Shed antler hunting is a popular off season activity for many whitetail enthusiasts. Shed hunting always falls during the winter and early spring each year after the yearly breeding or the rut takes place. Bucks no longer need their antlers and must shed the old ones for a variety of reasons but especially to prepare for the regeneration of new antlers in the following year. The shedding also occurs as a result of stress and hormone changes.
I've seen bucks wear their antlers as late as April when the winter was not severe and food remained plentiful, essentially when the bucks were not under so much stress. One of my favorite new tools for shed hunting is the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Harvest Reporting System. The reporting system requires all hunters to report
their deer harvests. The harvests are broken into 4 different categories including does, antlered bucks, button bucks and
shed antler bucks. This system was implemented with the 2006 hunting seasons and has turned out to be a
wealth of information for shed hunters.
Winter this year has set in early here in Iowa with a snow cover since November 30th. We have had freezing temperatures
since that time and 2 ice storms along with 3 snow storms. Food is scarce for the whitetail now and buried below a hard lay of snow and ice. Traveling the countryside you'll notice spots in fields where deer have dug up small holes in the snow to reach the ground below. This means deer are under higher stress right now, the exact trigger that is going to cause bucks to shed their antlers.
If you have never tried shed antler hunting I would encourage you to give it a try. I shed hunt each year and have a blast at it. The exercise is great and you'll learn so much about whitetail habits, and learn to identify their travel routes better. If you decide to venture out and look for shed antlers you'll want to concentrate your efforts in 3 places. Bedding areas, feeding areas and trails between the two. I especially like to look for locations where a deer may have had to jump such as a ditch or fence. If the antlers are loose at the time of the jump the landing will be enough to cause one or both to fall. Since deer do not do much more than eat and rest this time of year most antlers will be found in the bedding areas and feeding areas. In feeding areas since deer remain constantly aware of their surroundings their head is always moving up and down, and the amount of time spent bedded leaves a good chance they may just fall off while bedded. You'll walk many miles between finds so be prepared to spend some time with mother nature.
As I have reviewed the harvest reporting data in the past week I've noticed the number of shed antler bucks reported harvested is increasing quickly. As of today 661 harvests of shed antler bucks have been reported. As we move through late muzzleloader season and the extended shotgun season I'm confident many more shed antler bucks will be mistaken for does and harvested. This is unfortunate but hunters can avoid this by studying the physical features of the deerbefore deciding to harvest it. Bucks and does have very different physical features beyond antlers so please pay close attention and hunt safely.
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hello im iowas bigest bowhunter,and as you may know it isnt normal for deer to loose there antlers this early.am not saying that you are a liar but iv never found sheds this time of year.december really puts this in my mind???????.it aint inpossible,and if wought you say is true then its going to be a good shed season man.but still i woudnt encouredge people to go out shed hunting during the shotgun season lol.i usualy wate until mid march,the reason for that is so i wont bump the deer off the property before the loose both sides,also the deer usually loose there left side first and im not sure why but its true.see ya later man,thanks.