or rain fall pine thickets cedar is a great food fource so are the round woody green or brown briars if you look close at them you will see green leaves I've actually found antlers hanging in the briers.
I generally carry good bino's a pair of reliable clippers water a snack of some sort.Good boots are a must because I burn alot of boot leather.The biggest mistake I see people make is walking to fast keep a slow pace and turn around often.If you find a good shed start circleing around it in ever bigger circles you might find the other side.When a big buck loses 1 side it will try to knock the other side off because it makes his head feel lop sided.I hope these tips help you out and if you find any share photo's

ndrhunt

we actually did have a very good acorn crop this year. i was walking through pine trees that were next to a corn field. looked like the deer were bringing corn back into pines to eat. they deer paths were heavily traveled and there was alot of deer crap. on the other side of the pines was a fence line. i figured it was a prime location. i was just told by a friend that she had seen bucks still walking with their antlers on.

oldshedhunter35

If thats the case I would keep the area a secret stay away for another week or so you dont want to bump those bucks out of the area this is a very stressful time and even the slighest pressure can cause them to change patterns.Pressure can even kill them.When I know they are there its very hard to stay away.This is when Bino's can be very useful scan the oak flats in particular the areas where it looks like the leaves have been vaccumed up. If you see deer dont follow go in the opposit direction so they dont feel pressured.Also I would stay out of the pines for awhile.The corn field wouldbe a good place to start been antlers are hard to find in corn fields you pretty much have to do grid searchs its amazeing how much stalks and antlers can look alike.

dent2012

Deer carry corn back into cover and eat it?

oldshedhunter35

Yes they do but so do coons and other animals plus the wind can blow the husks back.

ndrhunt

well i noticed that the it wasnt just the husks but cobs as well, and most of the them were in deer trails or just off the trail. i know that there are alot of animals that carry and eat corn, i was just figuring it was deer because of the location of where the corn was.